LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Casey Simpson, 16, began caring for goats when she was only eight, and it became her job to milk the family’s dairy goat. Then, when her older brother, now in college, took to raising Boer goats she started bringing the babies into the house to bottle-feed.

“I really do love my goats a lot,” said Simpson of Milton, Ky., a veteran 4-H and FFA member. “I still do this today. I keep all of my bottle babies in my room.”

She maintains her own herd of 20 goats on the family’s small farm. “I kid out about 40 kids every year.”

She brought some of her Boer goats to the Kentucky State Fair in August, where she managed first- and second-place ribbons with two animals. But she was disappointed by her third-place finish in Market Goat Showmanship this year.

Now in her eighth year of showing, Simpson travels with her animals. “My goats are getting pretty good,” she said, “and I plan to take (them) to three more big shows.” She will be going to Illinois, Kansas City and the prestigious North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville later this year.

“I just love what the 4-H and FFA allows me to do,” said Simpson, who is basically home-schooled. Because she also attends class at West Jessamine County High School, however, she was allowed to become an officer in the FFA chapter.

“The responsibility and all of the knowledge that I have learned over the years is just tremendous,” Simpson said. “It really made me feel like a better person now that I have turned 16.”

Denise Martin is a producer who lives nearby in Magnolia. She is also a Kentucky certified 4-H club leader and has entrusted Simpson to teach showmanship class routines to the children in her 4-H livestock club.

Martin called Simpson an awesome young woman whom she is honored to have watched mature over the past several years. “I never have any problem in pointing to her and saying to the children, ‘That is how you should act. That is how you should be,’” Martin said.

“She is kind. She is a good winner; she’s a good loser. She will stop and help any young people, whether trying to get the goat into the ring or get the goat out of the ring, or get the goat to stand up. I have never seen her lose her composure and I have never seen her lose her temper, ever.”

Simpson said, “Throughout all these years that I have been showing, there is no doubt that I have improved to be a better goat breeder, showman and person. However, I cannot take the credit – my God has been by my side since the beginning and has blessed me tremendously.”