About Trinity

I grew up very close to dairy goats. My mother and father, Walter and Karen Smith, started Wingwood Farm in the late ’70s in Mendocino County, and they have been raising Nubians for the past 40 years. When I was a child we kept a fairly large herd, usually ranging between 20 and 30 milkers. My sister and I were homeschooled, so we spent a lot of time working on the farm and learning about dairy goat husbandry and exhibition. When we were old enough, we joined 4-H and continued to hone our skills until we graduated high school.

When I was young I loved the goats. I was also very attracted to many other things, especially sports, acting, and wanting to be a normal teenager. I would often get frustrated by the time and energy commitment that the animals took. When I graduated high school and left for college, I was determined to leave behind the “goat world” and experience other things in life. However, I needed an income during the summer, and clipping as well as showing was something I was good at, so I spent my summers clipping and showing for herds all over Northern California.

It was during these summers that I rekindled my love for dairy goats and the people within this eccentric world of “Goat.” I grew especially close to Grant and Micki Colfax of Shining Moon Alpines, Karen and Krista Senn of Kastdemur’s Nubians and LaManchas, and Joannie and Charlie Rowe of Rowe’s Toggenburgs. These three herds really started me on the path to success, and helped me begin to hone my skills as a breeder, showman, and fitter through their knowledge, and by letting me work with some of the best animals in their respective breeds.

With these three herds being the main influence in my return to goats, I had the chance to work with Alpines, Toggenburgs, Nubians, and LaManchas very closely. I knew right away that there was something very special about LaManchas, and I was instantly drawn to them. Specifically, on a trip to Harrisburg, PA for the 2004 National Show, this gangly junior kid LaMancha named “Up Yours” stole my heart. During those moments, I knew that I was back in the business, and LaManchas were the breed!

Once I graduated from Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) in 2006 with a BS in Exercise Science, I was so glad to have had that college experience… but I was ready to come back to farming. Always knowing that I was a California girl, I searched Northern California for a career opportunity in farming, specifically goats. My family had known Jennifer Bice of Redwood Hill Farm for many, many years, and I had seen how successful she was not only in dairy goats, but in business. So I applied for a job at Redwood Hill, and so started the next chapter of my life.

I started at RHF in the fall of 2006. While I had worked extensively with goats my whole life, nothing prepared me for the “dairying” life. Over the next 8 years I learned more about goats, farming, business, and management than I could have ever imagined, all the while honing my skills even further by having the opportunity to work with some of the best animals in the country. Along with the three previous herds (Shining Moon, Kastdemur’s, Rowe’s), Jennifer and Redwood Hill Farm really brought me the success that I enjoy in the dairy goat industry, and for that I am forever grateful.

The actual Goat-San herd came about in 2006. I had told Karen Senn that I wanted to start my own LaMancha herd with a doe kid, more specifically, an Up Yours daughter. In 2006, GCH Kastdemur’s Love Me Dew came to live at Redwood Hill, followed by GCH Kastdemur’s StartYourUprising (my Up Yours daughter!) in 2007. I thought of our herd name during a bout of “gaming” one day. I needed to have a screen name for a game I was playing. My father started working overseas when I was in junior high, and has been a world traveler ever since. He visited Japan many times, and when he would tell his stories he would always talk about how the people called him Walter-San as a term of respect. Goat-San just popped into my head that night on the computer. Respect the Goat!

While I maintain the goats most of the time, I must thank my family and Alaina Morse for making it possible for me to get away once in a while.