My First Fair Experience

           
Since I mentioned my first 4-H Club yesterday, the Sandhill Hillbillies, I thought it would be fun to reflect back on my first project – a breeding heifer named Herfy.  I was a scrawny little thing and Herfy was just my size.  I rinsed her and brushed her and led her in a zillion circles around the corral out at the Cox Ranch where my dad worked.  And then fair time came.  I was so excited to take her to the Hooker County Fair!

We were in the check-in line, and I was most likely gawking around and not giving 100% of my attention to Herfy.  One of the big kids had a steer that got loose, knocked me down and put a hoof right in the middle of my back!  I had the wind knocked out of me! But I wasn’t seriously hurt!  Well that “big kid” and I have kept crossing paths during our adult lives – and he is John Tucker, who still raises Herefords in Nebraska.  Well, you should have seen his mom rush over to me – I never will forget that – she was so horrified, but I was fine and with a little ice, and some extra TLC from my family and the Tucker family I recovered just fine.

Well, Herfy was just about as tame as tame could be. And she wasn’t too bad either.  Herefords were the breed of choice in the Nebraska Sandhills in the early 1980s, and I was ready for my show ring debut. Herfy did way better than I had imagined – reserve champion heifer at the fair! (read more about this in an earlier blog: 30 years and a little trophy ago) I was so excited.  And you know what? Through every move, and that’s a lot, I carry that little marble-based trophy with me.  Oh I’ve won other honors and even nicer awards, but that was likely the “hook” that got me into the beef industry. 

I might have been trampled in the check-in area, but I didn’t that get me down!

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures the next month.  Writing these blogs made me realize I need to bring some photo albums from my parents' house.