The Socorro County Fair

Every year on Saturday we go to the Socorro County Fair. We look at the exhibits, peek in at the animals, and do some of the carnival and then wander home again. Not unworthwhile, but not a highlight of our year.

This year was different. It turns out that the key to The Socorro County Fair is participation. This year my daughter showed a Booster Goat. Boosters or Cloverbuds are the Brownie Scouts of 4H. They may show chickens, rabbits or goats (all small enough not to knock them over!). Their animals are exempt from most of the tagging, registering and tattooing (female goats still need a TB shot). And their show is non-competitive. Where the big 4H kids need to be able to answer questions about the breed, age, and how the animal was raised, Boosters are asked two questions they are unlikely to blank on in the ring -- What is the name of your goat? Why did you name it that?

I took Lynn out of school Thursday and Friday so that she could participate in the run-up (Nadya and Seneida are home-schooled so they are present for four straight days). Now I understand why during high noon on Saturday the fair feels a little dead. Thursday morning the trucks arrive, the animals are unloaded, everyone unpacks their stuff and gets settled near their assigned pens. The carnival (rides) is slowly being assembled but not open till Friday. Most of the booths are there, but only some are open for morning coffee and breakfast burritos.

There's constant traffic to and from the animal showers -- Thursday night is booster goats and 4H pigs -- "swine" according to the announcer. Animals have to be fed and watered, then restrained. The sheep eat the sawdust, so they get little muzzles. The freshly washed pigs get blankets or sweaters, and sometimes a board between them and their pen-mates if they don't get along. The goats just get yelled at for eating the shade structure.

The last four hours before your class is a mad dash to re-wash, re-sheer your animals, then a desperate attempt to keep them clean before they show.

There's constant changing of clothing -- on unloading, you wear your 4H camp t-shirt and 4H baseball cap. Suddenly, kids spout braids, bows, starched ironed jeans, and very large shiny belt buckles. The teenagers have several different sexy outfits -- layered tanktops for washing the cow, dusty broken-in cowboy hat, boots and holey jeans to prove they worked that cow, black drapey top with bling for after nightfall, then on show day, poofy hair, large belt with jewels in cross patterns, black cowboy shirt with rind-stones (no hats allowed in the ring). Did I mention sunglasses that would put Elton John to shame?

There's only two places in town to get cowboy clothes -- Brownbilts and Western Mercantile, so many kids are in the same shirt. Rather than this being a prom-type disaster, it's very cool -- especially if an older kid like Casey is wearing the same shirt!

The Booster goat show allows the kids to have the goats on halters. A halter wouldn't work for a pig -- you get sticks to try and control those. But the older kids are supposed to control their sheep and goats by holding the head and poking them in the butt when necessary. (Goats you haul the hind quarters off the ground by the tail.) After a lap around the ring, they line up in "inspection position". The kids pick up the front half of the goat in a hug then push it down and back. This encourages the sheep to push against against them -- much like a muscle builder flexing. In this position the judge feels the sheep all over for muscle mass. There's some tickling and tapping going on trying to get the sheep to stay tense. It's an art and there's a special award for "Showmanship". I didn't realize what a trick it is to control a sheep this way until one got loose late in the day. The Navajo girl chased it all over the ring, till they moved the gates to corner it.

It is hot and dusty and both days we arrived at 8 AM, left at 2 PM for a nap, returned at 5 PM and stayed till 8. We were exhausted. Not being farm people we don't normally stay out all day in the sun and heat. I know there's lots of prep we weren't there for, but I suddenly remembered all the animals AT HOME that had to be fed and watered. So there's at least an extra hour of work at either end of a very long hot day.