One Fine Acre - 2023 4H Steer Project Update

[babsbag]

In CA we have open shows at fairs and all ages of handlers show at the same time in the same ring. The youth showmanship is just for kids, and it it to show off how well the child handles the animal, they do not judge the animal at all, they judge the handler. It might be different in other places. IDK

 

[Latestarter]

Ahhhh OK... that makes a little more sense. I wasn't sure how it worked...

 

[Goat Whisperer]

 

[OneFineAcre]

QUOTE="Latestarter, post: 402772, member: 12680"]OK, newbee question... In these shows, I see a lot of all girl or all boy and expect that those are 4H type competitions. How do adults show their animals? Is that like a totally separate show? And how do they pick a champion or best in show in competitions between kids and adults? I mean, a Nigie is a Nigie, whether shown by a kid or adult...[/QUOTE]

Well last night was showmanship. They aren't necessarily judging the goat as much as they are judging the handler. At the fair, showmanship isn't by breed it is by the age of the child. If you noticed in the picture Rachel had a Nigerian, but there were also Nubians and Alpines.

They have PeeWee, Jr., Intermediate, and Srs. (they actually have two classes of Srs but not sure of the age breakdown on that. Some shows also have Adult Showmanship, but I don't think the our State Fair does.

Showmanship is about how you show the goat not about which goat is the best. It's how you fitted the goat (clipped, trimmed hooves, and cleaned the goat just overall how you prepared the goat for the show ring), your knowledge of the parts of the goat, and your knowledge in regards to showing.
Last night in Rachel's age group, she checked every goats hooves as to how they were trimmed. Some kids clean the goats feet and put socks on them when they take them to the ring. She also checked every goats tail web. Sometimes poop gets caked there, and she checked to make sure they are all clean.
She asked them to point to parts of a goat like withers, thurl, pinbones, etc.
The may ask the child what are the 4 categories of the scorecard. General Appearance, Udder, Dairy Strength, and Body Capacity.
They may ask how many point each category is worth. 35, 35, 20, and 10
They may ask a child " what do you think your goats greatest strength is on the score card ?" Rachel's answer for Cocoa is " General Appearance. She has a nice level topline, is up hill, and a very angular doe".
They may ask a child " what do you think your does weakness is on the scorecard". Rachel's answer for Cocoa is " her teats kick out too much, because she doesn't have a strong medial suspensory ligament"
That's another reason why Cocoa is great for showmanship besides handling well, her strengths and weaknesses are obvious so you have a good answer.

Now as to the actual show where they judge the goats, at our State Fair and Mtn State fair, these are not 4H events. These are ADGA sanctioned events. Both have a Youth Show and an Open Show.
Youth show is 21 and under and the animal has to be registered in the Youth's name. At our Fairs youth shows are restricted to residents of N.C. only.

The open show is open to anyone from anywhere. I know there is one exhibitor at our fair from Indiana.

A lot of the goats shown in the youth show will also be shown in the open show. We register all of ours in Rachel's name so she can show them in the youth show, but we can also show them in the open show. In the youth show, the child has to show her goat. But, Rachel can have 2 animals in each age group. She can get another child to show the other animal. In the open show Maurine and I can show the goats even though they are registered in Rachel's name.

At our State Fair, it has a lot to do with money. Our Fair pays some of the best premiums in the country. $50 for 1st down to $32 for 10th place. Each exhibitor can only win premiums for 2 animals in each age group. We try to make sure we have two in each age group.

For the youth show there are no entry or pen fees, and they pay the kids .35 per mile for up to 10 animals just to bring them. The premier exhibitor in the youth show win's $1500.

In the open show 1st place Dairy herd is like $350 down to 10th is like $100.

We know some folks out west who own a dairy and at one point had 3 kids under 21, they only have one now. They probably needed an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with which animal each child owned. Their best year they got $13,000 for going to the NC State Fair dairy goat show.
We only have the one child and we don't get mileage because we live in the same county as the state fair, but we pay our hay bill for our little herd of little goats off of the state fair. I think between the youth and open show we got $1700 last year.

 

[OneFineAcre]

So the Youth Show was today. We had a good time and a good show. We got no Rosettes this time, it's been a long time since that happened. But, that's how it goes. A bad day of showing goats with my daughter is better than a good day at work.

I thought our goats looked as good as they have ever looked, but I guess it's been a good year because everyone's goats looked great too.
Zamia's udder didn't fill up enough. We mixed some Gatorade in her water to encourage her to drink more, so maybe she will do better tomorrow.

We still had 3 out of 10 in the Championship line up. Zamia was 1st and Rosemary 2nd in the 5 year old and above age group. Cocoa was 2nd. in the 4-5 year old class.

And others Clara Belle was 3rd and Taffy 4th in the 3-4 year olds and Moonpie was 4th in the 2-3 year olds.

 

[Southern by choice]

A bad day of showing goats with my daughter is better than a good day at work.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Are you going to be there tomorrow?
I know someone at your house wants to come.
I know there are going to be some awesome La Mancha's and Nubians in the show.

 

[goatgurl]

sounds like a good time is being had by all. congrats to Rachel, and you are so right any day with your daughter is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Southern by choice]

Are you going to be there tomorrow?
I know someone at your house wants to come.
I know there are going to be some awesome La Mancha's and Nubians in the show.

YES! And we are so excited!
Thank you for sending the schedule!

...and probably some awesome Nigerians too!

 

[OneFineAcre]

I'll probably be showing Sannens when you get there.
I've shown more of then lately.