Back from the county fair and lived thru it!

[manygoatsnmore]

Whew, what a week! Taking a 4-Her and 14 goats to the fair is a good way to make you appreciate working for a living. I'm going back to work to rest up! I've managed to hitch up and trailer to and from and even turned it around without major trouble, answered a ton of questions from fairgoers about every possible aspect of goat raising, saw my dd grow up considerably from last year to this, and even participated in our first ever open ADGA show! I'm tired, but I'm glad we did it.

Dd won a blue in fitting and showing and had a special comment from the judge about how well fitted and clean her goat was (done completely by dd - "Hands off, Mom, I can do this!" - not even advice). That really made me proud, to see her move from wanting help with the clipping and shaving (as her 4-H leader, I can give assistance in the form of a demonstration, followed by her actually doing the work), to telling me she didn't need or want help, but wanting to demonstrate her proficiency with the process. She cared for 10 animals in the 4-H division herself and helped me with the other 4 in open class, even though she was told she was not responsible for them. Her animals did well, too. In 4-H, all her animals won blues and her Alpine doe won best doe of show for the 2nd year in a row. In open class, she exhibited her Alpine doe (7 year aged doe), her Alpine dry yearling and my Oberhasli yearling milker (who did gain enough weight to make a respectable entry). All blues, all 3 made up the AOP (Any Other Purebred) class, so she had lots of ribbons and good premium money on the 3! She also got to handle a lot of animals for the open class competitors in Nubians, LaManchas, and Saanens, as did I. Great experience for both of us. All in all, a good time, even with the inevitable meltdowns to be experienced with a 13 y.o. teen daughter. Boy, am I glad it's over....

[livestockmom]

Oh my goodness, you must be so proud!
Congratulations for a job well done, both of you!

[Starsmom]

Our fair starts Wednesday. I have mixed emotions...it is always so much work. My son only has 4 goats to enter. Our county puts a limit on the number of entries for 4-H and they have to win a blue in order to compete in open class. They can enter any animal in open IF it was not entered in 4-H otherwise it has to have a blue to progress. He also has poultry. He did make the decision not to enter his horse, she was bred and hasn't settled yet, so we decided not to stress her out this year. He has been trying to breed her since April, so this was the last chance and he doesn't want her to lose it.

I'm glad your daughter did so well, you must be proud. It is great when they take over and do it themselves, but it is also so hard not to just pitch in and help.

[manygoatsnmore]

Yeah, I had a hard time turning off my "mommy voice"! You know the one....that constant urge to remind her what she needs to do next. I was very proud of her.

Our fair has the same rule about needing to get a blue in 4-H to go to the open show, or you can enter open class. I had trouble getting the papers on her LaMancha doe and the service memo on the kids from our Alpine doe, so the other goats that could have gone to open show were not registered in time to go. I just plain procrastinated on getting the Nubians registered. I really don't think they are good enough to compete open class anyway. Good enough for family milkers, but not open class show goats. Anyway, I think next year we'll be entering more open class goats and not as many 4-H. Although she did a good job of caring for all the goats, at home we share the work load and it would be more fair (no pun intended) to do the same at the fair, especially on the milking chores.