County 4-H’ers’ hard work came to fruition at the Clay County Regional Dairy Show on June 22. After practicing with their animals for the past few months, exhibitors and their animals’ training was put to the test.
For Emily Brhel, who’s shown animals for nine years, it was just another day in the ring. This go-around, though, she had a cow by her side for the first time.
Her experiences over the years have awarded her with more than just ribbons but lifelong skills.
“It’s definitely helped me to adapt,” Brhel said. “I’m used to showing smaller livestock, which when you have a bigger animal it’s a lot easier for them to learn bad habits that can be super annoying or even dangerous to other people in the ring or to you. So it’s helped me to adapt to that and learn how to control the animal better.”
Brhel, who was named Reserve Champion Jr. Dairy Calf and Champion in the Senior Division of Dairy Cattle Showmanship, said she’s also learned perseverance and how to push through challenges from working with the animals. She picked out her cow in February and spent the following months taming the cow.
Brhel said it was fun working with a bigger animal and getting to bond with it.
“I started by just tying her up and getting her used to me touching her and being around her,” Brhel said. “I worked with walking in a circle, setting her up, and getting her comfortable with the judge if they did come up and touch her because sometimes they’ll do that. It was just getting her used to the showing process.”
One new exhibitor in the Clover Kids’ division, ages 5-7, was also enticed by the opportunity to work with animals.
“What made me want to show cattle is I always like to be with animals and look at nature,” Sutton Hagemann said.
While training with the cows can be fun, it does come with its challenges. Amberleise Meyer, a competitor in the intermediate division, said the animals are unpredictable. Her cow during her first year of competing wasn’t as cooperative, but her cow this year was “more chillax.”
Following the cattle categories of the show came the goats, including a new exhibitor in the senior division. When Cailee League was asked to show, having had no practice, she jumped right in.
“It’s not as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be,” League said. “It was just kind of like follow the leader.”
League gave one simple piece of advice for anyone interested in showing dairy for the first time.
“Just do it.”
