well, it's been a while since i actually posted anything on here so here goes state fair review part 1.
Wednesday: we load up animals and head to the state fair. wash cattle and get things settled in. i watched princess kay of the milky way coronation which is the dairy princess for the whole state of minnesota. and that was about it.
Thursday: got up and did chores once again. I then proceeded to sit in the same spot from 9 until 12 picking up manure from behind the cows for herdsmanship. i know, sounds like great fun. then of course me being me i had to socialize with all my friends from beef and dairy.
Friday much of the same thing between herdsmanship from 9 to 11 and many other things. I had a workshop interview called fun with dairy foods where we made butter and ice cream. Then i had to take a test with 20 questions on it. I got 15 of them right which from what i've heard is one of the higher scores. I went back to the barns and found out that I was a finalist for the interviews which means I had to go to another group interview. While at this one, me and about 8 other kids sat in a circle and discussed issues currently affecting the dairy industry. It was very interesting to hear other people's opinions. I found out that I wasn't an interview winner but I did get a free polo out of the deal, one which i will never wear and that can hang in the closet next to the other 5 i have. I then watched the beef show and a kid from our county recieve reserve champion cow/calf pair. (i showed that cow at the county fair so it was definitely me that helped him win at state fair). Friday night was kind of boring after that. I did manage to actually walk up to the 4-H building which I don't think i've done for 2years and that was only because i was sleeping up there. It's quite the hike and exactly what i remember.
Saturday: show time! after i slept in a half hour after my alarm i go downstairs to find out that so have the boys and it's ok that i'm only a half hour late since they didn't get there until 6:15 and i was there at 5:30. We washed and bedded and then waited for their hair to dry so that we could do their toplines. My lovely sister grace helped me with mine and i might add that it looked extra good. I got in the show ring and was pulled into 2nd. Then we did a few more laps and i was pulled into first. This is exciting since there were 17 animals in the class and i was definitely just hoping for a blue since i had seen quite a few animals that I liked better than mine. But hey! who's to complain when you're heifer is first out of 17 and wins the class. not me! :) Then I had to go back into the ring for junior champ. which is just the champion of all the calves and heifers that aren't cows. I wasn't pulled out for that but that's alright because I was still really happy with 1st in my class. Then I had to do net merit, which i was excited about because grace or i have every plaque for this section from the time she started showing until now. Well, I did win again and the judge really liked my heifer once again. and reserver champion went to another kid in our county who i just happened to beat last year and he was all about how it was deja vu. Then came showmanship. I was really hoping to be a finalist in that as well but as it turns out my heifer didn't look relaxed in the ring. (whatever that means, what animals looks relaxed when you have a rope tied to their face and walk them around?)
After the show I stood in line to eat cookies for probably 20 minutes and had a few australian potatoes with my favorite national dairy conference people. We had to check the list for dairy showcase and there was my name for top 10! i was really excited since that meant that i got to get my heifer all looking good again and I only been in the top 25 before.
Now saturday night our plan was not to go to bed until like 4 in the morning because the herdsmen from every county don't have a curfew jsut have to check in every hour to say that they're there. So we made until like 2 because the lady checking us in told us that 'you should go to bed since you've had a long day.' this made me a little angry but i obliged.
Sunday: I do chores and get myself ready for the showcase. We get over there and i'm eating my cookies and milk and talking with my favorite people once again. They announce the top 25 through 11 and i'm thinking okay, i'll be number 10 so get ready. Well it turns out I wasn't 10, 9, 8, 7, or 6. They lined the remaining 5 up and I am number 5. Which doesn't really sound very exciting but this is a big deal for me! I ended up making $1,000 for the efforts I put into showing dairy and quiz bowl and judging. Thanks to sysco, MN Farm Bureau, and MN Soybean growers for sponsoring that amount of money. I'm still working on figuring out what I shall do with it. Probably save it for college. Animals were released at 3 and we didn't end up getting out of the state fair grounds until 6:15. But oh well, i like to soak it all in until next year. Oh wait, i'm going back for ffa next weekend. Stop by the cattle barns for a visit if you're there!
