The road that led Ty and Pip to the Weber County Fair wasn’t an easy one. Although Ty has tried his hand at showing market hogs and lambs in the past, this was his first year raising a market goat.
BY KENDAL RAE JENSEN
Every year at the Weber County Junior Livestock Auction, miracles happen as the community shows up to support our youth. This year was no exception. Usually the highest bids are reserved for the first animals in the ring, the Grand and Reserve Champions of each species. This year, the highest bid went to a young man who was the second to last exhibitor of the day, with one of the lightest market goats in the fair. With a sparse and tired crowd left, Tyler Orme, who had waited 9 long hours entered the ring with his market goat Pip.
Tyler is a 15-year-old Pleasant View resident who will be attending Weber High School this year as a sophomore, and also has Down Syndrome. His mother Kristine was sitting on the front row and could hear people whispering around her. She knew then that something big was about to happen but had no idea what was in store.
Bids started flying left, right, and center rapidly jumping to $50/lb then $120, $160 and with the help of combined buyers from the Weber County community, ended with an astonishing $180/lb (more than $11,000!)
As the bids climbed, Tyler’s smile grew, he danced back and forth and hugged and kissed his goat. His father, David, joined him in the ring with tears in his eyes.
The road that led Ty and Pip to the Weber County Fair wasn’t an easy one. Although Ty has tried his hand at showing market hogs and lambs in the past, this was his first year raising a market goat. His 4H leader, Joe Giordano helped his family select just the right goat.
Pip had been the runt from a set of triplets, had been bottle fed and loved humans. Ty and Pip hit it right off. Ty fell in love with taking care of her and spent many days and nights with his muck boots on in her pen.
One day they took Pip and his sibling’s show goats to Joe’s house to practice and she came out of the trailer on three legs. They spent weeks trying to get her leg better and get her weight up to meet the fair specifications. She had stopped eating and required a lot of care to get her feeling better. The night before weigh-in, she was one pound underweight. They were afraid that Ty would not be able to show, but by some miracle, the day of weigh in came and she barely came in at fair weight.
The market goat show went better than expected for Tyler and Pip. His happiness was radiating as he showered her with affection in the ring.
Ty’s family would like to extend a big heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this possible. They know a lot of work and sacrifice went into it, behind the scenes. This year will surely be one for Ty and his family to remember.