Berrien County Youth Fair: Showing animals harder than it looks

At the Berrien County Youth Fair one of the events is the Showmanship Competition. Reserve Champion Taylor Young says getting a goat to stay still so a judge can analyze its size is a lot harder than it sounds.

"You have to know the parts of the goat and make sure you walk smoothly with your goats so it doesn't look fat and stuff," Young said.

Young has been taking care of goats like Holly and Lolla since she was barely old enough to walk. 

Through raising these goats and showing them, young says she's learned valuable life lessons.

"I feel proud of myself and the goat. And I feel responsible for it," Young said.

Outside the ring, the volunteers help make the competition possible.

For the past seven years Jessica Tharp has volunteered at the Berrien County Youth Fair.

"We have actually 23 breeding goats at home between Nubian and Boers. We normally look for a long bodied, stocky body goats because they are meat goats," said Tharp.

Tharp even sleeps in the barn at night with the goats so when the show rolls around, these kids can have the best day possible. 

"I get the pleasure of watching these kids grow that's been working with a goat all summer staying first in class and giving the big smile that they give me at the end of the day," said Tharp.

Young showed five different goats Monday. She says a big part of training goats is learning how to be responsible for something other than yourself.Alex