Plate 1. “Silas,” a six-month Nubian / Boer cross, is shown by 16-year old Braden LeMasters of Reeds Spring. “Silas has good loin width, his front chest muscle fits in the palm well, he has a flat straight face and his ears ‘finish’ his face in the way they wrap,” notes LeMasters.
“Silas” is walked daily and bathed every other day. LeMasters has been showing goats for three years.
Goats
by Joshua Heston
Goats get something of a bad rap. Accused by the unknowing of eating everything from clothing to tin cans — and associated with lost souls and devil worship by European tradition, goats suffer from more than a few negative connotations.
Plate 2. Ben Simms, a 20-year old animal science major at College of the Ozarks, takes a good look at the competition. As a judge, Sedalia-native Simms is looking for “strong animals, particularly good strong feet and legs. For the wethers, you look for long loins, overall strength. For the bucks, you look for traits that will be passed on — those things that will make the animal a good sire.”
Simms is a 4H veteran with 11 years of showing experience, mostly with dairy goats.
Plate 3. Twelve-year old Hamer Goolsby of Billings shows “Amelia,” a strong Boer doe who “leads well and has plenty of muscle.”
I raised goats as a youngster and they’ve always been one of my favorite critters. Intelligent, curious, occasionally ornery, goats make for playful companions and more than one child’s best friend. I have loving memories of a billy named Abe who would follow me around the yard much like a lap dog.
Raised for both milk and meat, goats have been valuable livestock since time immemorial. In the Ozarks, goats are crucial for their hardiness and ability to thrive on little more than briar patches and rocks.
June 30, 2013
And the goats on the left
When the Son of man shall come in his glory,
And all the holy angels with him,,
Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations:
And he shall separate them one from another,
As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
The goats on the left.
— Matthew 25:31-33
Plate 4. Ten-year old Grant Goolsby, also of Billings, with six-month old buck “Gunsmoke.” “He will be our herd sire,” shares Goolsby, “He is very proud and he won because he is big, well-muscled and has overall power. That and his ‘dashing good looks.’”
Goat breed list:
• Alpine • Altai Mountain • American Cashmere • Anatolian Black • Anglo-Nubian (Nubian) • Angora • Appenzell • Arapawa Island • Australian Goat • Bagot • Barbari • Beetal • Belgian Fawn • Benadir • Bhuj • Bionda dell’Adamello • Black Bengal • Boer • Booted Goat • British Alpine • Brown Shorthair Goat • Canary Island • Canindé • Carpathian • Chamois Colored • Changthangi • Chappar • Charnequeira • Chengde Polled • Chengdu Brown • Chigu • Corsican • Daera Din Panah • Damani • Damascus • Danish Landrace • Don •
Plate 5. Nine-year old Parri McCroskey of Nixa is show here with her Boer doe “Passion.” “‘Passion’ won notice with her straight stance and back,” says McCroskey. “She is calm when she gets her bath and is really friendly.
“She is my best friend.”
Braden LeMasters with “Silas” is shown in the background.
Duan • Dutch Landrace • Dutch Toggenburg • Erzgebirg • Finnish Landrace • Girgentana • Göingeget • Golden Guernsey • Grisons Striped • Hailun • Haimen • Hasi • Hejazi • Hexi Cashmere • Hongtong • Huaipi • Huaitoutala • Hungarian Improved • Irish Goat • Jining Grey • Kaghani • Kamori • Kiko • Kinder • LaMancha • Loashan • Moxotó • Murcia-Granada • Myotonic (Wooden Leg) • Nachi • Nigerian Dwarf • Norwegian • Oberhasli • Peacock Goat • Philippine • Poitou • Pygmy • Pyrenean • Qinshan • Repartida • Russian White • Saanen • Sahelian • San Clemente • Somali • Spanish • SRD • Swedish Landrace • Tauernsheck • Tennessee Fainting • Thuringian • Toggenburg • Uzbek Black • Valais Blackneck • Verata • West African Dwarf • White Shorthaired Goat • Wooden Leg Goat • Xinjiang • Xuhai • Yemen Mountain • Zalawadi • Zhiwulin Black • Zhongwei
Plate 6. Eight-year old Dallas Goolsby of Billings is shown here with “Austin,” her mixed-breed Boer. “He stands up tall and has a straight back and good muscle,” notes Goolsby.
Original 1918 4H Pledge:
I pledge…
My Head to clearer thinking, My Heart to greater loyalty, My Hands to larger service, And my Health to better living, For my club, my community and my country.
— Otis E. Hall of Kansas
Plate 7. Fourteen-year old Noble LeMasters of Reeds Spring shows off “Monster,” a young Nubian / Boer cross. “He has a wide, nice chest, is very strong and has a good stance,” says LeMasters, “‘Monster’ is hard-headed but gets walked every day. We work with the goats for two to three hours every day. And we bathe them every other day.”
4H Taney County Animal Show, 2013
Thanks to the hard work of folks like Cassandra Nebena, Ken and Kimberly Dixon, a handful of supremely qualified judges and a growing number of dedicated kids, the 4H program in Taney County is making a comeback. Despite the tourism in our area, agriculture still plays an important part of our economy and culture.
It is a valuable place for these kids to share, to learn, and to be recognized for their efforts. Raising animals is hard work, requiring everyday responsibility, dedication and education. It is work which teaches us a great deal of science, compassion, common sense and a sense of reality far removed from most “reality” TV shows.
Josh,
I just want you to know that ever since you left our dance group, I have continued to faithfully read stateoftheozarks emails.
You are a very good writer! Your articles get better and better! Keep up the great work.
Come see us sometime!
Sincerely,
Pat Dennis