The Goat Show

Today I had the opportunity to attend my first goat show!

The Memorial Classic Dairy Goat Show was coordinated by the South Central Texas Goat Club.  It is held every year at the Washington County Fairgrounds.  There were various breeds of goats represented including Alpines (like my herd), Nubians, LaManchas, Saanens, and Nigerian Dwarfs.  It is hard to estimate how many goats were at the show (maybe 100 or so?), but there were plenty to admire!  Many of the people showing were from the central Texas area, but some had obviously come from farther as they had camped at the fairgrounds overnight.  As an interesting fact, everyone showing was required to wear all white (or at least mostly white)!

I arrived at the show around 9 am.  The show had officially started about 8:30.  There were various classes of goats, including about 3 or more goats per class.  From what I observed, the goats could be shown more than once if they fit into various classes.  All of the goats in a certain class entered the show ring.  A judge walked from goat to goat and critically analyzed the appearance and conformation of each animal.  The judge then spoke a brief overview of each goat before they left the ring.  The arena was a bit loud so it was a challenge to hear the judge (plus, I didn't know what to listen for).

The goats were held in small pens, where there owners had left hay, water, and feed for them.  The goats being shown were closely shaved, except for the tops of their tails.  This left their tails looking like little "fans!" The cutest goats were the little kids.  As most of the dairy goats had freshened (kidded) recently, many of the owners brought the kids along.  We found this little kid curled up in a chair inside its pen...

All of the dairy goats were shown before they were milked.  That means that most of the goats were bursting with milk by the time they entered the show ring.  Some were even leaking milk.  As soon as the goats were shown, their owners got busy milking!  I was able to see this electric milker in action.  The tubes suction to the teats and the milk flows from through the hose into the stainless steel can.  It was fun to watch, but I still like the whole experience of milking by hand.

When I got home, I ran straight to my goats and hugged them and told them they were the most perfect goats in the whole wide world.  It was fun to see all of the other goats, but I still like mine the best (I guess I am just a little partial)!  I love this goat adventure!