My daughter loves to show cattle, which is why I found myself sleeping on the ground at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds last Saturday night, because my daughter loves to show cattle. Repetition is good for the soul, right?...Sorry, just doing a little bit of mindfulness there, you know, cause sleeping on the ground is good when it's for the children...yes...:D
Every Father's Day Weekend, the Kootenai Classic occurs. The Kootenai Classicis a youth jackpot livestock show which takes place in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Over a three day period goats, sheep, hogs, and cattle are beautified and shown by their handlers in an attempt to be the best in showmanship and quality. It really is quite the affair.
Of course the amount of stuff needed to travel with and show a steer is substantial. Coeur d'Alene is about thirty miles from my farm, so it wasn't too far of a trek for us, and as we only needed to stay one night, I wasn't about to haul my travel trailer and the stock trailer to the fairgrounds. Instead we took our tent as it was just going to be me, the steer, and two teenage girls roughing it.
Really, Frankie, my daughter's steer, got the best treatment. He had his own stalling area in the cattle barn, complete with fresh shavings. He also has his own grooming stanchion, an industrial hair dryer (blower), and a bunch of other nice accessories not to mention a couple of teenage girls who fawned over him the entire time. I feel like Frankie had it pretty good.
I really didn't have any complaints either, for I had a good book and my camp chair, and as my daughter is almost at adult status, other than a few mom things, I just got to observe her in action. She really impresses me with her drive and work ethic, for it takes hours and hours to bathe and fit a steer for show, not to mention all of the feeding and stall cleaning involved. I might be a little proud of her.
Another nice diversion, aside from observing all of the show parents and their offspring, was that we know a lot of people in our local area. One such known folk was the cheerleader coach for my daughter's high school. Her daughter was showing a steer also, and she had an alien with her.
By alien I mean this creature:
Little Bit kept us entertained, as my daughter's friend volunteered (announced) she was going to babysit the tiny creature, and I have to admit that we spent many an hour playing with that little speck of cuteness throughout the duration of the show.
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Cattle shows usually encompass a fitting and showing class which focuses on the teamwork between the showman and their animal, and a quality class, which focuses on the confirmation of the animal. My kiddo got second in her quality class and missed out on going to finals by one steer. As the Kootenai Classic is a national show with competitors from all over the country now and it was her and her steer's first show of the year, we were both pretty pleased with these results. There were a grand total of 424 cattle in attendance at the show this year.
Saturday night was get settled in stall and camp time, and we all hung out at the stock trailer eating tacos and shooting the breeze with show folk. It never ceases to amaze me at how much people will fork out on their children's pursuits (I am no exception although my daughter pays for all her steer related stuff). Parked next to my stock trailer Trusty Rusty was a trailer that had to cost more than my truck and trailer combined, it was a fancy living quarters stock trailer, and while nice, I kinda wouldn't appreciate the payment required just to own one of those things. Eeee.
Honestly though, most livestock show people are pretty swell. Sure, they are a competitive lot, and there is a touch of snobbery in attendance just like in most things that humans do, but overall there is a spirit of helpfulness and goodwill that abounds at every livestock show I have been too. I don't think you can get too haughty when you are showing something that poops all over the place at will.
Before we knew it though, the cattle part of the show had ended and we were trailering Frankie home. He was such a good boy, and my girl spent a couple hours bathing, grooming, and feeding him once we got back to the farm. During that time I put away all of the camping stuff and marveled at the largesse of the whole thing. We really do live in a moovelous time:)!
"blissfully non-cowpie coated iPhone" LOL Glad she did so well! Sounds like a nice weekend.
I’m telling ya, there’s been some close calls with my phone and pie-like substances lol lol!
Today it’s supposed to be between 106-108, I’m not liking our once in a millennium heat dome, but I’m super glad it didn’t happen during the show😉
Those steers are very well cared for, I like how fluffy their coats look.
Congratulations to your daughter, I'm sure next year she will win the first place.
They are definitely spoiled that’s for sure😁 Thanks for the kind words, I hope she does good next year too!
Frankie seems to be ready for the event.
I'm sure your daughter is going to win. That little puppy (Alien) is so cute😊😊
Frankie is 💯 on point when it comes to strutting his stuff, a definite show off for sure lol!
And I miss the alien, it was a snuggler 😊
This may have been my favorite line out of the entire post. (I'm a bit late to read it....been busy...)