I suppose my love of goats all started way back when, when I was 8 years old. My parents bought me two grade doelings, a Nubian cross and an Alpine. Well, love at first sight with both of them, but instantly I was drawn to the long ears of the Nubian, and she became my first goat, "Nanny". Creative, eh? What can I say, I was a kid in love with a kid....
I was very fortunate that these two doelings came very healthy. I had the opportunity to prepare and plan for my new arrivals, and I took to the books and learned about "bright eyes", lice, properly trimmed feet and all sorts of what I thought were rather engaging aspects to owning a goat.
Nanny and Deary, as the Alpine was called (she was fawn colored like a deer) became the "guinea pigs" so to speak in years of training for the experience of management that I enjoy now. Lots of trial and error! They were taken out that first year to be bred, and several kiddings and years later, I had a taste of breeding - birth, life and death in animals.
I was keeping very accurate records of my grades - when they were born, who had what, who sired who, but I eventually I felt it was time to move onto purebreds, where the records were official and you could participate in showing, classifying and milk testing. So, at 13, I bought my first purebred pair, a doe and a buck. A year later, I sold the rest of my grades and was on my way!
I showed at my first show at 14 or so, and it was my first real experience with conformation. My doe was so well trained, well groomed, and well grown - the best in the class by FAR for that, but I was dead last. I learned that there was more to this breeding than just a healthy coat and bright eyes. Yet, in looking back, I feel extremely fortunate to have had herd health be my first priority over conformation...
Jump several years thru high school and beyond, where the goats generaly improved as much as I could afford quality new bucks and replacement does. Then in 1993, I met and married my "goat prince", Curtis. He immediately was intriged with these goats, something he'd never really given much thought to before. He was intrigued with my intrigue with them. He was hooked, I was his "7 goat wife", and we formed a new herdname,
"B R A V E H E A R T", together.
A little about our Management....
Maybe it was my indoctrination, or just his plain good common sense, but Curtis and I have ALWAYS been herd health first.....health over conformation. Meaning, we won't go buy a goat because her mother was this champion or her sire sired that champion and meanwhile, this goat with these champion relatives has abscesses and a broken foot...
We have children as well as our goat kids, and we are a family and we have a life. The goats are our hobby and hobbies are meant to be enjoyable. For the goats to be enjoyable, they need to be small in number, healthy and sound. This is not to say that we have healthy goats that don't show worth squat.....not true! Our goats do show - and we are pleased to say that they do so very well! :-) |
