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One of our bucket list items is to take the boys to Denver to show at the National Western Stock Show before Isaac graduates. Yes...that means it has to happen in 2020 or 2021. 2020 was not the plan...because the bank account was saying otherwise. Until...Wesson won Reserve Grand Champion at Louisville.  There are times that all the plans get kicked out the window and you just seize the moment...and figure out the rest later.
This is one of those years. We are on our way to Denver!
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Last week we were in Louisville, Kentucky for the 2019 North American International Livestock Expo. Since I put the show program together, I knew that there were going to be an incredible set of cattle in the show ring. We didn't expect to do that well this year. We have good cattle, but there were some amazing cattle in the show ring. We took our two bulls, Smith and Wesson, and were hoping we might win something in the division and possibly in the pair of bulls, but that is all we could hope for.  The unexpected made it so much more fun.
One of the best ways to promote your farm is to attend cattle shows. At cattle shows, the best of your herd is on display, both in the show ring and back at the stalls. Even if you don't win in the show ring, you have to opportunity to expose your farm and promote your animals. We just want to be farmers, but what good is farming if we can't sell our products? Whether you like it or not, you have to be in the marketing business.  There are several things you can do at the show to market your farm. Some cost some money and take a little pre-planning, and others are very cheap and easy.
Over the years, we have spent a lot of quality time together in the truck. We have logged miles and miles and miles travelling to and from cattle shows. This weekend, Daniel and I left the boys at home (the advantages of having a teenage driver) and made an impromptu trip to Virginia. No, it wasn't a romantic getaway... We had cows to deliver.  As much as I like the destinations...I absolutely love the trip.
Some of our best memories are made in the cab of the truck. Did you know that cows can get ulcers? I didn't either...until one of our cows had one.  You may remember how sick Angel was on our trip to Oklahoma for Junior Nationals. It wasn't until we arrived home and our vet examined her that we learned she had a bleeding ulcer.
'We ended the summer show season with a few days at the Ohio State Fair. If it feels like you have read this post before...I kind of feel like I have written this before. As the years go on, we do the same things over and over. It should make things easier...right? Well, I don't know if our July's will ever be easy, but maybe we just don't have to think as hard and can rely on the auto pilot a little more. Heading into the Ohio State Fair, I just didn't feel very prepared. Planning for the show was pretty last minute, because the time just wasn't there. Over the years, we have kept detailed notes, so it really is easier...but it felt a little bit too easy...so I was sure I was forgetting something. Well thankfully, I didn't forget anything... at least that I know of.  Coming off of the county fair, we always have to will ourselves to the state fair. We are usually just too tired to really care.
Once we arrived, it didn't take us long to get into the spirit of things. We survived! By Monday the extreme heat had subsided and we returned to normal temperatures. The fair board did a great job of modifying weigh-ins so that the animals were stressed as little as possible. Amazingly, only one chicken died this week due to the heat. You can only control what you can control, but the vet, fair board members, parents and kids did a great job in a not so great couple of days.  I worked on Monday...because I am a bad mom and kept forgetting that Isaac shows goats...which show on Monday.
Yep...just in time for the Knox County Fair....an extreme heat wave and the hottest temperatures we have seen in 5 years. But...beating the heat is just part of the fun of fair.  Saturday was move-in day.
Last week you saw all the high points of Junior Nationals. This week, I thought I would show you some of the behind the scenes happenings of our trip to Claremore, Oklahoma. These are the unedited as they happened moments...  At midnight Sunday night, we arrived home from a 10 day trip to Claremore, Oklahoma for the Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals. If you have been following along on our Facebook and Instagram pages, you have seen that the trip didn't quite turn out the way we had planned.  Isaac's heifer, Angel, got very sick on our trip. At one point, we didn't know if she would live through the night. After 2 visits from the vet, an IV, tons of help from people around the barn, every medication under the sun and being pumped with electrolyte fluids multiple times a day, we felt like she was as stable as she was going to get to make the trip home.
Isaac had to pull Angel from the show, which was a huge disappointment, but by that point, he didn't care. He just wanted her to get better. Angel's illness started a chain of events that created unthinkable challenges for Isaac. |
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AuthorHello! I am Heather... the city girl turned mom to manure loving country boys. My husband and I both grew up in the city, but spent weekends visiting grandparents in the country. We are first generation farmers who learn best by almost always doing things the hard way. I hope you enjoy following along with our adventures down on the farm. Archives
December 2019
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