Behind The Name...
2007 was a
break-out year for us, we attended 4 shows this year, and
garnered far more praise and placings than ever expected. We
attended the MDGS show in Ionia Michigan, where we walked away
with placings no lower than 3rd, and PUG & Vanity winning
their classes on the 2nd day. The LEGS show in Muskegon, where
we also sat in the top three every class out. The highlight of
our weekend however was our Sr. Nigerian Kid winning Reserve
Grand Champion under Dan Laney.
We also
attended the Northern Indiana Classic Dairy Goat Show, where
We won first in; Yearling Milker, 2 year old milker, 3 year
milker, and Sr. dry kid. Our 3 year old milker went on to win
Grand Champion Nigerian Milker, and our 2 year old Reserve
Champion milker. If that wasn't enough, Kashmere went on to
win Grand Champion Dry Nigerian.
Holy cow.
We wrapped
up the season with the Michigan State Fair, where our girls
held their own despite some very stiff competition. There we
took home 1st Place Yearling Milker, 3rd Place 2 year old
milker, 3rd Place 3 year old, 3rd Place Sr. Kid, and our
FAVORITE Placing of all;
4th Place
best herd of 4
We placed
with 3 milkers and one dry kid with the judge stating that we
were the "exhibitor to watch out for"
Does it
get any better than that your first year out? Needless to say,
we were elated.
All of our
first year successes aside, 2007 brought on us many changes.
The loss of a parent, and a severe & career ending injury to a
beloved show horse. This lead us to seek a new direction with
things, including a new herd name. RebelWood was the herd
name used when we showed Percheron Draft horses. In the last
3 years, we lost Big Oak Farm's Kaitlyn, (Kate) who in our
opinion was one of the best Percheron hitch mares to ever step
a scotch bottom to this earth, leaving us with her mate
Colebrook Acres Spring (Kass). Kate's death was compounded by
the fact that she was in foal.
While this
left us in mourning, we were hopeful for what spring would
bring.
March only
brought more sadness when Kass lost her perfect black filly
after 16 hours of being tube-fed.
Little did
we know, our sorrow was far from over,
April
4th, my Dad and partner in the horse business, lost his battle
with Leukemia, and shortly thereafter Kass, the remaining mare
in the team, severed all of her tendons, exposing the bone in
her back leg just below the hock. She was in a hard cast for 9
weeks, and will never be able to grace the show ring again. We
continue to treat this horrible injury daily.
Having
been put through the ringer both physically and emotionally,
we came through, with a sense of rebirth, and a glimmer of
hope; thus we became
Weathered Star
A little
worn, a little tired, but still able to shine.
We owe a
big thanks to the folks that made this year a little easier to
get through.
