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Love those goats! Too bad I don't live on the Swiss Alps...
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Sick goats
Lewis and Clover are sick. They caught something at the fair. I only have a couple minutes to write because of band. I'm going to have to watch them for a few days. They had each recieved a shot of penicilin and that was supposed to help them but they're sick.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Post-Fair Report
Okay, I'm about faired out. I'm absolutly sick of it, and the good news is that I don't have to sit around the goat barn for a whole year!! YAY! First thing I did when I got back was take a nice, long, hot shower! Dad's about to go get his. So... You're probably wondering what happened. Well here's the rundown in case you don't want to read anymore:
Clover- 4th place showmanship; 7th place show; dead last open class
Clark- Champion, Harness Class
Lewis- Champion, Harness Class
That's the basics but there are a lot more details. We got to the fair and got everybody settled in. Now, just a warning, my days are all running together in my head so The time isn't too clear. The second day, I worked both boyes. I didn't ride with Clark because that is how I was going to show him. He didn't do too well. After that, I worked Lewis. (I rode with him) He worked really well and went exactly where I wanted him to go. It was great. The show was going to be fine. Or so I thought.
As the week progressed, the boys gradually switched roles. Lewis became increasingly more difficult to drive, and Clark got better. As you can imagine, this was disturbing to me.
Wednesday was open class. That is where you pay a fee and you can enter a doe or does into one class or several. It's good for getting your name out. So Mom had signed up clover (except it was accidentally under her name) I was kind of excited because I know Clover is a good looking goat and I was hoping she would do well. She was in the Yearling class. She didn't meet expectations which really disturbed me. My last goat, Chelsea, was too small and she just wasn't up to dairy standards so I had to sell her. So it really bothered me. I realized though that Clover at least has a reason for being small. She was a late kid, born on June 28th of last year. I think once she's bred and has kidded she'll do better. I'll just have to wait until next year and see.
Friday was the big show. On Thursday, I decided that since Lewis wasn't getting up to expectations, I would try riding with Clark and maybe just ride with him in the show. BIG MISTAKE! Almost as soon as I gave the "walk on" command, Clark was off. Now I had that little accident with Lewis before and since then, I've learned how to stop a goat. You just need to pull hard enough. Clark however, wasn't stopping for anything! He made straight for the goat barn. I pulled as hard as I could but he wouldn't stop. I realized that the cart was hitting the back of his hocks and making him even more nervous than he already was. I didn't know what was going to happen. Thankfully, up ahead was my cousin Carrie and her husband Ron. Ron grabbed the shaft of the cart and managed to stop Clark. I was very grateful because I don't know what would've happened if he hadn't stopped that cart.
Friday came and mom and I got the goats ready for show. I did better than I thought I would in Showmanship. Taking a fourth place. Pretty good considering the fact that I didn't really practice. Following that was the actual show. Clover took seventh. Again, I think it was because of her small size. Well see about next year though! Next came Clark. He actually did the better of the two boys. Lewis came last and I rode in the cart. It was interesting because he wouldn't quite go where I asked him to. The judge told me I did a really good job and she said I was more advanced than some projects she'd seen. She told me that next year I should work on an obstacle course and having the boys pull in tandem. That means they pull in a line.
Oh and by now you may be wondering about Sara, the other girl doing a harness project. She couldn't do it. She had ordered a harness from Hoegger Goat Supply. They're really backordered at the moment. She didn't get her harness in time for the fair so she's working on it for next year.
There was a man I met who was looking for a dairy goat to keep at his house and eat poison ivy. I told him I would give him a call when Clover kids. I also met some people from the llama barn who did a harness goat just for fun. They gave us some tips and we're going to have to buy a new harness. I can't give details right now because I start school tomorrow and Mom wants me to get off the computer. I'll probably be adding little things here and there over the next couple of days. Such as this: The goats are freaking out now that we're home because they're used to being petted and talked to all the time.
Two more things before I go. Look for some new pages up on my website soon. I'll probably write something about training. I've also started collecting some new links. If you don't have the URL, it's over there on the right. --------->
The final thing is this; I got some interesting looks and some interesting comments about my harness goats. Here are somethings people said or asked during the fair:
"Can I have a ride?"
"Is that a donkey?"
