The Braunvieh Queen gets in early
For many youngsters, it pays to get in door first
On Monday morning, the long rows of deep sawdust in NRG Center were still mostly empty, but four kids were busy walking their fluffy, grayi2 sh-brown cows, letting them drink from buckets of water and tying them up flank by flank. They had driven 550 miles the previous day from Clarendon, up in the Texas Panhandle, stopping once at a friend’s place to clip the cattle, and got in on Sunday evening around 7. After days on their feet, the animals settled onto their bellies, while the reedy teenagers swept and put things away, their parents off driving the trailer back to its parking lot. “Usually when we’re at shows, we do all the work,” says Makinzie Hinton, 16, who hauls her giant animals around with a frame that seems about the size of one of their haunches, unworried about being jostled around in between thousands of pounds of flesh. Once the cattle are settled, the kids have a long wait: Their show time isn’t until Wednesday afternoon, and they’ll depart on Thursday. Sometimes, they use the down time to show off tricks. Hinton’s favorite cow, Riski, knows how to jump and kick out her back feet on command.
Hinton’s ease is well-earned. She takes care of three of her own cows, raising their calves and taking them to shows. They’re purebred Braunviehs, a breed that originated in Switzerland and is now primarily used for beef. Last year, Hinton was voted Junior Braunvieh Queen, an office that requires convening meetings, handing out awards and representing the breed’s association at shows.
It also can mean being away from school for weeks at a time — but that’s normal in the agricultural area where Hinton lives. The kids get 28 excused absences from school for stock shows, where they learn something besides math and social studies.
“It teaches responsibility,” Hinton says.
She’s not sure she wants to raise cattle forever, but she says she does want her kids to learn how to do it, just like she did.