A Cow, A Boy and A Man

An illegal picture I snapped of Seth.  I should have gathered that someone who had taken the trouble to set up this elaborate backdrop and bring lights and a fancy camera might not want someone else standing beside him taking picture, but it honestly didn't cross my mind until he yelled at me that I couldn't take pictures here.  I sheepishly apologized but didn't delete!  


Seth's first fair as participant has come and gone.  My first fair as mom has come and gone.  Jay's first fair as trainer/protector/helper/reminder has come and gone.  You can tell by the number of titles who had the hardest week.  Jay was exhausted!

Jay and his siblings participated in 4-H and fair growing up.  This was a normal part of their world.  I went and rode the carnival rides and had the occasional lemonade as a child and teen.  Visiting the animal and craft world on the other side of the fairgrounds was not something I did.  Until this year, that is.  It is a whole other world, let me tell you.

Jay and Seth picked out a calf to raise as his 4-H steer from Jay's small herd of cows when they returned from their summer pasture in the mountains of New Mexico last September.  Jay knew the calf's mother was a calm cow and that the hereford breed is, in general, a calmer, smaller and easier to manage breed.  I wasn't convinced when the steer violently ran its head into the metal corral in protest to its halter being put on, giving himself a big ol' cow bloody nose.   Thankfully, it did gentle down.

Having Seth raise a steer for the past year has been an interesting thing.  For the most part, it didn't affect my life at all.  When Seth went to work with his steer (feeding him grain, hay and water, washing his hide, clipping its hooves, giving him a haircut, walking and leading him, curry combing him) it was mostly on Saturdays.  Jay always took and taught him.  I wouldn't have known what to do had I gone.  Most of the other days, Jay fed him without bothering Seth to come as it coincided with a run or helping his dad change water, feed the cows or help hay.   I worried a bit about Seth's preparedness as it was obvious to me that Jay was doing most of the work with Seth watching on or doing only the most basic parts of the job.  I realize now that Jay perfectly prepared Seth by giving him the confidence he needed to have a successful experience at fair while simultaneously preparing the steer to not hurt our 80 lb eleven year-old.  My heart has been softened by watching this beautiful example of a father's love and I was reminded of an eternal principle:  line upon line.  Seth will do more next year.  You should hear the two of them making their plans!

I'll tell the rest of the story with pictures.



Seth's 4-H group had a club tour where they each presented on a topic of their choice and showed off their future fair exhibit.  Seth researched the Hereford breed of cows and showed off Buddy, his steer.  I laughed when I saw these pictures.  He never wears these jeans because he hates them but must have not had any other clean clothes because I don't think most 4-Hers wear H&M skinny jeans and a Boden polo while working with livestock.  I think he's adorable.



I don't have any pictures of the first few days of fair because I wasn't there for very long (weigh-in, cleaning out the stall, watching the other livestock shows) but this is on day 3 and Seth is washing Buddy for his big show.  Jay realized how much showing steer has changed in the 20 year span since he's participated.  He described his and Seth's set-up and equipment as "old-school farmer."  Indeed, most of the participants had a much fancier set-up and much fancier steers.  I was proud of them for their "old-school" way of doing things.  I mean, who would have thought that steers need to be raised in air-conditioned shelters and fancy fans above their stalls to keep them cool during fair.  We also didn't have any spray-paint to artificially heighten his hide colors.  Considering how much less money was spent on this steer, he showed very well.



Seth was the only participant that showed a Hereford.  Most of the other steers were some sort of a Black Angus cross.



The scariest moment for me was watching Seth lead that steer into the ring by himself without his dad anywhere nearby to help if Buddy got spooked or, by the nature of it being an animal, did something unpredictably violent due to stress.  There were a few instances of Buddy not moving and someone would help him along by pushing his hind in the right direction but, for the most part, Seth did a GREAT job showing him.  It was funny to watch Jay mime to Seth what he should be doing.  I believe when I took this picture, Jay was trying to catch Seth's eye to motion for him to lift Buddy's head up by lifting up the halter.




Seth's class of steer, which were separated by hip height, was the largest.  He didn't place high but he didn't get last, which was a huge relief for both Jay and I who are intimately aware of Seth's sensitivity to disappointment.  We were thrilled when he got a Blue Ribbon group which qualified him for the auction the following night.



Grandpa Vaughn and Papa Jay were both very proud of Seth.  I love this picture of three generations of cowmen.  Seth's relief is visible, as is his excitement to go and get a cold rootbeer from a nearby vending machine.




The auction.  Oh....the auction.  Seth was 123 out of 125 animals to be sold.  He didn't even get into the ring until after 11:00 at night and by then, most of the buyers had left.  Still, Jay told him, "At this point, Seth, you are selling yourself and not your steer."  Once again, we were unprepared by the changes that had occurred since Jay's fair days and didn't doll the steer up with garland, bows or glitter, nor did we have an expensive gift basket carried by a cute younger sibling to present to the highest bidder (can you imagine how cute Henry would have looked walking around the ring in wranglers and boots?).  Thankfully, Seth's scout leader is married to a prominent business man in town who usually buys a steer and, unbeknownst to us, had decided to get Seth's.  His steer, though second to last, went for a $1.50/lb more than the  five or six steers had gone before his.  Seth was beyond elated.  He's naturally gifted at math and did the multiplication of price/pound times 1175 lbs before he even left the ring.


The auctioneers looking for bidders raising their hands.  It was a full time job keeping Henry from bidding on things.  There were actually a couple of bidders on Seth's steer, which got the bid up to $3.50/lb!!



Seth had a big smile on his face the entire time.  He really did show well, in spite of Buddy not having any fancy bows.

The next day, when it was time to load the steers on their way to the butcher, Seth confidently led his own steer into the trailer, no tears involved (apparently, there are lots and lots of tears this day).  Jay said there were dollar signs in his eyes instead and he knows that he has already earned a significant chunk for his mission.  My greatest concern was that something would topple Seth's fragile confidence during fair week and he'd never want to do it again.  Instead, Seth is looking at catalogs with his dad and wondering if he should try a heavier limousine cross breed next year.  He'll learn much more about the reality of profit next year, as he'll have to use his own savings now to buy grain and other supplies, but I wouldn't trade a single moment of this year's experience.   The money in the bank is a great and exciting thing, but I'm mostly happy watching Seth look at his dad with adoring and grateful eyes and Jay helping Seth become the great man he is destined to become.