"It's a baby llama!" (actually about Clover)
"Is that a deer?"
"You need a stick and a carrot" (several variations of this comment)
"You're NOT allowed to drive south of the horse barns" (that from the officials it really restricted my driving range!)
"It's a camel!" (come on people!)
Maybe starting tomorrow, I'll talk about my plans for the coming year.
Clover- 4th place showmanship; 7th place show; dead last open class
Clark- Champion, Harness Class
Lewis- Champion, Harness Class
That's the basics but there are a lot more details. We got to the fair and got everybody settled in. Now, just a warning, my days are all running together in my head so The time isn't too clear. The second day, I worked both boyes. I didn't ride with Clark because that is how I was going to show him. He didn't do too well. After that, I worked Lewis. (I rode with him) He worked really well and went exactly where I wanted him to go. It was great. The show was going to be fine. Or so I thought.
As the week progressed, the boys gradually switched roles. Lewis became increasingly more difficult to drive, and Clark got better. As you can imagine, this was disturbing to me.
Wednesday was open class. That is where you pay a fee and you can enter a doe or does into one class or several. It's good for getting your name out. So Mom had signed up clover (except it was accidentally under her name) I was kind of excited because I know Clover is a good looking goat and I was hoping she would do well. She was in the Yearling class. She didn't meet expectations which really disturbed me. My last goat, Chelsea, was too small and she just wasn't up to dairy standards so I had to sell her. So it really bothered me. I realized though that Clover at least has a reason for being small. She was a late kid, born on June 28th of last year. I think once she's bred and has kidded she'll do better. I'll just have to wait until next year and see.
Friday was the big show. On Thursday, I decided that since Lewis wasn't getting up to expectations, I would try riding with Clark and maybe just ride with him in the show. BIG MISTAKE! Almost as soon as I gave the "walk on" command, Clark was off. Now I had that little accident with Lewis before and since then, I've learned how to stop a goat. You just need to pull hard enough. Clark however, wasn't stopping for anything! He made straight for the goat barn. I pulled as hard as I could but he wouldn't stop. I realized that the cart was hitting the back of his hocks and making him even more nervous than he already was. I didn't know what was going to happen. Thankfully, up ahead was my cousin Carrie and her husband Ron. Ron grabbed the shaft of the cart and managed to stop Clark. I was very grateful because I don't know what would've happened if he hadn't stopped that cart.
Friday came and mom and I got the goats ready for show. I did better than I thought I would in Showmanship. Taking a fourth place. Pretty good considering the fact that I didn't really practice. Following that was the actual show. Clover took seventh. Again, I think it was because of her small size. Well see about next year though! Next came Clark. He actually did the better of the two boys. Lewis came last and I rode in the cart. It was interesting because he wouldn't quite go where I asked him to. The judge told me I did a really good job and she said I was more advanced than some projects she'd seen. She told me that next year I should work on an obstacle course and having the boys pull in tandem. That means they pull in a line.
Oh and by now you may be wondering about Sara, the other girl doing a harness project. She couldn't do it. She had ordered a harness from Hoegger Goat Supply. They're really backordered at the moment. She didn't get her harness in time for the fair so she's working on it for next year.
There was a man I met who was looking for a dairy goat to keep at his house and eat poison ivy. I told him I would give him a call when Clover kids. I also met some people from the llama barn who did a harness goat just for fun. They gave us some tips and we're going to have to buy a new harness. I can't give details right now because I start school tomorrow and Mom wants me to get off the computer. I'll probably be adding little things here and there over the next couple of days. Such as this: The goats are freaking out now that we're home because they're used to being petted and talked to all the time.
Two more things before I go. Look for some new pages up on my website soon. I'll probably write something about training. I've also started collecting some new links. If you don't have the URL, it's over there on the right. --------->
The final thing is this; I got some interesting looks and some interesting comments about my harness goats. Here are somethings people said or asked during the fair:
"Can I have a ride?"
"Is that a donkey?"
"It's a baby llama!" (actually about Clover)
"Is that a deer?"
"You need a stick and a carrot" (several variations of this comment)
"You're NOT allowed to drive south of the horse barns" (that from the officials it really restricted my driving range!)
"It's a camel!" (come on people!)
Maybe starting tomorrow, I'll talk about my plans for the coming year.
