5 hours later, the sheep show has begun in the main arena. Neither one of my poultry-showing children has shown yet. Youngest is lying in the grass moaning about heat and exhaustion, his show clothes covered in mud. Middlest is presenting with a wrinkled forehead and watery eyes "But I have to show my sheep soon!". And still, the poultry parade goes on, wading through the layers of turkeys, meat chickens and meat ducks, then showmanship for seniors, intermediates, juniors and beginners of turkeys, then meat chickens, then meat ducks, THEN fancy turkeys, fancy chickens (MIDDLEST) and fancy ducks ( Youngest). In the sheep arena the "market lamb" classes are going. These show lambs are usually Suffolks or Crossbred Suffolks, they are born around late December, early January, and are now ready for market. They are meaty and trimmed almost to the skin so you can see their strong muscles. Our lambs are not "market lambs". They are petite little ladies, a year of age and covered in tiny curly ques of wool. They are considered "breeding yearling ewes" for the purpose of showing and are "wool sheep", as they have gorgeous wool and aren't raised for eating. You could eat them, and there's more to them than, say, frog legs, but in America we want monster meaty breeds for eating. So, Huz and WendyHuz have headed off to monitor the sheep show and via text message we are keeping each other apprised of progress in our own arenas.
Finally it is time for Middlest to do Intermediate Fancy Chicken Showmanship. This is traditionally a contest between Middlest and another girl her age who seem to trade off wins. They are both smart little girls, and study their chicken books carefully. In poultry showmanship, there is some art so showing the chicken. displaying the wings, fanning the tail, but the real contest is between who knows the answers to the multitude of posed questions in a one-on-one session with the judge. This year both girls answered all the questions correctly, but Middlest was incorrect with one of the bonus questions, and the other girl got them all correct. So, a second place finish in Showmanship for Middlest- normally a big disappointment- but she was anxious about the sheep show in progress and did not have time to spare for moping. In fact, she had to hand off her bird and run to the arena where they were calling her class.
Back in the poultry tent, the confusion had begun. Somehow they had lumped some fancy duck kids in with the meat ducks for showmanship, and other fancy duck kids had been put into the fancy chicken showmanship class. Youngest had been placed in with the fancy chicken kids- the biggest group of showman, and the most serious. Uh oh.
Fortunately, our club Poultry Advisor was on hand to get Youngest on his game. First, to get him out of the mud. Then, a quick run through of the things he had studied, and into the tent, clutching his duck, "Sosophina". As the judge chose one child then another and another, it became apparent that Youngest would not be taken into conference at the beginning of the class. Huz' texts indicated Middlest was entering the arena, Middlest was showing her lambs! Then a phone call from Huz"She is in the arena now!" I know. I am missing it. Again. But yesterday I missed Youngest showing the dog, and I am not going to miss him showing his duck, too. ( Well, I will miss that later).
Middlest won first place Border Leicester Breeding Ewe, and second place with her two yearling ewes. The judge chose Eleanor over Evelyn for the winning ribbon.
And now, it is Youngest's turn.
The shortest of the bunch, he marches up to the judge and answers questions. He puts his duck into a cage and takes it out, he smiles he chats, he points to parts and names them. How long to incubate an egg, how to hand a duck off to someone, how to take them back, plumage, preen gland...bam, bam, bam, Youngest nailed it all. And WON! All answers correct, plus all the bonus questions.
After a big hug, I ran off to the arena, to see Middlest outside, post show, and give another hug. Then, back to the tent to monitor the show, as Middlest's Fancy Chickens are up right after showmanship. I arrived back to the heated contest for Poultry Showman. This is the last hurdle to being the poultry representative for the Showman of Shoman contest on Friday night. In the tent are the winners of the senior showmanship for turkeys, meat chickens, ducks and fancy chickens. The turkey winner was from another club, but the other three were all from our club. Not only that, but they are family. One sister-brother combo, and the other a cousin. When I got to the contest, it was down to the sister and brother. The tension was huge. The brother is in his last year of 4-H and really wanted to do Showman of Showman. The sister is younger, has a few years left, really wanted her brother to win, but didn't want to lose either!
"What kind of comb does a Malayan have?" "What does the 'OLC' stand for?" Yikes! They went back and forth, "What kind of duck doens't quack?" "Who has a buttercup?"
And then, the win- and big brother was going on to Showman of Showman.
Now, time to show fancy chickens. Middlest's birds.
But Middlest is being called to show in Intermediate Sheep Showmanship.
So, I recruited two of her teammates to show her birds and dashed off to the arena to watch Middlest. Middlest is a curious one. She is an animal kid. And showmanship is all about your relationship to your animal, but she had declared long ago she "hated" showmanship- except for poultry(maybe because she wins?). This year momma had put her foot down and Middlest was trying it.
And she shined. The only competitor showing a wool breed, she had to work a bit differently, but, she is a quiet showman, and her ewes are calm and sweet- because she makes them so. The judge started pulling kids out into the line. In showmanship the last one pulled out is the winner, and Middlest stayed in the ring, as child after child was pulled for the line up. Finally with only 4 left showing, the judge pointed to her, and she had placed, respectably, wonderfully, fourth. After finishing the placings, the judge went to speak to some of the showmen. He was wonderfully encouraging to Middlest and gave her a bunch of suggestions. On the microphone he spoke about her quiet control of her sheep and how he wanted to see her back in the ring again next year. When she left the ring, our Showmanship Advisor was so excited and pleased for her, he gave her a big hug, and another dose of encouragement.
Of the things that stand out for her this year, that class was the best.
Now, another mad dash back to the poultry tent to find out that in the huge field of of about 30 pens of Fancy Chickens, Middlest's were 5th best!
And Youngest had also shown his ducks while we were in the arena, managing to find a friend to help him show the birds and make it to the tent all without help from me or Huz- but certainly help from the other wonderful families of our club. His ducks placing fourth! With a big grin on his red, sweaty face, he presented his ribbon, perched jauntily in his pocket and said "We're done!" So are the Wenders- they have patiently waited through the whole day and then as all happens at once, bounced back and forth trying to catch the kids at their best, and now, must drive back to Pennsylvania. Hugs, love, wish we could've "hung out" more, but that isn't what The Fair is about.
And so we are done- with that day's shows.....
And back to Cowfeathers, to do barn chores, and for Eldest to whip up a tray of manicotti, Youngest to create two loaves of strawberry bread and get together their menus, place settings and posters for tomorrows food project judging.
Only, when we arrive home
we don't have
electricity.
Ahh, The Fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment