County Fair - Day Four and Still Functioning

By day four of the county fair, things start to feel a little routine. Not even much motivation to photograph anything. It’s all too familiar to be interesting at this point.

Of course there was a goat obstacle course that I missed Goat Princess partaking in which was a bummer. It makes for some funny scenes watching naturally agile dairy goats trying to maneuver some of the creative obstacles they come up with. There was also a milking relay contest where local personalities, law enforcement, and the like are teamed up against the 4-Hers. Rules are simple: get as much milk as you can into a plastic water bottle and return it to a quart jar. First team to overflow their quart jar is the winner. But again, somehow I unfortunately missed that as well as that makes for some great video taping. I believe the first time I attempted to milk a goat or any dairy animal for that matter was in that same contest.

Today I seemed to be mainly occupied with keeping H-Bob busy and by being the support staff for Goat Princess who needs to be reminded to eat and keep hydrated. She has been studying for the written test portion of her upcoming Master Showman Contest she qualified for by taking the Champion Intermediate Showman title the other day. In addition to the written test, they show the different species...beef cattle, dairy cattle, llama, swine, sheep, dairy goats, meat goats, fiber goats, and pygmy goats. That requires the 4Her to connect with the other top showmen of the other species to learn from them the ins and outs of their species' showmanship. It can be a draining experience. I've sure got to give her credit for doing her homework.

Other than that, the day flowed as usual. Wandering the exhibits with H-Bob, checking on the little dairy calves,



making trips back and forth between home and fairgrounds, admiring the handiwork of others who obviously have more time than I,



stopping by the OMSI booth and making some goop,



and avoiding the temptation to gorge myself on fair foods...that gets reserved for the final day of fair on Sunday, and just generally killing time, even if it was hanging out in front of the fans.



One of the goat kids from this year’s kidding that is at the fair on exhibit is looking a little punky. I need to remember to bring some grape leaves from home in the morning. For some reason it tends to perk them up a bit. It is always a worry that they will pick up a virus or the stress of the fair will affect them negatively. Tucked tails and hunched backs are not a good sign.



I will admit that it is fun to share our knowledge about goats with the fairgoers. Some people are curious. Others are serious to-be owners. All seem to be amazed at the personality that goats have. I tell them it’s their personality that got us here in the first place. Be careful.

Stayed tuned. There are two more days until County Fair is over.