GOAT breeder Margaret Ford of Four Beeches at Lake, near Sourton, is a woman who clearly loves her animals.

She brought nine goats from her Boxo herd to the show, in the hope of winning prizes for the animals themselves, and their milk.

Margaret arrived at the show on Wednesday evening as the goats had to be 'milked out', before being milked twice the following day. The milk is taken away to be weighed and tested, before it is judged.

'Goats are terrific, they are full of fun,' said Margaret, a bucket full of bottles over her arm for the five three-month-old kids in one of the stalls.

'When I get in with them it's like getting in with a bunch of maggots! With five of them it feels like you are being eaten alive — they're not biting you but they are feeling you with their mouths.

'I think I've got a good chance of a rosette with the kids, although I'd be hard pushed to say which one — two of the goatlings definitely should have a chance.'

Margaret has been breeding goats for 35 years and currently has about 18 in her herd.

'I think they are easy to look after, I'm a horsey person anyway so if you've had horses all your life, goats aren't much different, but it does take a lot of commitment,' she said.

'You are milking twice a day, you can't go off for holidays or days out at the drop of a hat.'

Margaret admits they are curious and can be destructive if left to their own devices — but they have huge characters and respond positively to good treatment.

'They are browsers — they do like to eat your rose bushes and trees and cabbages if you let them, they'd rather eat them than grass,' she said.