SCORE!

This year, you may remember, I did not get L's forms turned in on time so he could show Cindi at our county fair. (We were sick that day-- though we could have turned it in earlier, and did not- nobody's fault but mine.) In any case, we went to the fair to see the show, to support his friends and to see what it would be like for him to show in future years. We were saddened to see that the judge was subpar, he was a dairy cattle judge, called in to judge animals he had no knowledge of. He didn't know the breeds, and especially disconcerting was that he docked the Boer goats for having four teats. The rules say that milk goats have 2 teats, meat goats can have four, but he did not know that.

However, while we were at the fair, I met up with an acquaintance who said that she was superintendant of her county fair's goat show, and that they were having a good judge. I know the judge, he is an excellent judge. He can judge dairy cattle, and goats, and has recently gone to school and been certified to judge meat goats. He was at the State Fair Show, and was assisting the judge there. He holds fitting and showing clinics for kids, and is just an amazing guy, who is really in this for bettering the industry.

In any case, I was excited to have our animals judged by him. I knew that if we got 3rd, we'd deserve 3rd, and we would get a lengthy explanation why, and how we could improve, if that was possible. I look at our goats and think they're beautiful, but how do you know until you put them against another animal before a judge?

So we entered my friend's county fair open show (where you don't have to be in 4H to show).

We went over on Thursday to take the goats, B and I. (L had football practice, so it was just the two of us.) I think we just must look so awkward driving up in our sports car and SUV. We have to take the sports car in addition to the SUV, because the dog kennels in which we haul the goats are the only thing that will fit into the SUV-- we need the sports scar to haul the hay, buckets and other supplies. So it's quite the production. Most people have their pickup trucks which pull their goat trailers. Not us, we look like Laurel and Hardy hauling goats. But we try to be quiet and discreet-- we don't want to make a big production of our comical comings and goings.

On Thursday night we noticed that many people there were bathing their goats, almost immediately upon arrival. Now L and I had bathed our goats earlier in the week. We bought the fitting stand last weekend, and spent the week clipping everyone and bathing them, and working with them to lead. So we felt like they were pretty clean, and we didn't bring our fitting stand, or think we should bathe them. I mean, we figured that all of that stuff should be done at home, ahead of time, when you're not pressed for time and really nervous. But what do we know, we had never done this before. So that fact kind of made us nervous.

That intensified on Friday. L had school, and the show began at 2:00. B and I took the day off, went over early in the morning and fed the girls, and then went and got some breakfast and some "show sheen." It's stuff you put on your animals to make their coats soft and shiny. The increased doting on the competitions' goats made us think we should be doing something constructive, so we spent $12 on a bottle of show sheen. What else could we do?? The girls were clean, chilling out in their stall, chewing their cuds, all was well. But everyone else was buzzing like bees in a hive. We picked L up at school at noon and headed over. 20 minutes before the show began, we were buying boots at a nearby fair stand, as L did not have properly fitting boots. Everyone else was scrubbing and clipping, and we felt inept and ill-prepared. Should we have brought the fitting stand? Should we haul them out to the washrack? We didn't want them to get a chill, and we have no blow dryer. The girls just lied there, hanging out, chewing their cuds like it was another day in paradise. Neither of us could think of anything we should have been doing, so we did nothing.

The show began, and we saw some amazing animals. We watched the 4H show closely, trying to see what the judge liked, and sizing up our competition (the 4H kids can also enter the open show).

