Chat
09-07-2016, 01:52 PM
We had a good time at the Colorado State Fair on Sunday and Monday. We didn't bring home any spectacular wins, but we had a good time and the girls stayed healthy and behaved themselves. The girls got sick last time I showed at fair, so this time I brought a jar of immune-booster vitamin gummies for them to snack on. No runny noses this time--yay!
Tigerlily showed me what a negligent goat owner I've been at training her. People who show dairy goats stand their goats up square and a little stretched out, then make them stretch and flatten their backs by running their fingers down certain points along the goats' spines. The junior does (those without udders) also have to tolerate the judge lifting one hind leg and looking and feeling for extra teats. Tigerlily did NOT want me to touch her anywhere on the spine, and she violently objected to having her teats messed with. Most goats will flatten down their backs when their spines are brushed with the fingertips, but Tigerlily's reaction was to rear straight up in the air and hop around. So I had to spend part of each morning working with her in a quiet corner of the barn. I didn't ask her to flatten her back--that was too much to require at the last minute--but I did want her to at least stand nicely when touched since judges also like to feel the goats' backs for width and spring of rib. With a little time and a few cookies I was able to convince her that no one was trying to attack her by fiddling with her back end. She learned to stand nicely for back stroking, but she never got great about having her teats handled. Still, there was definitely some improvement. She went from kicking at the judge in Sunday's show to simply sitting down for the judge on Monday. Luckily judges take this sort of thing with a bit of humor. After all, they themselves have no doubt had a few novice goats that were nervous or angry about being handled in unfamiliar ways at a show. I have no doubt that Tigerlily will be much better-behaved at the Harvest Show this coming weekend.
Pepi, on the other hand, was a sheer delight to work with. This little darling is not only as cute as button, but she's as laid-back and easygoing as a goat can be. I put her on the stanchion and introduced her to clippers for the first time just before her class. I don't clip my goats for shows, but I do trim around the edges a bit, and her belly, tail, and legs needed some sharpening up. She never flinched when I turned on the clippers, and when I buzzed them around her belly and legs (always ticklish places!) she didn't move a muscle. She just looked round at me with a curious expression on her face and watched. She stood similarly well when I sprayed her with Show Sheen, and every time after that when I let her out of her stall she would scamper across the aisle, leap onto the stanchion, and ask me to primp her some more. Pepi was quiet and calm when I took her mother, Petunia, away to the show ring, and she was quiet and calm when I took her for her own class. I never heard one peep of alarm or protest from this little goat all weekend, and she was friendly with everyone who came by to pet her. She kept straining her head out of the stall with bright-eyed eagerness so children walking by would stop to stroke her face and ears. She delighted a lot of people this weekend, including me.
Tigerlily showed me what a negligent goat owner I've been at training her. People who show dairy goats stand their goats up square and a little stretched out, then make them stretch and flatten their backs by running their fingers down certain points along the goats' spines. The junior does (those without udders) also have to tolerate the judge lifting one hind leg and looking and feeling for extra teats. Tigerlily did NOT want me to touch her anywhere on the spine, and she violently objected to having her teats messed with. Most goats will flatten down their backs when their spines are brushed with the fingertips, but Tigerlily's reaction was to rear straight up in the air and hop around. So I had to spend part of each morning working with her in a quiet corner of the barn. I didn't ask her to flatten her back--that was too much to require at the last minute--but I did want her to at least stand nicely when touched since judges also like to feel the goats' backs for width and spring of rib. With a little time and a few cookies I was able to convince her that no one was trying to attack her by fiddling with her back end. She learned to stand nicely for back stroking, but she never got great about having her teats handled. Still, there was definitely some improvement. She went from kicking at the judge in Sunday's show to simply sitting down for the judge on Monday. Luckily judges take this sort of thing with a bit of humor. After all, they themselves have no doubt had a few novice goats that were nervous or angry about being handled in unfamiliar ways at a show. I have no doubt that Tigerlily will be much better-behaved at the Harvest Show this coming weekend.
Pepi, on the other hand, was a sheer delight to work with. This little darling is not only as cute as button, but she's as laid-back and easygoing as a goat can be. I put her on the stanchion and introduced her to clippers for the first time just before her class. I don't clip my goats for shows, but I do trim around the edges a bit, and her belly, tail, and legs needed some sharpening up. She never flinched when I turned on the clippers, and when I buzzed them around her belly and legs (always ticklish places!) she didn't move a muscle. She just looked round at me with a curious expression on her face and watched. She stood similarly well when I sprayed her with Show Sheen, and every time after that when I let her out of her stall she would scamper across the aisle, leap onto the stanchion, and ask me to primp her some more. Pepi was quiet and calm when I took her mother, Petunia, away to the show ring, and she was quiet and calm when I took her for her own class. I never heard one peep of alarm or protest from this little goat all weekend, and she was friendly with everyone who came by to pet her. She kept straining her head out of the stall with bright-eyed eagerness so children walking by would stop to stroke her face and ears. She delighted a lot of people this weekend, including me.