4-H for Life!

This afternoon we had a 4-H meeting here at our house so I decided to make something a little extra special for the kids (and let's be honest - what adult doesn't enjoy a pig or sheep cupcake as well?) 

Already we were meeting today to begin to discuss the upcoming 4-H season. Which shows we were going to do, where we were going to get our show animals from, how we were going to need to select new officers for the new year, etc. 4-H is a year-round thing and our boys love doing it (most of the time!). I started to reflect back on this last year of 4-H and thought I'd share a few pictures that show some of the things the boys had to do.

There are several meetings before the kids get their animals. Presentations on different breeds, the names of the different body parts, learning how to make rope halters, learning parlimentary procedure for the running of meetings as well as feed to weight gain ratio for the various animals. Then the spring comes and that is when you get your pigs and sheep. Pigs are around April for the Umatilla County Fair and we get the sheep in May. 

Caleb's sheep was already fairly large when we first picked him up. Not very tame though and the first few weeks that we have the animals, the boys just have to spend time in the animal's pen, reading to them and letting the animals get used to their new environment and their presence. 

The boys have to work with their animals daily by walking them. Owen drives his pig with a pig whip. He can only tap on the pig's jowls to make it go right or left or he can tap on the pig's side to make it walk forward. Their is no whipping involved - I promise!
Caleb walks his sheep with a halter and without. He must learn how to show it with just his hands so he starts to practice that early on.
About 6 weeks before the fair, our 4-H group started to meet weekly at our house to practice showing. Mark had built a corral over the winter and boy did it come in handy! Everyone piled around to watch.

Sheep kids would go first and our 4-H leader Nick (who also judges a ton of shows every year) would tell them what he wanted them to do.

Caleb practiced lifting his sheep's neck to show a good clean line as well as making sure the lamb's feet were straight. The back of the lamb also needs to be nice and flat, not hunched up. 

 Pigs would go next and they would have to practice driving their pig around the ring, always keeping the pig between them and the judge (making a ham sandwich!). Nick would move around the arena so that the kids would have to make the pigs walk towards him from all different angles. The trick was to get your pig close to the judge but not too close! Also, you always had to watch out for the other pigs and their drivers. Plus, keep your eyes on the judge - head up Owen!

 Caleb's sheep suffered an injury that we didn't know about when we purchased it. Because of this injury, Caleb learned a lot though. He learned how to give his lamb medicine orally.

How to wrap and bandage an open wound.

Even how to give a penicillan shot in the neck (Grandpa Terry helped him learn this one).

 At the actual fair, there is a ton of work to do. For the parents as well as the kids.

The kids have to clean pens daily, feed twice a day, check water constantly, as well as keep their animals as clean as possible. Right before showing, the boys would wash their animals in the cleaning stalls.

One day of the fair, the kids had judging to do as well. They were put into groups and they looked at 4 species of animals - goats, sheep, pigs, beef - and they had to judge them based on their conformation. Out of over 100 kids, Caleb scored 10th and Owen scored 20th for their age division. That's really good!

Show time for Owen went really well. He placed first in his class but as we were all watching him show, the judge looked in our direction and then went up to Owen. Those of us in the stands could see her ask him something and then we all watched as he looked at me and said "My mom". What?! What did I do?
The judge then went and got the microphone and said that while it was a great group of showman there was one who stood out. The only thing is that she noticed he kept looking into the stands and when she asked him who he was looking at, he said "My mom". Aahh! How sweet! Except I do want him to win, so stop looking at me Owen! Look at these pictures though - his eyes are on the judge the whole time!

Well, maybe I am sitting right behind the judge in this one...

Tootie and Owen were quite the team but Owen didn't make it to the last round. He finished 3rd in the run-offs which is still awesome but he is really thinking he's going to win it next year!

Saying good-bye was the hardest part. 

Owen wanted one last picture with Tootie so he could remember what a good pig she had been. 

Caleb also had a great year showing with his lamb, Hank the Tank. Hank was a smaller built lamb but a good one. 

All his hard work paid off and Caleb was also asked to come back for the run-off. He did not win sheep showmanship but it was still exciting to be called back!

Each of the boys finished the show with 2 blue ribbons (which is good) and they had a great time at the fair.

Our club cleaned house with awards, including Pig Herdsmanship, which is the banner Owen is holding.

On Friday we let them go out together and ride the rides. Jaiden and Jaxon had come to visit us at the fair and Jaiden stayed and rode rides with the boys until midnight.

Here are Jaiden and Jaxon with Tootie. It was great seeing them and I loved the fact that they wanted to come check out the boys' animals.

Here's to 4-H! I may not love it when it's time to load pigs into the trailer or when it's time to shovel pig manure or doctor a lamb that has maggots or when I get an enormous feed bill but...it's all worth it! The life skills and work ethic it's teaching my kids is awesome and that's just to name a few things that they've learned. They are also earning money for college, learning where the meat they eat can come from, how hard it is to take care of animals and how to produce a good product. They have to volunteer their time, fund raise, and give speeches to community members. I wish more kids participated in this great program!