Goat show starts week of livestock fair competitions
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on September 28, 2007 2:13 PM
Do you know your goat parts?
You will have to if you want to be like Elizabeth Rowe and Marisa Linton, two goat-guiding young folks who took first-place showmanship honors Thursday night at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.
But Greene County resident P.T. Harrison, who competed in the Junior Meat Goat Show alongside Linton, knew his parts, too -- though he didn't win anything the first go-round.
He and other contestants said it's important to know goat anatomy when the judge asks -- in this case, Franklin County Cooperative Extension Agent Martha Mobley served as goat appraiser.
A goat showman must make sure to keep an eye on the judge, P.T. said -- if not, you risk losing points, he said, particulary in showmanship competition.
P.T. has two goats, one named Clyde for his tendency to crash through his surroundings, the other named Munchkin for his diminutive stature.
"I named him Clyde because he broke the fence," P.T. said. "He went right through it -- and it was electric."
Parents Sharon and Phil Harrison laughed in approval, reminding their son that Clyde and Munchkin still had an event to attend.
P.T. said if he didn't emerge victorious from that one, his bed awaited -- it was a school day Friday, Sharon Harrison reminded.
"Tomorrow is large vocab test in Miss Cooper's class," Mrs. Harrison said.
Shot back P.T., "Miss Cooper's vocabulary tests don't scare me."
"They scare me," his mother said back in a slightly scolding tone. "If they scare me, they should scare you."
Other folks had no looming vocab tests, and seemed content to be at the fair on a Thursday night -- like McKenzie Boyd, 9, of Greenville.
McKenzie's been raising goats for about year, she said, in which time she's learned a thing or two about what they eat, and the teeth they use to do it.
"I've learned they don't have teeth on the top -- they only have teeth on the bottom," said McKenzie, whose younger sister Kennedy, 3, watched with wide eyes.
McKenzie's companion, Madison Trueblood, 7, of Winterville, said just like with the Miss America pageant, there are tricks for dressing up your contestant.
But instead of taped bosoms, the goats benefit from hairspray on the horns, Madison said.
"You can use either Vaseline or hairspray," to achieve a pretty sheen on goat horns, Madison said.
Madison's brand of choice for shiny goat horns? White Rain, produced by Salt Lake City, Utah-based Huish Detergents.
But Madison said the hairspray wasn't the only preparation she used.
"I brushed him, and I used baby wipes to clean him," Madison said of her goat preparation.
The care to prepare unsoiled goats wasn't lost on Mrs. Mobley.
"These goats are clean," she said. "That's one thing I've been looking for tonight," said Mrs. Mobley, who also said it was one of the hardest goat shows she's judged.
Winner of the Junior Meat Goat Competition was Marissa Linton of Wayne County. Second place went to Justin Bright of Elizabeth City.
Senior Meat Goat Show winners were Elizabeth Rowe, of Wayne County, who took first place, and second-place winner J.A. Joyner of Sampson County.