Learn Goat Showmanship at Elgin Park

COURTNEY McCLURE, The Standard

UXBRIDGE: Mrs. Stewart and Ms. Bidan are hosting a workshop on Goat Showmanship in Elgin Park, Uxbridge, on Saturday, May 20th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration fees are $10 per adult, $25 per family and $5 for 4-H members.

This workshop aims to teach participants how to show their goats properly.

“Our goal is to encourage the younger generation to continue showing their goats,” added Mrs. Stewart.

They are expecting 30 to 40 participants for this workshop.

While the park will be open to the public on this day, participants kindly ask residents to be mindful of the goats and their owners and not walk their dogs close to where the workshop is being held.

Three tiers of classes are included in this workshop: Junior, Senior and Intermediate. Participants are assigned to a class according to age and ability.

Some children start showing goats from a very young age. Learning how to show goats from a young age can be beneficial. Therefore they likely have more experience than people who started showing goats when they were at an older age.

“There could be children who are 10 [years old] and have never shown a goat before, so we would put them in the Junior class,” explained Mrs. Stewart.

Mrs. Stewart has been showing goats for about 12 years. “I learned by watching YouTube videos on how to show goats,” she explained.

If you’re interested in goat shows and would like to learn how to properly show a goat, there are great resources available online. Mrs. Stewart recommended the Canadian Goat Society, which you can find at goats.ca. She also suggested checking out the website titled Ontario Goat, at ontariogoat.ca.

Aside from these resources, Mrs. Stewart recommended attending a goat showmanship workshop to receive hands-on instructions and assistance.