The Boone County Caprine Kids 4-H Goat Club got its start because a couple of parents had children who picked goats as projects to show. Jim Creagar and Robert McMann worked with the county Cooperative Extension Service office to start the club following the Northwest Arkansas District Fair in 2005.

   “We used the fair as a recruiting tool,” said Creagar.

   The motivations for forming the club were to help their children and other young people in 4-H learn how to show goats and improve the showmanship skills of those with previous experience.

   The club covers all three facets of goat husbandry with dairy goats, market meat goats and registered Boers. Each member has at least one goat as a project.

   The club currently has about 20 members, with an average attendance of 12 to 16 members.

    “Everyone generally has their parents there,” said Creagar. “Our members’ parents are very involved. They make sure the children are taking care of their goats.

   “My wife’s cup of tea is not working with the animals, but she takes the ‘mother hen’ role at the shows making sure members look good and know when they are scheduled to show their animals. “

   Members range from  5 to 17 years old. The 5-year-olds can handle the smaller animals.

   “It’s cute to see a 5-year-old walk into the show ring with a 3-month-old goat on a leash,” Creagar remarked. “If they can work with their animals well enough they can handle the bigger animals.

  “I’ve seen some 6 and 7-year-olds show animals twice their size.”

   From March through October, there are monthly shows in which members can participate. Between shows, they gather at the fairgrounds with goats in hand to work on clipping, animal husbandry skills such as hoof trimming, and general animal health.

   “Hands on, hands on, hands on,” said Creagar. “You can read a book all day long, but you’ll never be able to put the words into practice until you get something in your hand. You can read a book on clipping a goat, but you don’t learn how to clip a goat until you put the clippers in the hair.”

   In the winter when it’s too cold to work with the animals, leaders have local people come to club meetings and speak on topics such as nutrient management.

   “We try to keep it short,” Creagar said. “If the kids aren’t having fun, you lose their attention. We try to make 4-H fun!”

   Parents and club members work together at shows, often helping each other. The members take care of their own animals first, but if they see another member needs help, they help.

   “Everybody helps everybody,” said Creagar.

   Club members and parents extend their caring beyond club meetings and shows, often going to other members’ homes to assist with such things as difficulty in kidding (birthing a baby goat) or other animal-related emergencies. In a recent instance, the other leader, Robert McMann, was out of town. His brother, who was caring for the goats, found one with a problem, and called some club members. They went to the farm to help care for the sick animal.

    A disbanding goat club in another county gave the club some seed money, with the understanding it would be used to sponsor a dairy goat show. It was, sponsoring the American Dairy Goat Association show April 2 in Harrison. There, club members used their training to help those who had two or three animals in one class show their goats.

   “These kids don’t go out there and show off.  They go out there and show the animals correctly, “ Creagar said. “People have learned that sometimes they can’t do it all, and they have to count on others. We want to show them they can count on these kids.”

   He says club members have shown against some industry leaders in open shows and won.

   “It’s the quality of the animal and showing the animal so that the best qualities stand out that counts,” said Creagar.

   The club stays involved in goat-related activities. Last month, it sponsored a judge for the two-day American Boer Goat Association Show. Members planned the show; and then helped out there, assisting exhibitors to put their animals in pens and as ring stewards.

   Caprine Kids 4-H Goat Club members do a lot of work at the county fairgrounds. The club’s knowledge of the livestock pen layout at the fairgrounds comes in handy when the local kennel club removes all the pens to hold its show. Although, the Boone County Department of Community Punishment puts the pens back up, club members and leaders double-check them and make sure they have been reassembled correctly.

   The club is also planning a “goat camp” June 5-7.

    “We want to keep building on the foundation we started. We want our members to show excellence in raising and caring for the animals, as well as showing them,” Creagar said. “We just want to keep improving on the basic skills we’ve learned, and to promote goats.

  “I want our members to be polite to the judges and other competitors. “Even if they lose, they congratulate the winner. That’s good showmanship.

   “Yes, we want our members to be competitive and get the best animals they can. They’re not always going to have the best animal, but if a member shows that animal to the best of his ability, he’s done his job.

   “A lot of these kids’ projects will carry on long after they have out-grown 4-H.”