4 Wiley Farm
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Winners
  • For Sale
    • Cows
    • Semen
  • Why Minis?
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • In Motion
  • Shop Our Farm
    • Merchandise
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Winners
  • For Sale
    • Cows
    • Semen
  • Why Minis?
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • In Motion
  • Shop Our Farm
    • Merchandise

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

The 2015 Ohio Beef Expo

3/29/2015

0 Comments

 
Last time I highlighted the results of the Ohio Beef Expo.  We won Grand Champion Bull and Reserve Grand Champion Heifer.  While winning was certainly the highlight of our week, we enjoyed each and every moment of the preparation and the experience. 
Picture
(Please ignore the disaster that we call a garage)

The Beef Expo is our biggest show of the year, and we don't just load the cattle on the trailer and arrive at the show.  There are months and months of planning, halter breaking and preparation for this show.  The weekend before the show was consumed with washing, clipping and fitting.  

We were so thankful to have the help of Anthony and Nick this year.  
Picture
Daniel did a number on his back the week before the show.  We were in a panic knowing what had to be accomplished and having a man completely down.  Mitchell is a powerhouse of solid muscle and does not do well around strangers.  Daniel immediately knew that there was no way that he could handle Mitchell in any way, let alone show him in the ring.  

Anthony is a big, bad former college wrestler and we knew that he had the strength to handle an ornery bull.  We asked Anthony to show Mitchell for us at the show.  Anthony and Mitchell came to an understanding and formed a very close bond the week before the show.  Anthony is a great showman and it really paid off in the ring.  He even got a compliment from the judge about how well he showed.  

A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Mar 18, 2015 at 6:39pm PDT

Daniel hauled all of the gear in Wednesday night since our trailer is not big enough to hold the cows and all the equipment.

A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Mar 19, 2015 at 7:15am PDT

The boys skipped school on Thursday and Friday to be at the show with us.  Don't worry...they got all of their assignments done in the barn.  
Picture
Only slightly distracted by all the commotion...
Picture
Picture
Thursday was consumed with moving in and fine tuning the cows.  We had hoped to have very little touch up work to do and be able to relax and visit with folks.  Things never go as planned.  I think there was a cow in the grooming chute the entire day.  

Friday turned into a crazy day.  Mitchell decided to quit eating and drinking as soon as we got to the fairgrounds.  We were as stressed as he was.  We worked so hard for 18 months to grow an awesome bull and then on show day he looks like crap because he is stressed and won't eat.  Finally, right before the show, we got him to eat and drink enough to fill in his sunken sides.  He still had lost a lot of weight, but he was much improved.  

We had 4 cows to get ready all at the same time for the show.  This is when all the planning an preparation really paid off.  We had recruited quite a team to help us get ready.  Show day is very stressful, and we were able to spread the stress out a little bit. 

Picture
It all comes down to the ring....one man's opinion on one particular day.  
Picture
Isaac and Walker showed Rain and Royal in the Summer Junior Heifer class.  Rain was Reserve Division Champion and Royal was 5th in the class.
Picture
(He gets the tongue thing from his grandma)

Walker has shown Annabelle in the BEST program all winter.  Isaac is actually half owner of Annabelle, so he wanted to show her at least one time this year.  Isaac did a great job showing Annabelle even though she was fired up and would not stand still.  They got second in their class and then went on to win Reserve Champion Female.
Picture
Of course we were excited to have Mitchell win Grand Champion Bull.  I think one of the most exciting parts of this experience was to see all of our friends become personally involved in this experience and share in the win with us.  It was a team effort and it was a great joy to share the win with our team.  Anthony worked his tail off to help us get ready for this show. He told us that in the show ring, his arm was shaking from holding up Mitchell's head.  Anthony took a personal interest in us and Mitchell and he shared in the excitement with us as well.  
Picture
Friday night we had a pizza celebration with all of the Miniature Hereford breeders.  It was a great time to relax, joke and share in a celebration of what we all had accomplished.  

Anthony could not get over how encouraging and supportive the entire group was.   We are all very competitive, but at the end of the day, we are a family that is supportive of each other.  
Picture
Saturday was the display day.  The barn was packed all day and we talked to so many people.  It is really one of our favorite parts of the show. 

Isaac and Walker participated in the team judging contest with one of their cousins.  Their team came in 11th place.  Not too shabby for a bunch of kids who had no idea what they were doing.


A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Mar 21, 2015 at 7:15am PDT

We did allow Anthony to take a 5 minute nap.  We knew he needed the rest before we had to load the trailer and then wheel the rest of our tack down to the other barn for the BEST show.

The boys were supposed to show in showmanship on Saturday afternoon, but we scratched them from the competition.  By that point we were all exhausted and we only had an hour to get the cows washed and ready for the show.  Some times enough is enough.

Besides...we knew we had to be up at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday for the BEST show.
Picture
The Ohio Beef Expo is always such a great experience.  This year we noticed an increased interest in the Miniature Herefords.  I helped to pass out the awards at the show, so I was on the back side of the show ring.  It was incredible to look up and see the stands completely full.  

The competition was really stiff this year.  The quality of the animals has really improved and I think people are really starting to take notice of the Miniature Hereford breed.  We have a great class of people and an incredible class of cows.

So now....the wheels are turning as we figure out how we are going to get to Louisville this year.  
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Let's Connect

    Picture

    Author

    Hello!  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.

    Shop Our Farm

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    10 On The 10th
    Books
    Calving
    Character
    Everything Else
    Food
    Hay
    How To
    Photography
    Showing
    Things We Love

    RSS Feed

    Popular Posts

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

The Cows

​Why Minis?
Our Winners
For Sale

The Family

Home
About Us
Contact Us
Disclosure

Follow Us

Blog - Down on the Farm
Instagram
You Tube
Facebook

Associations

​Miniature Hereford Breeders Association
American Hereford Association
Ohio Cattlemen's Association