Saturday was just watering, washing, preparing for the first show the next day and trying to stay cool. I drove separately after making ham salad and loading the coolers for the first day. It was not a bad day and we had probably one of the earliest evenings of the week and it was needed.
Sunday came early at the house with FarmBoy loading the pig up at 5:30 am to get them loaded into their stalls. It was a hot day even that early so it was nice to get them in before it got worse. The feeder show starting at noon. So he got to come home and chill for a little bit until we needed to head in for the day.
Sprout did fairly well and was in the middle of the pack. We figured that is where we would be since he was not the biggest and was younger than several in the group. All in all it was a good start to the day. Next was beef showmanship and here's where things took a bit of a different turn. Showmanship is the only place that heifers and steers are in mixed groups until the grand drive. The groups go like this beginning ( grade 3 to 5 ), intermediate ( grade 6 to 9 ), advanced (grade 9 to 12), and master which means you have won advanced the year before. These groups don't quite follow the 4H guidelines, but are close.
Showmanship started off okay. Her steer is a bit of an anxious cow so we took him in a bit early to see how he would do and it wasn't great. We ended up bringing up the feeder calf to calm him down. I wondered how he would do with others, but once he's in a group he calms way down. He just doesn't like to be alone at all. Showmanship starts and he is placed next to a heifer that was in obvious heat. She keeps trying to back into him and he gets fussy and Sprout has a bit of a hard time handling him when they are all lined up parallel. When they go to take a lap Sprout doesn't hold him quite far enough back and he tries to mount the heifer and Sprout is caught in the middle. He steps on her and catches her knee in his front knee that was bent and she couldn't hang on to him any longer, but she tried for all she was worth. The handlers stepped in at that point and pulled him out to the side to calm him. Sprout was trying to get him back as soon as possible to get back in line and to get back in the running, but even though she got him back she was not chosen for the top 2 and that was okay. It was definitely a learning experience for her. Our steer and dairy heifer are in together and we never have this problem so it was really unexpected. Sprout was a little hurt but not too bad.
Back at the stall we were frantically trying to find things that would calm him down and we got something from the Sullivan's truck that we gave him. Heifers showed first so we knew we'd have a lot of time for it to take effect. In the mean time we just let him chill with his calf buddy. It seemed to work and when he went back in for steers ( after the rain delay ) he was just fine and she won the fist class. She went back in for the finals and ended up 3rd overall. I was proud of Sprout for one not crying in the arena even though she was hurt, not giving up during showmanship, and for getting back in there and finishing showing for the day with very little complaints.
Monday dawned it we were onto the sheep. FarmBoy and Nanny1 had done rough cuts on the the sheep at home so it was mainly touching up and making them look pretty. Sprout's knee was still a little sore so we were letting her rest some. I got the lovely pleasure of washing July her sheep and lets just say she doesn't like being washed and the wash racks were full, it was crazy and I was soaked. Thank goodness I brought more clothes with me. Once everyone was clean we had time to just rest before she showed. I forgot to take pictures of the first lamb, but she was the middle of the pack as was her second one. The best of her lambs got left at home with an abscess that would seal over so we figured that was where she's be. She was happy and that it what mattered. Her showmanship was good, but we decided not to do showmanship to let her knee rest. The cattle was released to come home in the evening so we loaded them up and cleaned out the stall after she was done sheep showing.
Tuesday was pig day and I came in after washing was done and everybody was shiny and ready to go. We got to the arena with little problems with both pigs. Her landrace was last in her group of three and we figured that would be the case. We had trouble getting him to gain weight at first and he was a bit on the small side. The spot pig was third of 5 and we were a bit disappointed at that. He looked really good and walked well. One that scored above her could barely walk so I'm not sure what the judge was looking at, but just how it goes sometimes. The same judge did showmanship and only was picking the kids that had won a heat previously. Sprout was very disappointed, but got over it pretty quickly.
Wednesday Sprout volunteered for mini 4H with her sheep. Since there were a few Minis that didn't show up we got to go sooner. We went home to catch a rest before the swine open show. I fell asleep and they just left me. I was worn out. She had fun, but didn't place all that well. Sheep got to come home that evening so her ewe was loaded up and brought home. We moved the lamb over one pen so he was close to other sheep. Swine was also released so both the pigs got to come home in the next load. The barn at home was full again.
Thursday started with FarmBoy going to check on and feed the one remaining sheep. I took the opportunity to go get her school supplies. We take things in this Friday so they needed bought, but she needed the break too. We were back at the fair that evening for the livestock auction. A 4Her can auction one animal and local businesses bid on them. The 4Her receives the money from the auction and from the meat since the animal is sent to a meat processing plant. Sprout has a 4H checking account that she pays for feed from and this is where the money is deposited. We buy the animals and she pays for the feed until her money runs out. It gives her the whole picture of what it costs.
All in all it was a good fair. She's right where we think she ought to be. We add more and more to her livestock training each year and she's slowly moving up in her results so by the time she's in high school she's going to be a tough competitor.
I'm thankful there were no major injuries and that we only have one major disagreement while we were at the fair. FarmBoy is slob and not organized and it just overwhelmed me one day. After that it was rather uneventful. One thing I do is pray before she hits that ring and mainly it's for her safety. I also pray she learns something. Sometimes it's a hard one. I also pray to thank God for keeping her safe and for all the blessings we receive during fair.
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