The Show Ring Nightmare !!!!! 2007

My first year with beef project; I had every 4-h showman’s nightmare.

OK it was my first year with a beef project I had no idea about the different breeds. I chose Saler - Angus, mostly Saler, which was a mistake. Saler is a French breed which is hot blooded, and in my case extremely wild.

I worked with my calf’s everyday and everyday it was like they were never messed with, No matter what I did. I kept working and working for months.

So when show day came around I thought I was good to go. I wasn't!
After a couple of times around the ring in showmanship the calf names John Wayne; stepped on the edge of my right boot and tripped me, then he pinned me down by my pants leg. The Judge then came over and helped me up at that point the judge ask me it I want give up and leave the ring? I said NO! A couple of hours later I had to go back in the ring with John Wayne he did a little better this time. Not really!

By the way John Wayne was the gentle one, Now it is time to show Clint Eastwood.

Here it comes, Clint was the wild one a big pain in the neck. Clint didn’t stand still at all. First he kicked another showman's comb out of her pocket and then he came within an inch of kicking the judge. Thank Goodness no one got hurt, The judge tried to touch Clint but No luck he danced and danced around, even without being able to touch Clint the judge placed him 3rd in his weigh class.
Afterward I thanked the judge for not taking me out of the ring.

Now would you like to Know what I learned from this nightmare?

1 - Saler is not a breed for a beginner; I might try Saler again when I get more experience. One thing about Salers they are a GREAT Steak, good eating.

2 - The first year; learn all the safety rules and what to do when you steer acts up.

3 - Never give up; when you are asked if you want to leave the ring say NO.

4 - If you can’t touch them you can’t judge them.

5 - Everything that could go wrong did. I learned more from what went wrong than I ever could have if it would have went right.

No matter where you are from it seems that there is one person at the fair that has a bad time with their animals, never count them out for that person just learned more that any other person there.

Neighbor Helping Neighbor ( Shoewmaker Brothers Cattle )

We live in a very small town called Bliss; truly if you were to blink you would miss it. Here in the country the things that we see everyday we take for granted. Like deer running across our yard or large herd of antelope standing in the neighbor's winter wheat field grazing. Cattlemen bringing their cattle herds in off winter-feed. I never gave these sights a second thought. With in our small community we have quite a few large cattle ranches; we have Red Angus, Black Angus, Saler, and cross-bred cattle just to name a few.
The fact is if you were to type the names of these ranchers into the search engine they would pop up. If you eat beef; the product of these rancher hard work is more than likely to be on your dinner table. These Ranchers are of the old west ways, the cattle are free range they have acres and acres to graze and roam.
Just the other day while driving home it just so happened that the Shoewmaker Brothers were doing what cattle ranchers do, bring their cattle in off winter feed. That task is not a one or two man job; in fact it is a family affair. Instead of waving and driving by. We stopped and ask if we could take some pictures to share on the Internet. Ranchers are very proud of their labor of love and life style, they grow beef to feed the world.

Some of the people in these photos are family, some are friends and others are neighbors, there to help.

Too some these pictures are just another day on the ranch or farm; For those of you who live in the city I just wanted you to see that some traditions live for ever.

Neighbor helping Neighbor - United we stand divided we fall

I would like to thank the Shoewmakers for allowing us to use their family's name and photos. Also to let them know that it was very nice to meet them.

4-H meeting

Today was the fourth 4- h meeting of the Hodge Podgers.
The meeting was called to order. We welcomed Brandon to the club. Logan, Hunter, and I all suggested stuff we would like to learn. Logan wanted to learn about knitting, and leather. Hunter wanted to learn about lambs and cooking. I wanted to learn more about parts of the beef and where the parts are located on the steer. Nolan, Katelyn, and I did presentation. Nolan’s was on the ruminant system. Katelyn was on methane gas, and mine was on the eight important tips when making a quilt. Helen R. gave us the definition of motivation: Something, as a need to desire, which causes a person to act; causing or having the power to cause motion. Helen explained that no matter what she does or can say would do any good if we don’t have our own Motivation.
After that the meeting was adjourned. Dillon passed out cupcake that he made himself. As our after meeting snack. The cup cakes were really good.
Our next meeting will be doing our club community service project with a picnic afterwards.

Community Clean Up Day

April 18, 2009 was Wendell Idaho Community Clean Up day. I may live in Bliss but I joined the Wendell community and cleaned up their streets. It was very windy this winter and paper blew in from everywhere, the streets and town of Wendell now are clean and free of the winter mess. Thanks to all the friendly people who gave up their Saturday. After the work was done it was time to enjoy the free lunch, it was hot dog and chili. I was so hungry and so was every one else. It seem to me that everyone did a great job and had a good time to boot.
In today's rushed and hurried world it is nice to see that there are still people out there willing to give of there time, and have community Pride.

Valley Country Store 4-H and FFA Night.

Valley Country Store In Jerome;
Held a 4-H and FFA Night on April 9, 2009 everyone had free pizza and soft drinks before the meeting.
There were two guest speakers; the speakers covered the feeding, and care, healthy environment, safety and pen size for Sheep, Pigs and Steers.

The Speakers covered the six classes of nutrients in feeds:
Water is used to carry nutrients to the body.
Carbohydrates like sugars, starches, and cellulose provide the largest amount of energy.
Fats are concentrated energy.
Protein is used for making and repairing muscle.
Vitamins are needed in very small amounts to assist in many body functions.
Minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are important for bone development. Other minerals help many of the body functions.

The speakers also talked about how important it is to keep the pens clean; they also talked about how Exercise should be done in the morning or evening in the summer to prevent overheating.

There was a lot of other stuff covered at this meeting; I had a great time learned a lot.

If you need help with care and feeding don’t be afraid to go in to the Jerome Country Store. The staff is very friendly. Trish and Debbie are real cool!

Apirl 5,2009 4-H Meeting

Our third 4 -H meeting. Was held at Helen’s. We welcomed five new 4-h member to our club; Nolan, Dillon, Logan, Brandon and Becka. Our club now has eleven members and seems to grow with every meeting. We did Pledges and regular business, talked about what we would like to learn. Handed out fliers about a 4-H meeting at the Valley Country Store in Jerome.

We had a guest speaker Mr. Jim R. He told us about his experiences in 4-H, and how what you learn in 4-h will follow you through your life and the importance of giving your all in what ever you do.

THE 4-H PLEDGE
I pledge
my Head to clearer thinking,
my Heart to greater loyalty,
my Hands to larger service, and
my Health to better living,
for my club, my community,
my country, and my world.

Today was a very sad day.
I had to say good bye to my old friend; Lucky He was 30 years old.
He was a good horse he will be missed.