I won. I had one for the first time ever. The first time I had ever shown at the Iowa state fair I had won champion shorthorn heifer. It was the greatest feeling in the world the best I had ever felt. It was just something to know that I had the best shorthorn heifer in the state of Iowa. I had gotten so many congratulations handshakes my hand would fall off. It was one of the happiest times in my life. I had done it on my first try, I won champion shorthorn hefier at the Iowa state fair. 

It was early morning the day before we left for the Iowa State Fair. We hooked up the old Barret to the truck then we loaded the tack and the calves and headed for Des Moines. I slept for most of the way there not knowing the days in the future would bring complete happiness. After the long three hour drive we arrived at the fairgrounds and unloaded the trailer and got everything situated. We took the calf to main arena for check-ins. The heifer was nervous she had never been around this many people before so that just made me feel terrified for the show in fear that she might act up. Then we called it a night because the next day was show day so we went back to the hotel for the night.

I woke up early. It was the day of the show we headed to the fairgrounds near the time of 5:00.  We arrived at the fair and started preparation for the show that started at 9:00 in which we were the 4th class of feeder calves. It was nearly 8:00 and we decided it was time to get the calf ready for the show. This evolved putting glue in the legs to hold the hair up and getting the hair to “pop” and look nice. After all that was finished we game the calf water and some winning fil to make the calf look bigger for the show.

We next headed up for the ring; in my opinion the calf looked amazing. My body was shaking in line waiting to go into the ring. This had to be the scariest thing that I had ever been through. The ring men were then taking roll call to make sure all the animals were there. This just added more nerves on to the ones I had already had. The third class had concluded. The pressure to succeed increased dramatically. It was time my time to go into the ring.
I entered the ring. Luckily I wasn’t the first heifer in the ring. I was worried to the max. This was my first time ever showing in a show and it was also the first time I had ever showed this heifer. The judge carful evaluated the animals it felt like I was going to fall over I was shaking so bad. The judge next went around and asked the birthdate of the heifers. The judge finally made it to me and I made sure I said the right date witch was April 15 I looked at my uncle and my dad to make sure I was doing everything right. I got the nod everything was good so far. The judge started placing the calves. He placed the last place animals first so that relieved pressure off of me. The judge eventually got the selection down to three and then we had to walk the calves one more time because he wanted one last look at all the animals. The judge then placed the third place animal. More of the nerves were gone because I knew I was going to either get champion or reserve champion. The judge picked me. I couldn’t believe it I had won the first time I had ever showed. The judge explained to the crowd that he instantly fell in love with the heifer. 

I was so happy. We took the heifer back into the stall and let her rest because she had to go back in for supreme champion animal. As soon as I got everything situated at the stall the congratulations started to come in to me. All my friends and family were some of the many that had congratulated me on my first ever time showing and more important winning champion feeder calf at the Iowa state fair. All the people that walked by the stall stopped and looked at my heifer.

It was time to do preparation to get ready for the champion drive of shorthorn heifers at the Iowa state fair. The heifer looked even better than it did the first time. We went through the same process heading up to the ring and then the ring man directed us to our spot for the final drive witch involved all age’s breeds and sexes of animals. We walked through the ring in the same fashion as the class I showed in. The judge added pressure on all of the showmen in the ring; he walked around and talked about every individual animal. The judge was ready to make the final decision of the champion animal at the Iowa State fair. The judge was walking around and was walking toward the other animals to add pressure on all the people that were showing. The judge was then walking my way. I thought the judge was going to walk away but he didn’t he gave my heifer a big slap on the back and came around to the front of the animal and shook my hand and said congrats. This was the best day of my life I won grand champion shorthorn at the Iowa state fair.

This event in my life shaped me. This changed my opinion on showing as well. It told me there is nothing to be afraid of, that everything will be ok. This also shaped how others felt about our cattle. We had a calf sale in the fall every year and the people who came to look at claves added drastically. It was amazing how one show could change the mindsets of many people. I won. I won the champion shorthorn heifer at the Iowa state fair.