Editor Jennifer Stultz enjoys showing dairy goats at the state fair, even when the preparation is a difficult job, as it was with Nellie-Belle. This Sable yearling owned by Stultz was first in her class at the 2022 Kansas State Fair. Courtesy photo

It was windy outside at the Kansas State Fair this year, and really hot in the animal barns. But I still had a good time there last weekend with my three dairy goats Miss Nicky, Nellie Belle and Polkadots. I won some ribbons in the show ring, spent a lot of time fine-tuning trim jobs, washing goats, watching the judging in the show ring, interacting with people coming through the goat barn, and visiting with other exhibitors. It’s always a struggle to take the time to get ready and get to the state fair, but best reward is something almost intangible.

Along with my family, I have taken dairy goats to the Kansas State Fair annually for more than 30 years. My daughter helped me get there and get set up on Friday, but mostly I was on my own for the planning, the preparation, the entire process this year. While I thought I might enjoy the peace and quiet and less stress of that aspect of “getting to the fair,” I have to say I really missed my husband. He was heavily involved in his own big event that same weekend, at our home, so we did our own things this time.

While getting my three dairy does ready for the show, I was once again reminded that I am not as young as I used to be. I only had three goats to trim this year, how hard could that be? Bad knee and all, it was difficult. First of all the weather didn’t cooperate. After weeks and months of hot, hot weather, the one weekend I blocked out for show clipping and trimming, the temperature dropped to the 50s! What? I couldn’t trim my does at this time and then chance them getting conditional pneumonia just for the fair. I put off trimming for another week and slammed right up into major man-event plans at my home. Another story for another time.

So a day before the fair, instead of a week or two cushion, I had a lot of prep work to do, and no procrastination time.

I finally got started with my big, dry yearling doe that hadn’t been handled much other than coming up to the feeder for the past year. She wanted nothing to do with getting up on the milk stand which has a holding gate for the head and makes it easier to get the electric shear we use to make the hair coat look nice actually on her body. During all the pushing and shoving and trying to get Nellie Belle on the milk stand for show preparation, all sanity and peace of mind was lost. Sammy dog, ever helpful, started barking and couldn’t stop; that didn’t help one bit.

I finally got Miss Nellie in position on the stand and started off trimming her hooves. The right pedicure is so important to how a goat walks in the show ring, and well, since Miss Nellie had not been shown before and was over a year old, her hooves needed a trim. Come to find out, the hoof trimmer was dull from the previous years of trimming. Ugg. Nothing to do about it but hang on to those slashing, kicking legs until Nellie Belle got tired and then muscle through clipping hooves with a dull tool. I was determined to get something done and I wasn’t about to try to wrestle Nellie Belle up on that stand again after a run to town to get a new hoof trimmer. I am just as stubborn as Nellie so the contest was on.

I got the feet done and with now-aching arms, elbows, knees and back, moved on to body clipping only to find my beautiful silver- roan Nellie actually had a hair coat encrusted with dirt and sand, thanks to the good old Kansas wind and our dry pen conditions. Sand is not good for clipper blades but sometimes you just have to deal with less than ideal conditions and get the job done.

I started the clippers, laid them down on Nellie Belle with the usual upsweep motion and that four-legged monster came unglued from the milk stand and went sideways, complete with head gate still attached as it separated from the base of the stand in her panic. Somehow I had a hold of her collar and went sideways with her into the sandy dirt at the side of the barn. Chaos ensued. Sammy dog went nuts. The hair clippers, still running flew out of my hand and landed on my toes. Ouch. The head gate was banging my arms and body but I refused to let go of Nellie Belle’s collar. Bad words were flying as I tried to grab for the clippers to turn them off and still keep from going all the way down as Nellie Belle, bouncing and jumping, beat me with the head gate. I got the clippers off and then in a fantastic, ballet, WWF twist, Nellie Belle took me down. Did I let go? NO. I’m a farm girl through and through. Never let go.

With fingers about twisted off in the neck collar and a snorting monster in a head gate standing over me, I somehow managed to take Nellie Belles legs out from under her and she went down too. I wrestled the head gate off of her and together we got up. We had a heart-to-heart talk right there, me and Miss Nellie Belle, which basically boiled down to me telling her I was the boss and she better get that through her little head or she would be dinner on that big cooker that was sitting in the backyard for the men’s conference my husband was hosting. I think I got through to her, because I put the milk stand back together, got her back up on it and we got that job of clipping all done. Don’t tell Nellie Belle, but I still hurt.

Long story shortened, Nellie Belle turned out to be my best entry at the state fair and she won her class for yearling Sable dairy goat does. After our little escapade, she decided she better go my way instead of her own, and she actually did quite well in the show ring without a lot of dramatic scenes. And we spent some quality time with her on the milk stand at the fair and me trimming up the little things that were missed at home.

Funny thing, a long-time dairy-goat-breeder and good friend of mine was there at the state fair in a walking boot, her arm in a sling. We stood next to each other at the check-in line and I asked what happened, was she in a wreck? Depends on what you mean by wreck, she said.

“I just made the mistake of tying a dry yearling that I couldn’t get up on the milk stand onto the head gate of the stand. When I turned on the clippers she went ballistic. She went in a circle with the whole milk stand attached to her head and bouncing around all over. That metal contraption took me out, almost broke my ankle, cut my arm, bruised my elbow pretty bad,” she said.

I didn’t even tell her what happened to me, by that time I was feeling very lucky. I only got the head gate, she got the whole stand.

Gotta love the state fair. It’s a fun place to go to get a slice of humanity, connect with people who have similar interests, share stories and often find out that you’ve got it better than you thought. The ribbons are nice, people are interesting. And then it’s always good to come home.