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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Festivities Kick Off With Competitors Getting Their Goats Ready

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
          Pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits, crafts, a cake auction and so much more, that's what the Torrance County Fair is made of.
        Not counting the junior rodeo, the first full, hodgepodge-filled day of fair was Tuesday, when the steers, dairy heifers, goats, rabbits, poultry, hogs and sheep were checked in. People were busy feeding the goats electrolytes, shaving a pig and washing sheep.
        Kids in boots and cowboy hats ran on the grass, teenagers in T-shirts and ropers sat with adults at picnic benches and talked.
        Tuesday's events seemed very heavy on the goats. For many, this was payoff for months of hard work.
        "I think it's a good experience for my daughter and son. Gives them a little responsibility," said Jennifer Burson, a Moriarty resident whose children, Travis and Melissa, entered goats to be judged for the market.
        Although it's not the first time the Bursons have been to the fair, it is their first time competing.
        Melissa worked with the goats in the pen, trying to teach them to remain tense as she rubbed their muscles the way the judges do when they try to assess the quality of the meat.
        It's those kinds of efforts that Jennifer said give her an new appreciation for the preparation competitors put in for events like the dairy goats and the goat obstacle course. Her son, Travis, has grown somewhat attached to his goat, Wrangler (like the Jeep, not the jeans, he said), and isn't excited about the idea of it being sold for meat, he said.
        "It depends how much (money) it is," he said.
        Now in her fourth year at the fair, 13-year-old Kolene Winn, who will attend Moriarty Middle School, is an old hand. In fact, one of her sheep won reserve grand last year. She currently keeps seven sheep.
        "They're a little bit of work. You have to practice a lot," she said.
        Eight-year-old Anna Langell is also an experienced fair competitor. She's entered the baking and canning competitions since she was 4. This is her first year working with animals.
        She led (and carried) Gedi, a three-week-old Nubian goat, around an obstacle course of teeter-totters, water hazards, over steps and logs.
        "I kind of had to pick him up for all the jumps," she said. "My favorite was the tire (obstacle), and stairs, and the fort."
        She seemed as if she might add more to the list of favorites on the course, which had around a dozen obstacles, but got distracted and ran off.