There was a time that I would crawl out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to get in, feed and capture my critters for the county fair 4-H beef show. For 10 years this was my life. Then, I grew up and I am still missing a piece of myself that is in that ring. I lived for the Saturday morning show. Weighing in and heading those babies right to the wash rack, because they needed to be dried, fitted and ready to show by 9; those were the days. Alas, everything changes as we grow up and a new generation of showmen step into the ring.
This past week I have been involved in all aspects of the fair. I started out competing in the open horse show before I helped out with the 4-H one. Then I spent two days helping with the local rodeo queen contest. I entered the rodeo for Friday morning, roped my breakaway calf, did a quick wardrobe change and headed over to the show ring to help with the market steer and heifer show. As I helped the judge and the kids I just kept getting a longing feeling to be the one leading the tanks around the ring. I kept hoping one of the little ones would lose their animal so I could just snatch them up. On Saturday, during the feeder calf show, I became even sadder, because they were always my favorite.
I was talking to a girl that I showed with when we were younger afterward the last night, and she made the comment about how small the show was compared to when we were tikes tugging our cattle around. Things have changed and it pains me to see how small it has gotten. We always had progress shows to go to and soon they disappeared and kids quit going to fairs and now numbers are down. I noticed a difference in the competitive spirit of the showers as well. I want kids to feel and know what it is like to work so hard with an animal—beef or otherwise—and know the struggles and the absolute highs that come with the event.
Showing gives kids confidence. It makes them put themselves out there to be judged, for their project to be judged, in a constructive manner and it is such a growing experience to learn how to take criticism as well as learning to communicate your thoughts and passions as well as opinions to a complete stranger knowing that he is judging you. Showing gave me such a huge boost in my confidence as I started to do things right. It fostered my sense of competitive spirit that has carried over to all aspects of my life whether it is rodeo, school or just a pickup basketball game at the 'Y.'
Things are changing, whether we want them to or not. It is happening in all aspects of my life as I grow up, and I’m not sure that I am ready for it all to happen at once. There are little things I see all over that just make me realize that I am an “adult” even though I wouldn’t mind staying a kid forever. But, I can’t. Yet, I will always have the lessons that I learned through showing in 4-H.
