When it comes to showing goats, there are several things to keep in mind. Winning ribbons at a show is always rewarding, but we have to remember it's not everything. Keep in mind that the judge's placing for your animals is just one person's opinion on a given day. There are many other benefits to showing your goats as well. You can use these opportunities to see your goats in the ring with other breeders, and observe the strengths and/or weaknesses of your breeding program. You can of course, look for new genetic lines and new herd sires from within the herds of your fellow showpersons. It's a great opportunity to 'talk shop' with fellow goat breeders. It's a great learning curve for you as a breeder to be able to learn to look at your animals objectively by listening to the judge's reasons for his placings in each class. Showing at fairs is a great way to promote and show support for your industry. And last but not least, showing gives your herd important exposure, and it's a great place to make new contacts and hand out business cards and/or breed information brochures!
The Royal Winter Fair Boer Goat Show Nov. 2009
It was wonderful to have the Boer Goat show back at the RWF for 2009, after an absence of about 6 years! This was also the first time that percentage boer goats have ever been shown at the fair! There were 54 entries in all, and it was an amazing show! We were very impressed with the show judge, Lisa Synsael, from West Point, Indiana. Thanks so much for your comments and advise!
There were 44 entries in the purebred classes, and 10 entries in the percentage classes. We presented 6 goats for judging--4 purebreds and 2 percentage. We were very pleased with our results, and we also enjoyed the two days in Toronto with our two youngest children! We were able to see many other aspects of the RWF while we were there, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Superdogs show is definately a must-see as well! I highly recommend attending the Royal Winter Fair, there is so much to see and do! We encourage goat breeders and enthusiasts to consider entering the show next year! We hope for a bigger show in 2010, with hopefully more percentage animals participating as well!
Ribbons earned by Treeline Boers at the Royal Winter Fair 2009!
Treeline Ruby earned Reserve Champion Senior Percentage Doe!(at the tender age of less than 2 years!)
Showing in the champion percentage classes. Treeline Darcie
in her 2nd show (placing 2nd), and her daughter, Treeline Ruby, in
her first show (placing 1st, as well as Reserve Champion).
Our doe, Treeline Sandy, placing second in her class, inbetween two beautiful Sugarfield does, Sugarfield Too Hot, and Sugarfield Timeless, who have both classified at VG89! The lovely Stonemoore doe, Stomemoore Topaz rounded out the class.
We hope to classify our herd next summer.
The beautiful Serendipity Selma, placing third in her class, behind two powerhouse does. The judge commented that she was very structurally correct, just lacking some of the power of the first two.
While we were unable to participate in the Markham Fair goat show October 4th, 2009 because of family obligations, we are looking forward to getting back in the showring on November 8th, 2009 for the Boer Goat show at the Royal Winter Fair! Hope to see you all there!
We were thrilled some lovely Treeline does have continued their show career after leaving our farm. The Caprine Classic in Lindsay that took place in August 2009, and was the first show for the new owners (names witheld by request):
Treeline Lilac and Treeline Lady performed very well in this, their second show (both were shown by Treeline Boers at the Caprine Classic Nov. 2007). And the lovely 2 year old daughter of our doe Emerald Acres Clever, Treeline Clara, did well to place second in her class in her first show! Congratulations! Update: Lilac and Lady are continuing their career now at Double S Boers of Brockville.
Two from a group of commercial doelings sold this summer to Colleen Alloi of Echo Bay, Ontario, were shown at the local Laird Fair which was held Aug. 14th-16th. The event gives children experience learning showmanship and how to handle livestock, as well as rewarding the participants with some spending money for the fair! Update: These same two young goats were taken to the Echo Bay Parade of Lights and had a place of honour as part of the nativity scene on Dec. 12/09. They were a big hit with all the small children!
In December of 2008 our farm was the setting for the production of a Christmas video created by a local Church Youth Group. It was exciting to watch the teens and young teens interact with our goats as they performed their parts in the play. Some of the children had never been to a farm before, so it was thrilling to watch! I must say that our goats did a great job in their role in the video production, and with no rehearsing!!
In November of 2007, we entered our second goat show at the London Caprine Classic show in London. It was quite a learning curve for us as breeders, and the competition was stiff. We were pleased to come home with 17 ribbons,(including a first, 3 seconds, and and 5 thirds!) and one Reserve Champion placing! We found that the 4 hour drive (5 and a half hours on the way there because of traffic through Toronto, also aptly nicnamed as "the great divide", by some travellers!) was quite stressful on the goats , so we are likely going to only attend shows that are a shorter distance from home in the future!
Emerald Acres Betsy earned honours as the Senior Percentage Doe Reserve Champion for 2007 at the Canadian Caprine Classic show.
Dottie competed again in the junior commercial class, and placed 2nd in her class.
We decided to begin showing some of our boers in fall of 2007. Our first show was the Markham fair, September 30, 2007. We were a little rushed in entering our animals, as we found out about the show a little late. But with only a week of preparation for 8 animals, we were incredibly pleased with how they did at the show! They were very well behaved, and seemed to enjoy all the visitors that came through the goat barn from the fair. It was also a great opportunity to chat with people about the meat goat industry! Below are some of results from our first time out!
We showed Sugarfield Supreme, a Ram H Dakota son, and were quite pleased that he placed 1st in his class as a Yearling buck, and he also won Junior Reserve Champion buck!
Treeline Darcie, our percentage yearling doe, won her class and also won Junior Reserve Champion percentage doe! She is registered at 50%.
Dottie is a our yearling commercial doe. She won her class and is Grand Champion Commercial doe! Dottie is a fine example of the fact that you don't need to own purebred registered animals to show in the fair. The Commercial meat breeding does is a great class to enter if you have a commerical non-registered herd!
Darlene is Dottie's sister (from triplets) and showed well too, winning Reserve Champion Commercial Doe!
One of our first outings with our goats was to bring them to the Shannonville Fair in 2006. We were presented with the opportunity to promote the boergoat industry and give our goats some exposure. It was great to see so much interest shown in the goats there! Thanks, Jeremy for all your help!
