# How do we get started?



## kristinatucker (Jan 3, 2012)

Hi all, we are entering our second year of goat ownership. We have nubian and nigerian does and bucks. I would like for the kids to get into showing out girls but Im not really sure how to go about it. I have called our local 4H but the one that heads up our county seems to not be overly informative and I cannot find anything out there for us and 4H. We are getting ready to send in all our paperwork for our memberships to the different registries and also to officially register our goats also. Where do we get started? We have 2 does that I would love to show but their horn banding was not successful and their horns grew. They are small but probably about 3 inches. We are considering rebanding them come spring after they have their babies. I anticipate that we will probably show their babies since we will be able to dehorn them vs getting our other does at an age that they could not be. We are in TN if that helps. Our websites are also listed if you would like to see what we have. We had one other doe that was our prize girl that sadly died from bloat last week. We miss her dearly.


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

I'm a 4her in my first year of showing too! I just finished up my first show about a week ago. Although our 4H is very supportive, that is not necessarily the best way of going about showing. First thing you should check is your county fair, or a local one. These are bound to have shows and there you will meet people who can give you great advice and tell you about more shows. Also check ADGA. They often have a list of annual shows. However, the show season is coming to an end because shows don't usually happen in winter/fall. Wish you the best of luck on finding a show! And my deepest condolences go out to you for the loss of your doe. Good Luck!


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## kristinatucker (Jan 3, 2012)

Thanks! I was hoping to get in on the local show here at the fair but I guess this year they are only doing meat goats.. Boo, hiss. We are going to go and watch though so we can see what they do exactly.

WHere can I learn about showmanship? We are getting ready to send in our paperwork for our goats to transfer them all to us. It took a long time for us to get the paperwork and we finally have it all squared away! Probably once we have our official membership from ADGA, AGS, and NDGA we will see more info about different shows.

Are the shows enjoyable or is it all business? We had horses and I was very turned off by the attitude of the people at the shows. It was so cold. I want the kids to have fun doing it and get to meet people. We want to get our goats some ribbons too but primarily I want them to enjoy it.


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

Do you mean where can you learn how to do showmanship or where to compete in showmanship? It took me a year to send in the registration for my doe... so don't worry about that! And honestly, the shows are very enjoyable! I made so many new friends during my first show! All the goat people I've ever met were super nice. I've heard that horse shows can get much more competitive than goat shows... so don't worry about that. And about having fun... I got last in all the classes I entered but I still had a ton of fun. Really, goats are just awesome animals to be around and showing them is only part of the fun.


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

Oh, and as far as fairs go, try ones in other counties as well. I know plenty of people who don't like their county fair or can't get in, so they do another one. Good luck!


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## dixiegirl3179 (Jan 20, 2010)

Look online for a state breed club. I'm in Florida, we have a Nigerian Dwarf club for the state that holds a specialty show every March. I think the show season is different in different areas. Here in Florida we have a couple of shows in November. Georgia just had a couple or is about to have a couple (I don't remember the exact dates because I don't plan on going to those) and there are some in Feb/Mar/Apr as well. Seems like we do them in the Fall/winter here because of the heat. ADGA.org has a list of shows, just click on the shows tab. I think it only shows through October though. Once you start rooting around the internet, you'll be surprised what you'll find in the way of shows near you.


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## cybercat (Oct 18, 2007)

kristinatucker said:


> Hi all, we are entering our second year of goat ownership. We have nubian and nigerian does and bucks. I would like for the kids to get into showing out girls but Im not really sure how to go about it. I have called our local 4H but the one that heads up our county seems to not be overly informative and I cannot find anything out there for us and 4H. We are getting ready to send in all our paperwork for our memberships to the different registries and also to officially register our goats also. Where do we get started? We have 2 does that I would love to show but their horn banding was not successful and their horns grew. They are small but probably about 3 inches. We are considering rebanding them come spring after they have their babies. I anticipate that we will probably show their babies since we will be able to dehorn them vs getting our other does at an age that they could not be. We are in TN if that helps. Our websites are also listed if you would like to see what we have. We had one other doe that was our prize girl that sadly died from bloat last week. We miss her dearly.


Kristina I am also in TN. We do have a couple of goat clubs that have shows. You can do a search on yahoo groups for them or the net for their websites. I know there is the East TN goat group that goes by Smokey Mountain Milk Goats or something close to that. You can find them on the AGA under clubs. The other I belive is around Nashville. nashaville also is where one of the big shows is held every year. If you PM me I will able to get you some better info if i know what part of the state you are in.


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## kristinatucker (Jan 3, 2012)

Thank you everyone! We are so excited to be able to show our goats. The kids just took our new goat Thumbkin to the Lewisburg Goats,Music, and more festival and did the goat rodeo with her. Now it was not a SHOW but it was FUN! If you go to our facebook page we have some pictures. We took 1,2,and 3rd in 3/6 events. Our little doe was awesome!


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