# Do you think this is wrong?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I don't want to spark a big debate or anything, but I'm wondering what you all think...
We were at a 'youth' show, and there was a parent there that has been a big breeder in the past and I think still is.
I know a lot of breeder families their kids show the goats, and I am okay with that.
But when a little toddler maybe 3yo is out there showing in breeder classes, having to have their pro breeder parent out there in every class to hold/set up the goat. The child clearly not wanting to stand there and eventually runs off while the parent shows the goat. Doesn't that just seem....wrong?
I know you want to get your kids into it, and getting them out there at a young age is the way to go, but there should be a limit to how many goats the child shows, right?

I am not putting down the breeder/parent or anything like that, but it really bothered me. To me it just looked like the parent used the child to gain something more for their goats, especially since the child didn't want to be out there anymore.


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## keeponfarming (Jun 12, 2013)

if the kid doesn't want to do it, runs off, starts crying, and pretty much even yelling "no i dont wanna!" then your Out, its for the "youth"!!!!! just because mommy or daddy REALLY want you to do this... doesn't give the parents the right to just Jump in and show the goat to win....It just takes away from everyone else's kid really trying to do it.......IMO


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Hate seeing this ... I've seen kids break down and cry because they don't want to be showing.


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## canthavejust1 (Oct 12, 2012)

I would hope that that goat didn't place. There should be minimum age on a child showing. For safety reasons. Imo. 5 would be a reasonable age.


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

I say the parents shouldn't be able to touch the goat (like in turkeys) and help set it up.
The most a parent should do it grab the goat if its out of control and hold the chain when the kids moving around the goat setting it up. 

But that is just unreasonable and kind of up sets me because it was a youth show and the parent just showed that animal! Girrrrr


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

sounds like a helicopter parent......feel bad for the kid.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

Kids always do better when they want to do something. Especially when young like that.
Hopefully it's just a situation of the kid having a bad day out there and not the parents being helicopters.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm sure the parent had good intentions and wanted to get their child into showing at a young age. But having more than a couple of goats, and many way too big for the child to consider showing <adult boer does for example>, I thought it was very unfair to the kids who do have goats that they work with, train, etc. and are capable of showing.
I'm sure the child was happy in the beginning, but was clearly not interested towards the end, and in one class walked off, bored and uninterested and wanted to do something else. 
This is why they have 'novice' classes.

I agree, the only time a parent should be in a breeding class with a child is to help in case the goat gets away, or if they are in the class for novice/peewee kids who are too little to show by themselves and need help walking/setting up/etc. Again, that's what 'novice' is for.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

In ABGA, the child has to be 4 the day of the show or before to show a goat. It sounds like the child just got bored or tired with the show, if he/she was doing multiple classes.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I don't think its right for parents to help in the ring at youth shows. I don't even like parents clipping goats for children all the time... its one thing to help but the kids need to learn to do it themselves. Of course young children can't do things all by them selves but showing is a one man job... no reason for the parent to step foot in the ring unless the goat was loose, kid was hurt or having a hard time with the goat.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

In both ADGA and ABGA the child has to be at least 4 years old or older on the day of the show. I don't think it's fair for the parent to continue to show in a childs class, as they would usually show better than a 4 year old. But in a normal class, I think it's fine for an adult to take over showing. The point of it is to have fun, the second is to have your animal place well, that is why people show, to place well. 
But they should not have let a child in the ring under the age limitations, with an animal way too big to handle.

For example, my 2nd oldest daughter Ashley was I think 7-8 when she was showing pygmies, and they drug her around the ring. She cryed her eyes out, she could not get the goat to stop, so I put the goats back in the pen, voided any placings she would have got, but I was fine with that, they were just pet pygmies. But she was very little, and was not strong at all, so she couldn't handle them, they were spooky being in a new area, so the ran around everywhere pulling her with them.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Was it an open class?


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## goatgirl132 (Oct 18, 2012)

I think if its just an OK if it was an everyone come out and have fun pay a 15$ entry fee in an ALL AGE(human wise) class it would be fine. 
But it was a youth class. If they sent another kid in the as a replacement it would be ehh so so.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I have never seen an adult show at that show, so I don't think it was open.

I'm sure the parent had no bad intentions. But just the way it looked it made them look like they were pushing their child to get those goats out there a little bit. You don't bring a lot of goats for a little one to show, maybe a couple.
My daughter is 6 and has 3 that she shows. But, she can handle them without anyone assisting, and it's spaced out. She shows a doe in Novice Showmanship, wether in Novice Market, and she helps her brother by showing a 2mo doe in a breeding class <he has 2 does in that class>.
Last night we were at another show and she decided she wanted to play with her little buddy instead of showing after novice market, so I told her go ahead and play, her big sis stepped in to show the little doe for her.


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

I agree i dont want a child getting hurt and that's the only time a parent should step in. I also think that if an older sibling can help out thats ok.


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## rdmtnranch (Mar 4, 2013)

I agree. We recently had a peewee show and it was frustrating. As a parent to watch a little two year old whose mom pretty much showed the goat, place over my two girls in a showmanship class. My girls got no assist from me. Of course the show was ran poorly and they should have broken up the age groups. It is a touchy thing. In my opinion, we sometimes push our kids a little too hard too early.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Yeah sometimes in the youth shows seeing little kids w/parents out there helping hold and set up the goat finish better than my kids upsets me a little. especially since I know my kids train their goats themselves with me supervising, even my 6yo trained 3 goats by herself, and 2 of them are 2x as heavy as her.
Once in a while those goats get a little out of line, but the show usually has an adult in the ring to help them out.

We were at a show last week where a kid kept getting dragged through their classes with a market wether. I was like, really? After being dragged a couple of times in showmanship, goat rearing, and kid having to put all their strength into holding it through the entire class...they come back out in market class and have the same scenario? Older novice kid too, and couldn't control that goat at all, goat was just too big and strong for the kid.
Even someone next to me said no way that kid should be showing that goat.
I felt bad for the kid, they tried hard, but really needed a goat they could handle so they could actually do well in the show.


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