Knox County Fair...Part 2

8/6/2016

The first half of Knox County Fair week was pretty successful for Walker.

All the animals were acclimated to the heat...as much as they could be, and had spent some practice time in the show ring. The feeder calves had strutted their stuff and were just waiting for sale day on Thursday.

Wednesday afternoon began with showmanship classes followed by all of the breed classes.

Isaac was in the intermediate age group for showmanship.

Showmanship is different than the breed classes. In showmanship, the judge does not consider the animal, but focuses on the abilities of the showman. They are judged on their ability to control the animal, smoothness of transitions, knowledge of their animal, eye contract with the judge, use of the show stick, ability to set up their cow in the proper way, etc.

The judge picks the top 2 showmen from each heat and then those top 2 from each heat compete together for the title.

The intermediate class was a stacked class. About half of the kids in this group are all friends that show in the BEST together, and they are all phenomenal showmen. It was a head to head competition and they are all very competitive. They all wanted to win, but in the end they all congratulated each other and were laughing and joking together.

Isaac and Cassie were picked as the top 2 from their heat and went on to compete for the title.

Did I mention that it was really hot?

Since our last name starts "W", Isaac was in the 3rd heat. He exited one side of the ring and headed straight back over to the other gate to head into the final drive.

Here you can see the ringmaster reminding both of the kids to grab a bottle of water as they headed to the other side of the ring. They definitely needed it. Thanks Aaron, for remembering the details and taking care of our kiddos!

Isaac won 2nd place in Intermediate Showmanship. He really wanted to beat Ellie this year, but he was happy and they all stayed friends.

Next up was Walker in Junior Showmanship.

We call Walker our "sleeper child." He is the one that acts like he doesn't really care and doesn't act like he is paying attention. Until....you see him in action and realize that he has just been soaking it all in.

He walks around the ring like he owns it.

Walker won 1st place in Junior Showmanship.

We are very proud of these two. Even if our little cows can't always compete with the big cows, they can always compete in showmanship. They have worked really hard and are always improving. Isaac has a real passion for showmanship.

Next up was the breed show where the quality of the cow is judged. Both boys took a Miniature Hereford that they showed in the Other Breeds class.

Isaac place 2nd in his class with Six.

Since Rain is older, she and Walker showed in a different class than Isaac and Six. Walker won 1st in his Other Breeds class.

All of the 1st place Other Breed class winners then competed for Champion Other Breeds Female. Walker and Rain won Other Breeds!

Next up...Supreme Champion Female. This is where all of the champion females, from all of the different breeds, compete for the overall best female in the barn.

We watched our little boy with his little cow work their magic in the ring. It was a huge honor to be in this final drive.

Daniel and I looked at each other with our mouths hanging open when the judge walked up to Rain and slapped her on the butt. He had just crowned a Miniature Hereford as the Supreme Champion Female!

I am sure that there were several people that didn't agree with the judges decision. He loved Rain's power and structural correctness.

In a final drive like this, with all different types and sizes of cows, it is the judges responsibility to judge each cow based on their breed characteristics. He felt that she was the best representation of her breed.

The thing with competition is...it is just one man's opinion on one day.

Any given day can go a completely different direction.

Last Wednesday, the judge decided that this particular Miniature Hereford was better than the other 31 females in the barn.

As you can imagine...we agree...but we also know that not everyone else does.

We are O.K. with that....we are just proud to be representing the Miniature Hereford breed and representing them well. We have fought hard and are proud of all that we have accomplished.

Back at the barn...

Signs and trophies were a proud reminder of how all the hard work had paid off.

Thursday was sale day.

Both Isaac and Walker sold their beef feeders. For now, we are out of the steer market, so we sold the feeders, and the boys will start new projects next year.

Sale day is always....interesting.

This year both feeders were bought by people that we know.

Walker's feeder calf was purchased by a girl who will be bringing him back to the fair next year as a market steer. Isaac's calf was purchased by a family we know to take home and feed out.

Thank you buyers for supporting our kids in this 4-H endeavor.

Thursday evening we moved out of the barn. Friday and Saturday we slept, cleaned house, tended to the overgrown garden and prepared for the Ohio State Fair the following week.

It was an eventful week and one that we will not soon forget. Great times and great memories.

This is Us - our life, our story, our farm