MONROE - One of the biggest challenges in getting a goat ready for a competition is teaching it to heel and walk at the same pace as the person showing the animal, said Jeremy Snelson, who has years of experience showing goats and other animals at the Green County Fair.
On Wednesday, Snelson's 14-year-old daughter Amy Walters demonstrated how she'll walk with Fawn, a baby alpine goat born in April, in front of a panel of judges at 9 a.m. Friday.
While Walters used a leash during the practice round, the goat for the most part stayed at her hip, rarely getting more than a foot away.
Walters, Snelson and other members of the Next Generation 4-H Club in Juda, which Snelson helps lead, are among the many groups showing a menagerie of farm animals this week at the Green County Fair. Fawn's twin sister Tryxie and 4-year-old mother Goatsie also have been or will be shown at the fair.
Snelson said Next Generation is a "managerial club" started in the past couple of years that has grown and now has 35 members. He and fellow leaders have worked to incorporate the latest technology, he said, such as making it possible for members who are out of town to attend meetings via Skype, the online video conference service.
Once you get the walking part down, said Snelson, there isn't a ton of work that goes into prepping a goat for the spotlight. He said he uses a knife and a pair of shears to trim his goats' hooves, so that their feet are straight and level while walking and posing. The animals are washed with a special Ivory soap to make their coats extra shiny, he added.
Snelson said the goats on his farm are milked by hand, and that an adult like Goatsie can produce as much as a gallon of milk a day. Some of the milk is consumed directly and some is incorporated into items for recipes, like ricotta cheese for a baked lasagna. He said it doesn't make sense to try to sell the milk given the limited number of goats on the farm. Goats are accustomed to being milked at dawn, he said. But during the week of the fair they need to be full of milk when they're judged, so they're milked late in the morning.
Some goats are naturally calm around humans, Snelson said, especially those that were bottle-fed as babies. Goats that were fed by their mothers tend to be more to be on the wild side, he said.
Snelson said he also owns a rabbit that he's planning to show at the fair. His rabbit is in the "single friar" category, which is considered a "market," class, meaning the animals likely will be sold at auction.
He said there are strict weight limits within the category. For instance, his rabbit needs to be between 3.5 and 5 pounds to compete.
It's also important that the rabbits' claws are trimmed to a proper length, he said, and that their orifices are clear of ear mites and mucus.
Typically the person showing a rabbit will cover the bunny's eyes while carrying it in to keep it calm, he said.
On Wednesday, Snelson's 14-year-old daughter Amy Walters demonstrated how she'll walk with Fawn, a baby alpine goat born in April, in front of a panel of judges at 9 a.m. Friday.
While Walters used a leash during the practice round, the goat for the most part stayed at her hip, rarely getting more than a foot away.
Walters, Snelson and other members of the Next Generation 4-H Club in Juda, which Snelson helps lead, are among the many groups showing a menagerie of farm animals this week at the Green County Fair. Fawn's twin sister Tryxie and 4-year-old mother Goatsie also have been or will be shown at the fair.
Snelson said Next Generation is a "managerial club" started in the past couple of years that has grown and now has 35 members. He and fellow leaders have worked to incorporate the latest technology, he said, such as making it possible for members who are out of town to attend meetings via Skype, the online video conference service.
Once you get the walking part down, said Snelson, there isn't a ton of work that goes into prepping a goat for the spotlight. He said he uses a knife and a pair of shears to trim his goats' hooves, so that their feet are straight and level while walking and posing. The animals are washed with a special Ivory soap to make their coats extra shiny, he added.
Snelson said the goats on his farm are milked by hand, and that an adult like Goatsie can produce as much as a gallon of milk a day. Some of the milk is consumed directly and some is incorporated into items for recipes, like ricotta cheese for a baked lasagna. He said it doesn't make sense to try to sell the milk given the limited number of goats on the farm. Goats are accustomed to being milked at dawn, he said. But during the week of the fair they need to be full of milk when they're judged, so they're milked late in the morning.
Some goats are naturally calm around humans, Snelson said, especially those that were bottle-fed as babies. Goats that were fed by their mothers tend to be more to be on the wild side, he said.
Snelson said he also owns a rabbit that he's planning to show at the fair. His rabbit is in the "single friar" category, which is considered a "market," class, meaning the animals likely will be sold at auction.
He said there are strict weight limits within the category. For instance, his rabbit needs to be between 3.5 and 5 pounds to compete.
It's also important that the rabbits' claws are trimmed to a proper length, he said, and that their orifices are clear of ear mites and mucus.
Typically the person showing a rabbit will cover the bunny's eyes while carrying it in to keep it calm, he said.