AGS NATIONAL CHAMPION 2010 |
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SGCH GOLDTHWAITE BRIANNCA |
I left Colorado on June 3 with a trailer load of 20 Nubians and a truck load of as much hay I could carry along with other
essentials. I just took four of my favorite older does (3 to 7 yrs) and 5 first fresheners, 4 of them yearling who were nursing
their kids who also came along. I also took 5 other doelings from Jan. thru March kiddings. Driving at night our lst stop
was in Amarillo, at the home of long time friend Jeannie Skow. Not only did Jeannie give me a cool place to rest my head,
& a shady place to unload the goats, she found help for me both to bath them all and clip the majority, as it had been
too cool in Colorado to begin the clipping process. Cool there it was not! I believe up into the 100’s. We loaded up
and took off again late in the night for Weatherford, Texas and a three ring show on Saturday morning. It was not any cooler
there, and I was still trying to adjust to the heat, clip udders and finish up some legs, etc., and to show in several rings.
The girls did OK, with Briannca taking BOB in her 1st ring and 2nd to the Champion of the day in the
3rd ring, but was dismissed to the bottom of the class, with no reasons given, in the 2nd ring by the
same judge we were headed to show under at the Nationals - so that didn’t bode well.
SGCH Goldthwaite ABACADABRA |
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- 1st Pl Aged Doe - AGS Nationals Sedalia |
Abby’s beautiful doeling “Ferrari”also took a RGCH in one ring and won her GCH leg in another. The other
does placed at or near the top of their class, I believe Mimzie was 1 yearling milker in all 3 rings, but we weren’t
quite as ready for the Champion competition as we had been last year when we took all 6 rings.
It was enough to get me geared up for showing, and I enjoyed seeing many of my special Texas friends there - but by the
end of the day I was a pretty worn out and withered specimen, when my dear friend Katie Howell-Chapman insisted on helping
me load up and dragging me home behind her. A few days in Decatur with Katie and her very special husband Alan revived me,
my spirits, and my goats, and gave us a bit of a chance to adjust to the high Texas heat and humidity.
SGCH GOLDTHWAITE EXOTIC DANCER |
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2nd Pl. Aged Doe - AGS NATIONAL SHOW |
After a few days there (I had lost count) we loaded up one evening and drove across Texas and into Louisianna to my friend
Sylvia Victory’s delightful place. I spent a few productive and restful days there finishing most of the clipping and
show preps on the does, and enjoyed seeing several of my best older SGCH & other special does that now reside with Sylvia,
along with making mutual plans for meeting up at the ADGA Nationals in Kentucky.
Severe thunderstorms came in the night I had planned to leave, and were headed up thru Arkansas on the same route I planned
to take to Missouri, so we waited till the calm of the morning and I spent my birthday driving over 500 miles thru the beautiful
Ozark country of Arkansas and Missouri to Sedalia where the AGS Nationals were going on. The storms had really cooled things
down too so the weather was bearable. I wasn’t sure the truck was going to make it, but we worked out an agreement on
how we would take the hills, and I began to thoroughly enjoy the trip. Hot and tired when we finally arrived in Sedalia, we
were greeted by several old friends among some I hadn’t seen in years, and my special friend Marsha Loveland who shares
almost the same birthday had a present of her wonderful Chevre and crackers waiting. Yummm! I somehow got everything unloaded
and finally the does milked out
SGCH GOLDTHWAITE BRIANNCA |
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1ST Pl. 4 Yr Old & AGS NATIONAL CHAMPION |
. They were pretty hot, tired, and somewhat road sick from all the up & down and winding hills, so there was not much
milk the next day. I remembered my electrolytes that had been packed along for the ride, and started adding them to the water.
About 5 am the next day I woke to Briannca glaring at me from her next pen over. I wondered why she wasn’t still sleeping,
but when I got up a couple of hours later saw what the problem was - her udder was huge! She, like most of the other milkers,
had fully recovered and were ready to SHOW! She got milked down (a few times) and went out into the AGS National Show as a
4 yr old (her 5th birthday was the following day), and came out Grand Champion of the AGS National Show
earning her the title of AGS NATIONAL CHAMPION.
