ADGA Nationals Day Two

Day two at Nationals dawned warm and bright and HUMID! Abby and Heather had showmanship classes that began at 8AM so we got everyone up early and dropped them at the barn to get their animals cleaned up for the show. Mrs. Tollmann, Samantha, and I went back over to the hotel to pack up the rooms to check out. On our way out of the hotel we grabbed some coffee for us and muffins for the girls.

Abby and Heather showed very well in each of their HUGE showmanship classes. Heather was one of 32 exhibitors, while Abby's class had 24! Heather placed seventh! Abby did very well but did not make the top ten.

Hannah and Samantha were the next to show. Samantha had 18 exhibitors in her class while Hannah had over 30. Samantha placed sixth in her class! Hannah showed very well, but did not place in the top ten.

After showmanship the girls had a quick break and ate hot dogs and fries from one of the food vendors. Expensive, but tasty! Once they had eaten they began to gather up the materials they needed for the fitting competition. Since we hadn't had the complete information for the competition, we had to beg and borrow equipment from exhibitors. Everyone was very generous and helpful.

The fitting event was amazing to watch. Heather wisely chose an oberhasli kid as the girls all know how to clip an ober to look it's best. The girls worked well together and all their practicing on larger goats was beneficial as their goat was a kid. In the end they were placed fourth out of 22 teams! The judges commended them on keeping their area neat without the use of a tarp and their ingenious use of socks to keep the feet clean. (Socks on the feet is a standard trick in these parts, but apparently new to the midwest!) The judges also noted that our team was quite young compared to the other teams competing.

After fitting we cleaned up and returned the things we had borrowed, changed out of the show whites, said our good-bye's, and loaded up the van for the seven hours ride to our hotel in Pennsylvania.... or so we thought....