Kacey Miller

Setting up her goat in the Cedar Park Project Center Show practice arena, senior goat showmen Jordyn Jones faces a pretend judge. To prepare for the Williamson County Livestock Show the week of Dec. 8, Jones exercises her goat, named Harvey, on a treadmill, gives him baths and works on his showing skills daily. “I started showing my freshman year because of my love for animals,” Jones said. “And when I was around five years old, my grandpa had promised to buy me a show goat one day and he did just that. Raising animals makes me feel like I have a purpose. It gives me something to look forward to everyday and it gives me something to escape reality from. The animals are almost like therapy animals in a way, only if they are behaving, that is.”

Slipping the halter around her goat’s head, she carefully leads him out of his pen and into the arena, her shoes making imprints in the brown dirt. She makes a circle around the edge of the ring, eyeing her goat walking alongside her to ensure his strut is balanced and poised. Then, she stops, places his feet in the proper position, and sets him up, his muscles flexing and head elevated. She turns her head to the imaginary judge in the center of the ring and waits for him to evaluate her animal, just like the real one will in a few weeks.

The Cedar Park FFA livestock show team will compete at the Williamson County Livestock Association show Dec. 9-11 at the Williamson County Expo Center in Taylor, Texas. Lambs and goat exhibitors will show Dec. 9 and swine showmen will show Dec. 11. Students who place high enough in individual classes will qualify for the premium county sale, which will take place the following weekend. At the sale, businesses and individuals will “bid” on exhibitors in an auction-style event to financially support the kids through the rest of the show season.

To prepare for livestock shows, student showmen often develop daily routines with their animals to ensure a well-rounded diet, exercise plan and enrichment program for their livestock. These practices give the animals a reliable schedule and the opportunity to train more easily and develop physically.

“Every day, I walk each pig and work on their training [in the arena],” sophomore swine showman Hailey Evans said. “I am so excited for the county show. This year, I plan to earn good placings, so my pigs and I are working to improve on the small little things. Feeding them can be a challenge when seeing what they need and [knowing] how I can fix it. This year, though, I know what I’m doing and I am confident I can perform well at county.”

With three show pigs, Evans said she will prepare for the county show similarly to how she prepared for the annual barn show Cedar Park FFA hosted Nov. 7-8. At the show, Evans placed second with one of her pigs.

“The Cedar Park Barn Show was so much fun,” Evans said. “I absolutely loved the energy that it gave and I met some very nice people. [At county], I plan to get higher in the rankings by being very picky with how [my pigs] look. Our barn show had many exhibitors show up, but not as many as the county show will have. There, I will have more people in my class, and the amount of effort I am putting into [my animals] will definitely show through. I see potential in my pigs to get better than they have before.”

Senior Jordyn Jones is raising two Boer goats this year, which placed fourth and sixth at the barn show.

“I think my performance at the county show will be better than the barn show because my goats will have had more time to learn the show ways, and also I will have had more time to prepare them,” Jones said. “I’m somewhat excited for county, but I tend to get nervous before any show. This year I hope to improve and make the sale.”

The Cedar Park FFA show team has one junior FFA member, Cedar Park Middle School seventh grader Haley Miller, who placed reserve champion in junior showmanship and seventh in class at the barn show.

“The barn show was really good, because my goat got to learn what a jackpot in a show looked like and how it worked,” Miller said. “I’m a bit nervous for the county show because my goat has a temper, and he is not very good at concentrating on showing. [To work on that], I try to work with him every day to teach him patience.”

Miller has shown for three years, and Jones has shown goats since she was a freshman. Jones got her first goat through a fulfilled promise and said she is grateful to have gotten started showing early.

“I started showing my freshman year because of my love for animals,” Jones said. “And when I was around five years old, my grandpa had promised to buy me a show goat one day and he did just that. Raising animals makes me feel like I have a purpose. It gives me something to look forward to everyday and it gives me something to escape reality from. The animals are almost like therapy animals in a way, only if they are behaving, that is.”

According to Evans, who has shown swine for two years, she plans to continue showing until she graduates because of the experiences and fun she has at the barn.

“Showing pigs is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Evans said. “I have learned so many life skills and in showing livestock. Each pig has taught me a lesson. It feels absolutely amazing to show, and it’s very rewarding. I love being in the ring. Raising livestock is my life.”

Although it is mostly fun, raising livestock can be nerve racking, Jones said. Earlier this show season, one of her goats had Coccidia, a parasite that slowed down his growth and was a danger to his life.

“One of my biggest worries is my goats coming down with a sickness and not being healthy anymore,” Jones said. “My little goat, Harvey, came down with a bad case of Coccidia and it took about 3-4 months to get him fully recovered due to all of the side effects the illness gave him. Thankfully, he’s better now, but I still worry he may get sick again.”

Health problems in show animals is a major concern, Miller said, because of the asset an animal is and how expensive veterinary bills can be. However, the experience of raising an animal makes the risks it brings worth it.

“I really like the process of getting the animals and them learning to trust you,” Miller said. “It is a good journey. I’m only in seventh grade, but this journey has been really helpful throughout my life and has helped me grow to be a better person. It has made me less shy, and helped me know that you have to put in the effort to get good results back. FFA has taught me a lot of valuable life lessons, and I am grateful for it.”