Farewell Sombrita

Sombrita. My Brita Baby. I lost her late last Thursday night to pneumonia. I'm heartbroken. I tried everything I could to keep her alive, but it wasn't enough.

She was 10 years old, which is about the average life span of a goat, but that doesn't make it any easier. Sombrita was the one goat who was really my pet. She could sense my emotions. She would always come up to me when I came out to the goat pen. Milking her was relaxing, in a way that milking no other goat is.

She knew she was mine, I was her human. She might misbehave and be as stubborn as can be for my family, but for me, she would always do whatever I asked.

The first time I took her into the show ring she was 3 months old, and walked perfectly in the ring, despite having been stubborn at home. She loved being in the show ring. She won that first show. It was a tiny 4-H show. There were only 3 goats, but I was the happiest girl in the world that evening. I knew I had an awesome goat. 6 years later she won my last 4-H show, the summer after I graduated high school. There were more goats that time, but she could hold her own against the competition. 

Sombrita was always hungry and ready to eat.

This is the last picture I ever took of her. It was a couple months ago, right after she kidded. I'd left her on the milk stand to finish her grain while I filled buckets to feed the rest of the goats. Well, she finished her feed, and then came to find more grain.

Sombrita was such a good mama. She always took great care of her babies. 8 kiddings. 17 kids. 6 daughters, 11 sons. Sometimes out of the buck I wanted her bred to, sometimes not. Sometimes in the correct month, sometimes not. Sombrita was going to get bred to whom she wanted to get bred to, when she wanted to get bred, regardless of my plans. 

In my herd currently I have one of her sons, Domino (2015), two of her daughters, Candy Cane (dec.2010) and Giselle (2016), four of her granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and several great (or great-great) grandsons. Her bloodlines and some of her personality traits are well represented. But I still miss her. Her descendants aren't her.

Good-bye my Sombrita, my Brita Baby. I loved you. I miss you. Thank You for being mine. You were one of a kind and can't be replaced. Thank You for your daughters, your sons, your loyalty. You won't be forgotten.

Sombrita

My Fat, Stubborn, Ornery, Sweet, First Ever Goat.

March 1, 2006 - May 12, 2016