Basford’s goat put on Houdini act

Tuesday was a busy day at the Jay County Fair.

There was a pet parade, a magician and extra games for Kids’ Day.

A couple of local musicians held live performances at the Farmer’s Building.

There was even a professional bull rider who recently graduated from Jay County High School that competed in a rodeo that packed the grandstand.

Not many knew about the escape artist that was at the fair Tuesday as well.

For fairgoers who decided to stop by the Show Arena that morning, they may have had the opportunity to see the great escape for themselves when Justin the goat got loose and bolted for the gate.

While, for many, this was the first time they had witnessed one of Justin’s antics, it is far from the first headache the goat has caused.

The 2023 Jay County 4-H Dairy Goat Show was nearing its end. Ty Paxon, Bretton Basford, Easton Siergrist, Joseph Kunk and Ava May all trotted their goats out to be judged in the Class 3 wether competition.

As the judge was beginning to wrap up, disaster struck for Bretton. One of the links on the goat collar snapped, allowing Justin to scamper away from him.

At first, the goat moved to the northeast corner of the arena, where a few of the volunteers moved in to try to corner him. Despite being on a supplement to calm show animals, Justin was able to juke Bretton and got to the northwest corner, where he was able to escape through the open gate and bolt down the corridor to the hog barn.

“As soon as my collar snapped, you want to talk about a sinking feeling, I swear everything was slow,” Bretton said. “Three openings in that gate and I knew he was gone. I didn’t think anyone was going to catch him …

“First thing I thought was that I was going to see this goat walking through campers for the rest of the week. I was putting my money that no one was catching him.”

Luckily for Bretton, his aunt, Kathy Siergrist, was able to corner Justin in the hog barn, catch him and get him back to the Show Arena.

The escape was preceded by another the previous night when Justin escaped from Bretton’s mom, Jennifer, and future-brother-in-law, Clay Ebbinghouse, as they were taking him for a short stroll.

They were able to easily capture him, but that hasn’t always been the case.

Back when the Basfords first got Justin, he set the tone from day No. 1 on how things were going to go.

As the other wether was being unloaded out of the popper (a metal enclosure for the tailgate of a truck), Justin was able to jump past Bretton’s sister, Eden, kicking her in the head and escaping.

Justin made his way into the Basfords’ pond, swimming to avoid being caught for nearly 45 minutes.

“From that and the time we first got him, we knew things were going to go downhill,” Bretton said.

The athletic performance that Justin put on that day earned him the nickname “Gazelle.”

Just two weeks later, Justin escaped again, jumping through the bars of two different gates to get out.

“It was like some really Houdini stuff,” Eden said. 

After escaping, Justin was loose for more than three days, running around the woods that surrounds the Basfords’ land.

The incident even caused some animosity and the first large fight for Eden and Clay — they had recently gotten engaged. 

“He’s out there trying to catch it and I’m out there screaming at him with some very kind words about how he’s done and how it’s not going to work,” Eden said.

Ultimately, Justin came back to the barn a few days later in perfect health, just looking a little hungry.

“I’m just surprised that he survived the wilderness …” Eden said. “It was a good season of ‘Survivor’ at the Basford house.”

Following the fair, Justin will be sold to a meat market. He will leave behind a legacy with the Basfords of being a unique and crazy goat, no matter how much effort they put into him.

“I’ve led him and led him and tried to make him a little bit better but there is no fixing Justin. He is simply crazy down to the bone,” Bretton said. “I don’t think I’m going to miss him.”