Finally, at 5:00, the open show began. L was up relatively quickly, as dairy was first. Cindi led into the ring like a dream--- unlike all of the times we practiced. The judge LOVED her. The competition was not stiff in the ring for her, but the judge praised that goat up and down! He liked her straight back, her feminine appearance, her conditioning (I thought she was fat), her feet and legs (I thought they were bad), her udder attachment-- there was not a thing about her he did not like (apparently I know nothing!). In other classes he had awarded the blue to a less-than-perfect animal, but he was careful to note that "if he could change her, he would add this or subtract that." So he was not obligated to praise her up and down just because she was better than the competition in her class. So she took 1st place in the 12-24 months junior dairy doe class. Then it was back for the Grand Champion Dairy Doe run. There were 5 does in the run, all first place entries from their respective classes. He said that he rarely gives a dry doe preference over a milking doe. That would make sense, because you judge a dairy animal on its udder and ability to give milk and have babies. You can judge that on an animal who has done that already, but on a doe like Cindi, you can only project what she might do. But he gave Cindi the Grand Champion! He said that she was just the best doe there, and again, praised all of her physical attributes! L was STUNNED to say the least. Even in the first class, when he was up against only one other, he had no idea. I really suspected he'd get first, having seen the competition, but I am not the judge, so I didn't know for certain. L was stunned then, and really thrilled. But when he went back and got GC, he looked like the winner in a beauty contest. He said, "ME?" when the judge pointed at him, his jaw dropped, and he nearly forgot to shake the judge's hand. After everyone left the ring, he just stood there staring at his big purple ribbon and I had to call him out of the ring. I was proud, because he was really a humble winner (at first). I had to rein him in when he told his goat that they "beat the pants off" everyone there... but it was a good line anyway. : )

So then it was my turn. Aurora, true to her stubborn self, seemed to "forget" that we had practiced this leading business quite often in the past couple of weeks. We led (read: dragged) around the barn a bit, which did not go well, and by the time we finished, we were both exhausted. I was drenched in sweat, both from nerves and from exertion. I thought maybe I should take her into the show ring and have a seat just outside and wait for the show. That turned out to be the most sensible thing-- she was very calm, watching the other animals come and go. She actually relaxed and chewed her cud, just watching the other animals go by.

When it was my turn, I was disappointed that I was the only fullblood doe that entered in the show. However, I was happy to hear that the judge loved her. He actually said that he wished she had more competition, because she could have beaten it. He said that she had a lovely, straight back, a beautiful head and neck, very feminine, was very sound, tracked nicely as she walked, and was very three-dimensional for a doe her age (she's 5 months old). I was beaming like a proud parent! Again, he had not hesitated to award the blue to a less-than-perfect animal if they were still better than the others or the only animal in the class, but he always pointed out the areas that could be improved, or traits that made them less than perfect. So I know he was being straight. Again, when we went back into the ring for the Grand Champion run, we were the only ones, and easily awarded the ribbon. However, he said that he wished she had more competition, as she could definitely stand up to it.

Those comments and the judge's critical eye are what really made the experience. The ribbons are great for marketing-- my website already has up that we were champs at the fair. We tacked on a few dollars to the imaginary prices of our yet-to-be-born babies. So the ribbons and titles make some difference. But as I said, I trust this judge's critical eye, and I had seen earlier that he was fair and did not hesitate to point out both good and bad points in an animal, regardless of place (there were some third place animals that he praised, too, because they were worthy of praise-- it wasn't just the first places that were noted). I wanted him to look at our goats and tell us what he thought about their conformation, their character and their physical health. Of course, he told us exactly what we were hoping to hear, that we have beautiful animals, and that we're doing it right.

I am so proud of L, and I am so thankful for B. I should mention, that after all that hard work, B had to leave the show and take M to a birthday party on the other side of the metro. He was there with us all day, helping to prep, feed, and do the dirty work, but did not get to see either of us win. He was very bummed about that, and we were sad that he could not be there to win with us. So that was a low point. But he was glad to see the hardware we brought home.

So, we have another show next weekend. L will not show his dairy goat, it is a Boer Goat show, and it's an ABGA sanctioned show. In fact, the judge we had yesterday will be showing his own goats next weekend. The next judge is from Texas. This will be playing with the big boys, and we'll have to see if we have what it takes. I'll be showing Aurora and Wolfgang Buck (by the way, working with Wolfie is going very well, he is a big pussycat, but I'll write more about that later).

I'm glad we have this show to boost our confidence next weekend. We know we won't get laughed out of the ring!

Happy happy joy joy!