"...sometimes it’s actually more fun when you don’t win..."

This is my 8th year in 4-H. I became a part of the 4-H program when I was 7 years old. My friend, who was probably about 10 at the time, had been telling me about her 4-H pigs. I even remember the name of one: Chris P. Bacon. I love my 4-H club. Since we have only 9 members, I know everybody in my club and it makes for a funner experience when we meet because I get to hang out with my friends a bit more often. My first 4-H project was poultry, chickens specifically. Chickens are not terribly hard to show, since they are a small animal and don’t take much effort to handle. I was still a Cloverbud, meaning I would only receive a participation ribbon and no premium, but I still had a ton of fun showing my chickens at the fair. I also participated in Poultry Judging for a few years. My favorite part was when we walked around the table with the pictures of different chicken breeds on it and tried to identify them. My first goat project was Dairy Goats, which I started during my 2nd year in 4-H. We owned 2 young Nubian does, Lucy and Luna. I entered both in 4-H and they both placed well. In 2021, I tried out the pack goat project with Luna’s 2 spring kids, Ninja and Nora. It didn’t go terribly well, with both of them getting red ribbons because they refused to go through the water obstacle. That was the only time I tried showing pack goats. In 2023, I completed a market goat project for the first time! I had never shown a market animal of any kind, and I loved it. After the fair, I found myself wondering why I hadn’t Continued from Page 1. tried the market goat project sooner! This year, I entered 3 goats (Ruby, Shenandoah, and Blaze), and no chickens. I was very happy with my decision to not show chickens. I realized very quickly that I never had a lot of time to go watch friends and cousins show, or just walk around the fair and look at things, and I really enjoyed having more free time to do what I wanted and hang out with friends. This year, I was also very proud of Blaze, my market goat. I purchased Blaze from Wicked Cool Show Goats in late February as a $50 bottle baby. He had been born a week early and weighed about 4 pounds. I originally planned to bottle feed him and grow him out a bit before selling him to someone else as a market wether for a later fair. However, a few months in, I realized that he was going to make weight for the fair, so he became my market wether. He did great at the fair, weighing in at 88 pounds, which was 3 pounds heavier than my market wether last year. He placed 1st in his class and made it to the Championship Drive, even though he didn’t win anything there. My best 4-H experience in general was last year when I won Reserve Grand Champion Goat Showman! The Grand Champion Showman declined the Large Animal All Around Showmanship Contest, so I got to go in their place! I had a blast! I have always preferred large animals, especially goats, cows, and horses, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to show them, along with sheep and swine. The dairy cattle were definitely my favorites, with the steers and horses close behind (that’s not counting goats, because I show those every year!). Even though I didn’t win, it definitely motivated me to work hard with my project animals so that maybe I can participate again in a few years! When I was younger, I always wanted to show horses in 4-H, but I got to try it in the All Around, and I realized that I didn’t want to show horses as much as I thought. So now, I have a new goal; to show cows! I think cows are pretty cool, and I’ve been around them a lot because my Grandpa raises Beef Cattle. He even showed them in 4-H when he was a kid! 4-H has taught me a lot of important things and helped me improve certain skills, such as my public speaking abilities. Every year, I give a presentation twice to the judges at county level, and I’ve gotten a blue every single time. It has helped me learn that it isn’t all about winning, and sometimes it’s actually more fun when you don’t win, because there are new opportunities that you can’t be a part of if you are always the winner. I’ve improved a lot over the past 6 years in my goat knowledge and showmanship skills. Overall, the most important thing 4-H as a whole has taught me is to follow your dreams and never give up!