Until one has been to the OK Youth Expo, you cannot grasp the entirety of this vast spectacle.  11 days in a hotel room can wear one out.  I’ll be honest, as a whole, the Shattuck crew got the living hell beat out of us.  We had our moments, but not like we are used to.

The sheep show was wicked good.  I don’t know what that crew around Elk City is doing, but they are doing it better.  They are better–better shown, better animals, just better.

The steer show was wicked.  We didn’t have one good enough and it is what it is.

As for the wether goat show.  For the first time in the history of the OYE wether goat show, I did not have one in the hunt.  We took 2 wethers.  Both first time OYE wether showman.  One was a left over triplet that would make a great first time prospect.  The other a bottle baby flush kid that wasn’t bad but not great.  This goat had already won a county grand champion and made the sale at Woodward District.  Just sayin’…Darrell the wether didn’t owe us anything.

Before Darrell came off the stand at OYE, I told the family, “Listen, you are going into a class with over a $100,000 worth of goats.  If you walk to the next aisle over, there is a lineup of stands with at least 4 people fitting on each goat.  You have a bottle baby wether that has already exceeded expectations and you have a worn-out old ag teacher that is a has-been.  You better get him shown right.”  Darrell got shown to his best potential.  If Darrell had the “extra” enhancements….well, it might have been better.

I watched the OYE wether show completely un-biased.  I watched as the “pieces of the puzzle” came together.  I had seen one goat that was WAY better than the rest.  Yet, I saw a group of division and reserve division winners that had an odorous smell about them.  Too many political ties.

People, I did NOT want to write another Tulsa judge blog.  I truly don’t.  My reply—he found the RIGHT ONE for grand.  Athletic, balanced, sound structured and legit muscled.  Really good goat.   After that, it looked like a lot of goats had a steady diet of depo-medrol, air and were way too fat.

I’m not bashing the judge.  He found the right one and there wasn’t another one that tied to him.  I’m not somebody whining about getting beat.  I was just a spectator.  But I do have knowledge and I understand the parts that were moving in the background.  Before the grand drive, I told Schneberger, “Dude, I hope you have a political angle because the rest do.”  In true Schneberger fashion, he laughed and said, “Hell, we’ve won it once and we are just happy to be here with a home-raised deal.  We were hoping to be competitive in class.”

I’ll tell you this much, Schneberger has something that is hard to buy.  He has a bad-ass showman!  She works.  She knows what it is like to get beat and she knows what it is like to win.  She has a fun, yet extremely confident air about her.  Not arrogant.  She is just like her mother.  She isn’t brash and loud like her dad.  (Not a bad guy in my opinion.)  She is fun to watch and successful people want to be around her.  If I had a young showman, I would want them to emulate that girl.

In retrospect, I am real glad that OYE is over.  I’m real glad that I don’t have to bash another judge.  Yet, yet………damn!!!    We better clean this deal up or at some point, it’s going to get ugly.