Chasing Ennoblement Points

When we first started raising goats in 1999, we would have laughed if anyone had told us we would be showing goats – much less chasing ennoblement points. Actually we would have stared at them with a totally blank expression because we had no clue what ennoblement points were! We planned to raise meat goats and only meat goats. Then we went to our first goat show and discovered, much to our surprise, that we enjoyed ourselves.

A few years later we were looking at some does, and the seller kept talking about the “e-knob-bold” goats in the pedigree of the does she was trying to sell. She didn’t make much sense because we didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. When we asked, she wasn’t able to explain it to us.

The more we showed the more we learned about ennobled goats. Primarily we learned that ennoblement meant the “best of the best” goats in the show ring. Having the word **Ennobled** on the pedigree was an indicator that these goats had met all breed standards, performed well, and had produced offspring who met breed standards and performed well in the show ring. **Ennobled** did not guarantee that all offspring would meet breed standards or perform well – or pass the positive traits on to their offspring.

Still, we were not showing our goats to earn ennoblement points. We were showing for several reasons:

1. We wanted to see how our goats compared in our eyes with other goats. It is easy to get barn-blind. Until you see your goat next to another goat, you really don’t know what you have. Showing was the only way we had to see if our breeding program was on track.

2. Showing our goats was a marketing tool. People have to know you have top-quality animals before they are interested in buying your goats.

3. Most importantly, we showed out goats because we thoroughly enjoyed going to the shows and meeting people we have something in common with. Plus, we always learned something when we go to the shows.

In October, 2009, we checked out a production sale catalog. Since there was only one goat in the sale with a pedigree that interested us, we decided not to go to the sale; we stayed home to work on a new barn. During a break, we brought up DVAuction on the computer. The goat we had been interested in was coming up. We quickly checked past prices and decided to bid on line for her. To our great surprise, we got the goat with our opening bid. So, we put our building on hold; hooked up the trailer; and made the 2-hour trip to pick her up. We talked to the seller who told us the goat we bought had an ennobled sire and her dam “only needs one more kid inspected to be ennobled.” We naively stated, “We will get her inspected.” We were informed that she would have to earn five points. In other words, we were being told we didn’t have a clue! (NOTE: The doe in question has since earned more than enough points and pass her two inspections and still the dam is not ennobled. Seems her other two kids with points were never inspected.)

We made up our minds to get the needed five points, but we still weren’t terribly interested in chasing ennoblement points. It wasn’t until we purchased JFJ Jerico Farms T-Rex **Ennobled** that we actually sat down and read all the rules for American Boer Goat Association (ABGA) ennoblement. ABGA Rule 1000 covers the ennoblement in depth. Highlights include:

1. If an animal has passed two visual inspections (by ABGA judges), 80 points are required for ennoblement. If the animal was not inspected, 100 points are required.

2. A minimum of 30 points are required from at least 3 inspected offspring. To count, each inspected offspring must have a minimum of 5 points.

3. Points are earned at shows and (for bucks) ABGA-approved Performance Tests.

4. Offspring must be at least 10 months old to be inspected.

At shows, points are awarded based on the number of animals exhibited in the class, exhibited in the division and exhibited overall (by division). From the ABGA charts:

CLASS POINTS
# in Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1 to 3	1
4 to 5	2
6 to 7	3
8 to 9	4
10	5
11 to 25	10	5
26 to 50	15	10	5
51 to 100	20	15	10	5
101 to 175	25	20	15	10	5
Over 175	30	25	20	15	10	5

DIVISION POINTS
# in Division	Overall Grand Champion	Overall Reserve Champion
1 to 25	3	1
26 to 50	5	2
Over 50	10	5

OVERALL CHAMPION POINTS
# Overall	Overall Grand Champion	Overall Reserve Champion
1 to 10	5	2
11 to 25	10	5
26 to 50	15	10
51 to 100	20	15
101 to 175	25	20
Over 175	30	25

In March, 2010, we purchased a doe with 105 ennoblement points. She had one kid who had been shown, inspected, and had 12 points. We owned two of her daughters, one of whom we showed. Maybe we could flush her, show her kids, and get enough points to get her ennobled. Unfortunately both she and her daughter we were showing died that fall. So, we shelved the idea of ennoblement for a doe with a total of 128 ennoblement points until the summer of 2011. We decided to show the second daughter and were pleasantly surprised when she reached 6 points. We only needed 4 more points! Then we had the opportunity to purchase yet another daughter – one who, to us, looked much, much better than the daughter we were showing. In 10 shows she was able to earn all the points she needed to get her dam ennobled.

We chased ennoblement points – and we succeeded. Now we know the goal is possible, and we have additional goals.

To begin with, the little doe we purchased in 2009 needs to be ennobled. We flushed her and got some beautiful babies. We kept two, showing her outstanding buck kid. When he died from urinary calculi, he had 27 points. Unfortunately he died a week before he could be inspected! We are now showing a doe kid who has points and passed both inspections. We are really sad the animals we sold are not being shown; but we have flushed her again and are anticipating additional show-quality kids!

We are having fun, so we will continue chasing ennoblement points. See you on the show circuit.