Anything Interesting Today?: Bizzie and Minnie!

Here’s the amazing duo…

Forgive me, I’ve got to ramble here for a second – one of the things I LOVE about being married to Don is how different we are (funny how it can be the most challenging thing too – but for the most part it is incredibly positive). One of our differences is our family backgrounds, where I grew up with an appreciation for the outdoors and the animals in it I did not have the experience of a daily hands-on that Don had growing up on the farm. I see the confidence that Don has from the experiences he received young - mastering fears of animals larger than himself (I’ll figure out how to post a picture of him showing steer several times larger than himself later), time alone to ponder-work-and figure things out on his own…Anyway, I’ve loved giving the girls a taste of a similar experience by showing lambs in the Mini-4H portion of the Benjamin Stock Show. They get to work closely with an animal, face the scariness of controlling a scared animal in front of a judge, and receive a trophy for their hard work!

Don and I are also grateful for Uncle Kip for providing Minnie to work with in the first place, he was her “coach” and was so kind and patient with her. We gathered at the Brown’s Barn in Payson on a Saturday morning and patiently waited for the pigs, steer and cakes (see previous post) to have their turns and with us was a lot of family support!

The Raymers… (my family)

The Olsens… (Heidi – Don’s sister and his mom, Kathleen)

(Blair and Kathleen again, Don’s parents)

(And of course, the sisterly support – I could tell Autumn was having a case of green envy, but she did an amazing job of being happy for and helping Bizzie)

(Liberty was just having fun…)

We had a bit of time before Bizzie needed to take Minnie in before the judge so Don worked with her a bit more to make sure she felt comfortable. He was pretending to be the judge while she had to make sure the lamb was always between the judge and herself, with her leg square in front of her neck so she couldn’t jump forward – she had it nailed!

The time came for her to lead Minnie into the arena - it was a madhouse! There were 20 little kids pulling around jumpy lambs of various ages and there were so many adult helpers that the kids had a hard time figuring out who the judge was! How did Bizzie do? AMAZING! And I’m not just saying that because I’m her mom! She led her lamb in, and in the chaos Minnie got skittish and jumped forward, flattening Bizzie on the ground! She promptly got up, grabbed Minnie’s rope, got control of her and kept pulling her in the direction the judge was directing her!!! No tears, no break in concentration – WOW. She got to the spot she was directed to and with more chaos and loose lambs around her, she and Minnie did what they had trained to do – check out this perfect stance -

And here is the video of her receiving a trophy for her hardwork – while holding Minnie still – I’m telling you – amazing.

It can be hard to read Bizzie, she keeps her emotions fairly close. But I think she was pretty happy with herself…

It’s a bit fuzzy, but I love that Kip took the time to give Bizzie a “well done” pep-talk afterward too.

Bizzie’s part was done but her cousins’ turn was still coming. Kelly and Ashlynn have been doing this for a couple of years now and are pros! To help Ashlynn control her sheep she has the willing and gentle help from her friends and family (her sheep is being shown by a friend next to her and her dad, while Kelly watches protectively on…)

And here is Pro Kelly! Here are her skills in action, winning her the Senior Showmanship Award.

And finally, the day came to a satisfying end when Kelly’s sheep received the “Grand Champion Award” and Ashlynn’s sheep received the “Reserve Champion Award”!!!!