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Entire herd CAE & Johnes Negative, Last test September 2007!
Hi, I am Rusty Repp of
Loganville,
Georgia. I was raised in northeastern
Ohio and graduated from Ohio State
University with
several horticulture and landscaping degrees. I got a job, straight out of
college, doing landscape and interior plants for the 1996 Olympics, which was
held in Atlanta. I loved the area, especially the climate,
so much that I found a job and moved here in the fall of
1996.
My first ‘goating’ experience started when I was in
7th grade. I planned to get a
goat to take as a 4-H project as many of my friends also had goats. One of my friends who lived close
by, offered me one of their Saanen goats as my
project animal. For some reason
I didn’t jump on that offer, something just didn’t feel right. Not long after I had this
offer, I saw an ad in the newspaper for a pygmy goat. I was VERY curious and
called. That is how I got started raising
miniature goats. Little did I know that
I was at the beginning of a long road FULL of goats!
I earned my Judging license with NPGA in
2000, along with the judging license for
NDGA. Once I started judging and seeing
how goats are put together and how every body part correlates with another to
make the goat look and move the way it does, I became intrigued and strived to
learn as much as I could about goats so I could judge to the best of my
ability.
In 2003 I was feeling a nudge that I should go try for my
ADGA judges license, which I did successfully! I was quite happy with this accomplishment,
but knew that I had to strive harder and learn more about the new breeds of
goats I would be judging. Goats of all
breeds have the same parts that make them a goat, the big difference is the
breed character. I learn something new
while judging each show, it is impossible to know everything! To date, I have judged over 100 shows of all
breeds and I do enjoy judging. The
bigger the class the more I love the challenge of working through the animals,
comparing them to each other and lining them up. The largest show I have judged to date was
400 goats.
During my early years showing, I desperately wanted someone to teach me
showmanship so I could correctly show my goats.
I didn’t learn till several years later and I was always surprised that
the judges were not more helpful at teaching the exhibitors. As a judge I make time to always help
everyone who asks for help or who I can see needs some helpful advice. I aim to have fun in the show ring.
Currently I have a herd of about 90 goats I show in an average of 8-10
shows per year. The southeast is slowly
getting more and more Nigerian dwarf breeders which I am thrilled to see!
Webpage by SM3Pines.
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