Spring & all that comes with it
It’s officially spring! Warmer weather, lots to do and lots of mud!
We had a great time at the Moon City Preview last week. This year’s show was a true blessing since the 2020 version was cancelled and it was pretty much a stress free weekend...for me. Unloading all of our equipment and cattle was surprisingly easy. The check in and weigh in line went really quickly and we even got a spot in the wash rack close to a hydrant which made their show day bath go really well too.
After we were all cleaned up and ready, my favorite steer Rip and I made our way into the ring for Showmanship. There were so many kids my age that they had to split our age group into three heats. I was good enough to be one of the three that got to go back in for the final drive of the Intermediate Division and when the judge went to the microphone, I was Reserve Champion Showman. My sisters both showed in Showmanship too and while Caroline did great, she didn’t make it out of her heat but Kate was Reserve Champion Beginner Showman. It made for a great start to our day!
When we got to show in our classes we were really happy that none of us ended up in the same class. When the judge placed us, all of our steers but one were in the upper half of their classes and considering this was the biggest Moon City Preview so far, that’s something to be proud of. We saw a lot of great cattle and got to hang out with some really great friends. The Moon City Preview is always my favorite show, but this year was a fun and easy show with the best ring man. Seriously, Charlie is the best. (Diane, you’re going to have to tell him I did it again).
My Dad got into a heated debate with himself on when and if we should shear the steers this year. Every other year about at about this time we cut all of the winter hair off of our steers to promote new fresh hair for Summer. According to the Farmers Almanac, there are stages of the moon that are supposed to be the best times to cut hair for regrowth. It all seems like a bunch of hogwash to me, but everyone we know believes in it and this year’s dates fell last week. This is a problem because we’re planning to show this weekend in Napoleon and the steers wouldn’t do very well without hair. We decided to shear two on the Almanac dates and then show two this weekend. This means a lot of work using a shedding comb on the two with hair so that we can get all of the dead hair out and my arm is already tired but hopefully it will be worth it when we don’t anger the moon witches by cutting their hair at the wrong time. (My Mom hates it when Dad makes fun of moon magic, she’s works in healthcare. She said anyone who has ever worked in healthcare, will completely understand.)
Lastly, my cousins are going to be keeping sheep in our barn again this year and they just brought them home. We’re ready for more advice from my favorite sheep expert, my Barber Randy. He knows all about them and he’ll be over to see them before long.
As you can see, it’s been a busy start to spring. We went showing, sheared some steers and got some sheep. Hopefully things slow down so I don’t have to write so much next time. I have to save my arm for all the combing and brushing.