From This Side of the Ring: A Guide to Choosing Your Show String
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Now that we’ve made it to spring and have bouncing babies running around, filling our hearts with joy and getting into shenanigans, it’s time that we get to planning. No, it’s not time to plan your 2025 breeding season yet. Well … no, focus! It’s time to plan not only the shows you’re taking your goats to this year, but also which animals will be in your show string.
What’s a Show String?
Some of you may be thinking, “What’s a show string?” A show string in the dairy goat world comprises the animals you bring to a show. For some breeders, their show string doesn’t change; if they sign up for a show, they bring the whole doe herd.
For many breeders, we don’t bring the entire herd to each show for many reasons. For us, we bring goats to shows based on the stage of lactation, number of freshenings, age, competition, money, and so on. When planning to attend a show, I want to give my herd the best advantage to win. There are no guarantees your animals will win, but if you can tip the scales in your favor, then do so.
Picking the Show String
What qualifies a goat for the string will differ depending on age, current champion status, and how far post-kidding she is, and the competition.
Senior Does
Two weeks prior to a show, I look at my herd and see what I have available. There are a few pending permanent champions in my herd that stay home unless it’s a show that pays premiums (county or state fairs) or the ADGA National Show. Now that I’ve decided who’s staying home, I look at my oldest does that need a win or two to earn their permanent championship, and work down in age.
If I have a four-year-old that’s only a couple weeks post-kidding and still hasn’t bounced back from kidding (see bouncing back article), she’ll remain home and wait to join the show string another day. I then appraise my younger milkers and see if they could be competitive for the show.
Junior Does
Once I’ve figured out the milkers I’m taking (I tend to bring only a handful), I focus on the juniors. Most shows have a junior show, which is a separate show for does that are anywhere from a couple days old (don’t show goats when they’re brand new to the world, please) to under two years old. Once a doe hits two years old, she has to be shown as a senior doe and has to be in milk.
As I look at my junior does, I tend to be a little more liberal in my decision-making. If I have juniors that haven’t earned their restricted leg (won grand champion in a sanctioned ring), then I generally start with the oldest and work my way down. A dry yearling that hasn’t earned her restricted leg yet automatically goes to the show. Then I look at my kids from the current year and pick two or more to go to the show; that way, they have a buddy. Kids change as they grow and go through pretty and ugly duckling phases, so I pick the ones that aren’t as gawky. It’s really just an intuitive thing when it comes to kids since they change so much from day to day.
Potential Competition
As I choose my string, I also consider potential competition. Yes, you shouldn’t let a little competition get in the way of showing your goats, but again, you’re trying to tip the scales in your favor. If I know my friend is bringing a really nice five-year-old to the show, I better be darn sure I’m bringing the best to compete against them. It doesn’t often change my mind on who I bring, but it has once or twice, and sometimes I say to myself, “Oh, so and so could’ve possibly beaten that goat,” and sometimes I say, “That was smart, that goat looks amazing.”
How Many to Bring
Although I’d love to bring my whole herd to shows, there’s another factor that goes into picking my show string: money! Showing goats isn’t cheap, and when it comes to multi-ring shows, those entry fees add up. The costs of health tests can add up, too. Last year, we went to a show in Connecticut that required an out-of-state Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) and tuberculosis testing. We decided to bring three goats to that show. By the time we did the required testing, got CVIs, and paid entry fees, we’d spent over $300.
Was it worth it? I feel it was. One of my does won Grand Champion in both rings, earning her permanent championship. My other doe won Reserve Grand Champion in one ring. I also brought a dry yearling that won Grand Champion in both rings, earning her restricted leg toward her championship (I’ll do an article in the future about how a goat earns her permanent championship). We didn’t get Best in Show, but I had a new champion in my barn and accolades won, which may help bolster kid sales in the future.
Another thing that makes me consider which goat goes to a show is the distance from home. Gas isn’t cheap. Is it worthwhile to haul my trailer with a bunch of goats, or is it more affordable to keep a small string for that week and put the goats in the back of my truck? Ideally, for a regular club show, I want to keep it to two or three milkers and a handful of juniors.
Switching it Up
I like to switch up which milkers go to the shows from week to week so I don’t burn them out. Filling an udder for a show and being transported can take a toll on a goat, and I like to give them breaks throughout the show season so they can recover and not be stale by fair season in August. Some of my goats do fine showing multiple weeks in a row, but others don’t, and that’s something you have to take into consideration. If you consider who freshened and when, how their udder looks at that stage of their lactation, and don’t burn them out, you could see success. Now, winning isn’t guaranteed, and switching up your show string doesn’t guarantee wins either. Keeping a smaller, more manageable show string from week to week does guarantee a happier you, who’ll enjoy showing your goats week in and week out (if that’s something you’re into).
Have Fun!
The most important part of showing your goats is having fun, seeing your friends, and getting a judge’s opinion of your goats, no matter the size of your show string.
I hope this helps you decide which goats you’re bringing to your shows and when. Have a good show season, everybody! If you want to see what it takes to put together a good show string week in and week out, please tune into Ringside: An American Dairy Goat Podcast YouTube series “The String,” which will begin airing episodes June 1st. The page is @Ringside_Podcast.
Jon Kain lives and breathes goats, literally. By day, he’s a superintendent of a goat and cow dairy. By “night,” he and his family raise a small herd of Oberhasli goats while chasing his 3-year-old daughter or talking about goats on his podcast, Ringside: An American Dairy Goat Podcast.
Originally published in the May 1, 2025 digital issue of Goat Journal.