GOLDTHWAITE SILVERETTE |
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AGS NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPION |
SGCH GOLDTHWAITE MADELAINE |
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1st Pl. 3 yr old AGS NATIONAL, GCH & BOB 2nd ring ADGA show Sedalia, Mo. |
All the does actually were looking quite good. Mimzie won the yearling milker class, I believe Angel G. was 2nd
in the 2 yr old class (she is only a lst freshener), Madelaine won the 3 yr old class, and Abacadabra won the Aged doe class,
so it was pretty much a clean sweep. The juniors did just as well, winning a majority of their classes, and our beautiful
pale silver yearling from SGCH Felicity, Silverette, was named GCH JR and earned the title of AGS NATIONAL JR. CHAMPION
The following day was a double ring double sanctioned open show. I can’t remember all the results, but I believe
Mimzie won both yearling classes, Angel one of the two year old class‘, Madelaine both 3 yr old classes, took RGCH in
the 1st ring and GCH and BOB over Briannca in the 2nd ring, and Briannca was BOB in the 1st
ring. That win finished Madelaine’s permanent Championship, and she is now an SGCH.
GOLDTHWAITE ANGEL GABRIEL |
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2nd Pl. 2 yr old AGS NATIONALS |
I didn’t show the older milkers as they were already finished so got the day off. The juniors again showed well with
the lovely SGCH Jewels daughter “Uptown” taking a GCH as well as BIS Jr.
I was/am most thankful for the excellent showmanship help from the Flickenger team, and to a lovely young lady who not
only helped in the 2nd ring but held all the does afterwards for a quick photo shoot.
GOLDTHWAITE MIMZIE |
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1st Pl Yearling Milker AGS NATIONALS (+5 other sanctioned shows) |
Loading up after the three days of showing and sleeping in the stalls next to the goats was quite an ordeal by myself,
as I was tired and slower than most of the other exhibitors who headed on for home. I did indeed learn to work thru my sweat,
and with the wonderful patient help of Robin Nichols finally took off heading South just about sunset.
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GOLDTHWAITE HOOPLA (SGCH HOORAH/BOOTONNIERE) |
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Yearling Milker |
GOLDTHWAITE PASSION |
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Yearling Milker |
GOLDTHWAITE ANTONETTE (SGCH Ambrosia/Bootonnier) |
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Yearling Milker |
The next four days were spent with a lovely religious community group at “Stepping Stone Farm” in central Missouri.
They helped me to build a pen for my does behind my trailer under the trees, gave me a quiet room to rest, fed me, and were
always at my elbow with a refreshing iced drink of Mate & fruit juice. They were struggling with a goat herd they were
not sure how to take care of, so we spent lots of time evaluating, learning, and sharing all we could about keeping these
wonderful animals well and productive. All the children there, as well as the adults, were so happy and full of joy, that
I felt like I had 20 grandchildren and had definitely found heaven. After a few refreshing walks in the woods to let the does
browse, I discovered I had also found ticks & chiggers. We were still pulling ticks off the goats all week at Nationals.
They were very small & very dark and I couldn’t see them on the goats, but definitely could on me.
New Friends @ Stepping Stone Farm, Mo. |
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Sabrina, LevTahor, Brett, Moshelet, Hemdah & Keshurah |
Well it is mid December, and the National show photos I was waiting for have finally come in. By now, the
National Show is but a dim but pleasant memory. It was a week filled with good time with many friends come in from all
over the country. The girls (goats) arrived rested from Missouri, and I thought looked good the day of the show - the
first breed shown. But obviously they were not looking like what the judges were looking for that day. Neither
of my two "hot girls" of the season who finished their championships this year - Madelaine & Angel Gabriel-, a 2nd and
a 1st freshener did not even make the cut. The Aged does placed in the top ten as they have over the years, but we were
all over in the group classes, and the kids did not show nearly as well as they have at the last several National Shows, let
alone as well as they have done at all the other large shows this season. It just was not our day, but it was a great
day, and many of our friends (some with does of all our breeding) did just fine.
I will just post their photos here, and let their fans decide.
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SGCH Goldthwaite BRIANNCA 2010 National Show |
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SGCH Goldthwaite ABACADABRA 2010 National Show |
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BRIANNCA'S Rear Udder 2010 Nationals |
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SGCH MADELAINE'S Rear Udder 2010 Nationals |
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SGCH MADELAINE 2010 ADGA National |
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SGCH MADELAINE Udder 2010 ADGA National |
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Goldthwaite PASSION 2010 ADGA National |
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CH Goldthwaite ANGEL GABRIEL 2010 ADGA National |
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Goldthwaite SILVERETTE 2010 ADGA National |
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Goldthwaite HOOPLA 2010 ADGA National |
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Goldthwaite MIMZIE 2010 ADGA National |
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Goldthwaite ANTONETTE 2010 ADGA National |
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