By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Ethan Davies and Trigger the Goat were a good team. Together they won the reserve grand champion market goat title at the 2023 Ohio State Fair.
He also had the reserve grand champion market goat at the 2022 Ohio State Fair with Jester the goat. They were a good team too.
Davies, who describes himself as “kind of chill but definitely competitive,” said he wasn’t expecting to be among the top winners for a second consecutive year. He always goes into the show ring with a drive to win, but he figured the odds were against him after the win in 2022.
That didn’t stop him from spending at least four hours a day in the barn caring for and working with Trigger, the goat he purchased in the spring through Good Hope, Illinois-based Bounds Show Goats.
The daily routine in the barn involved a strict feed program to ensure the goat was getting all the necessary protein and fat to gain muscle, a critical factor in the show ring. Davies exercised and worked with the goat to get him used to being handled. It often included a walk in the morning and again at night and rinsing his legs to keep them clean.
“I was pretty close with this goat. Trigger was my little buddy,” Davies said fondly. Goats all have different personalities, he explained. Some are stubborn, but the goat he brought home at about two months of age wasn’t bothered by much. “I had him about a month and he was ready to rock and roll,” he said.
Because he only had one other goat, a doe that he said did pretty well at the state fair, he didn’t take Trigger to a lot of shows for practice. “We show some in the summer to get them out for a little experience, but I like to keep them at home, keep them on feed and make sure they don’t get sick,” he said.
He also can work harder when he keeps the animal in their rural Bowling Green barn. He knew Trigger had the qualities he was looking for when he and his family traveled to Illinois. “The Bounds Crew knows my goals to be competitive and win,” said Davies, who is a senior at Penta Career Center. He looks for animals that have a lot of muscle, good neck extension and power.
Trigger was prettier, a lot more extended and not as stout as Jester. “He still had all the right pieces and it worked out with the judges,” Davies said.
When the judge pointed to Trigger and his owner, Davies knew it was a big accomplishment. The win, while a surprise, was a nod to the amount of time and effort he put in with the goat.
“You can say whatever you want, but you’ve got to be out in the barn doing the work. No one else. You’ve got to outwork them. People can tell if it is not working right,” he said.
A lot can happen at the state fair; it’s pretty chaotic with everyone watching. There is a lot of stress in the show ring, he explained. “It’s kind of an emotional day because you’ve worked all summer for this day,” he said.
This year the win had an extra special meaning. Davies had the distinction of being the first junior fair reserve grand champion market goat exhibitor to be part of the Ohio State Fair Sale of Champions. For 25 years, the Sale of Champions has not included the reserve grand champion market goat.
A group of buyers including The Kroger Company, Huffman’s Market, Event Marketing Strategies, Faith Driving School and Talley Amusements set the first record sale of the reserve grand champion market goat with a winning bid of $30,000. While Davies earns $4,000—the cap set for the reserve grand champion goat—the additional funds go to the Youth Reserve Program, which benefits other exhibitors through scholarships and awards.
“It was kind of cool to say I was the first,” he said.
He acknowledged that his support team includes his parents, Shawn and Chellie Davies, sister Kendall, and the entire Bounds crew, which includes a contingent of Ohio families who are all close.
Though Davies didn’t compete with Trigger in a lot of jackpot shows, he enhanced his showmanship skills in earlier years of competing. He first showed a goat at the Pemberville Fair when he was four years old, and he walked away with the reserve champion title that year. And he was hooked.
He’s been showing livestock for nine years adding heifers and sheep over the years.
“And to be honest, you aren’t making money selling livestock. The award doesn’t come close to covering anything,” but he loves showing livestock, he said. It’s his sport. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”
He most likely has one more year to compete for the grand champion title at the state fair before he heads to college, most likely a community college in Illinois where he hopes to study embryology or agricultural nutrition and compete on the livestock judging team.
