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ABGA NATIONALS 2009!

My first ABGA Nationals started out a little rough. As many of you know, I dont have a reasonable sized trailer to haul so after much thought and consideration, I opted to have a custom cover created for my oversized goat tote. The pet ramp with a 500lb weight limit will work to get Crave loaded and unloaded. Transportation and loading? CHECK!

Marks buddy Ed said he'd handle all the petsitting of the goats, dogs, and silkie chickens. But who will take care of the high demands of bottle feeding baby deer and skunks? After many phone calls and tons of begging, I finally found a family willing to accept them who was an area FFA teacher. God Bless the FFA!

Now Im on the road.

After a stop at Hester Ranch to pick up Crave and some last minute advice from Allen at Hester Ranch, I left the next morning to West Monroe LA. I arrived around 3 in the afternoon and right behind me in line to check in was my friends and Oklahoma neighbors Broken S Ranch! YEAH! Someone I know! We all checked in and got pens together and assisted one another in unloading. Its nice to be helped by friendly folks from home when you're all alone. My hotel Wingate by Wyndham was fabulous and even gave me a military discount. I had the hotel pool to myself every night and its convienant location to a movie theatre, steak, seafood and mexican food restraunts proved to be a big money saver on gas.

It ended up being a challenge to keep Chics Crave Me eating this week. I think he was a little depressed with no buddies there with him to "compete eat" with. He always perked up when he heard my voice and I always sat with him while he ate in the evening to encourage him to eat a little more. Even though we had to check in on Monday, we never showed until Saturday.

I was much more confident at Nationals when it came time to show which was odd for me as the level of competition is much tougher. When it was our turn to walk in the ring, I simply took a big breath, smiled at the judges and walked confidently with my animal into the arena. I didn't want to finish last and if I could wish for anything, it would be a Top 5 finish as he's never finished below 5th in any competition that I've shown him in. When I got pulled out of the lineup, I thought I had finished 6th place until I counted the goats still being judged. 5th PLACE!!! I did it! You can't even imagine how thrilled I am. I had never thought I could achieve something like this my first year of showing goats. I couldn't have done this without the the guidance and assistance of Allen and Sally Hester at Hester Ranch. Not only did they breed this amazing buck, but they turned a business transaction into a relationship that feels like family. THANK YOU ALLEN AND SALLY!!

Speaking of extended family, mine got a little large at Nationals as I ended up adopting two bottle baby doelings I named Gucci and Prada courtesy of Tammie Reeves of Reeves Goats in Texas. My designer girls are adjusting nicely to their new home, have doggie diapers and cute girlie outfits for their indoor romps until they are big enough to go out in the show doe pen. Thank you Tammie for allowing me to take these little sweehearts home! Photos will be posted soon in the "new arrivals" section. Well folks, its time to wrap this up and do my afternoon bottle feedings! Thanks for all your well wishes prior to Nationals and I look forward to seeing you all at our next goat show!