4H participants set to show off animals at county fair

SANDERS COUNTY - With the Sanders County Fair rapidly approaching, young people involved with the organization known as 4-H are preparing themselves for one of the most important agricultural events of the year. Kids from around the area are grooming their animals and putting the finishing touches on arts and crafts projects before the competition in late August.

About 20 miles outside of Hot Springs; Jack, Claire and Elena McAllister tended to their lambs that they will soon put up for sale during the fair. The trio is involved in multiple 4-H events and are looking forward to showing off the results of their hard work.

As Oreo, Wrangler and Chubs happily munched on the feed provided to them by the McAllister kids, Elena and Claire described the challenges associated with the 4-H competition. The two older siblings have been participating in 4-H for four years.

“It gets harder every year,” said Claire. “The judges expect more from you than previous years. You have to show them more every time.”

“When you go up a level, the judges get tougher,” said Elena. “They know how long we’ve been doing this so they want to see more and more from you.”

In contrast to his two veteran sisters, Jack is in his first year with 4-H. Jack will be entering his lamb Chubs into the competition and also expressed an interest in becoming involved with rocketry in the future.

The lambs and their handlers will be judged on several criteria during the fair including the health of the animal, the leanness of the muscle tone and the overall quality of the meat. The kids routinely exercise their lambs to ensure they have a healthy animal to enter in the fair.

The McAllisters will also be judged on how well they handle their animal. They will have to “brace” the lamb for the judges to examine and they will lose points if they have difficulty controlling the animal. They will also be required to answer a barrage of questions from the judges.

According to the veterans Elena and Claire, the judges are likely to ask questions specific to their lamb and may ask about feeding and exercise regimen, in addition to age and weight. The judges also ask questions concerning the industry as a whole for specific categories. Claire said last year the judges asked her about threats to the lamb industry.

Between raising lambs, rabbits and cattle to sewing sweatshirts and carving original works of art into wood, the three McAllister kids cut a wide swath through the opportunities of 4-H. Not satisfied with competing in one or two events, the three combined will participate in almost a dozen categories.

Not far down the road from the McAllisters ranch, friendly competition is brewing. Sydney and Sage Jackson are raising their own lambs to face off against their competitors across the valley.

Like their counterparts down the lane, the Jackson twins are no strangers to 4-H competition. In their third year, Sage and Sydney expressed a similar experience with the increasing level of judges’ expectations over the years. The Jacksons are also involved in multiple 4-H activities that they will bring to the Sanders County Fair.

Sydney and Sage indicated the commitment and dedication it takes to raise a quality lamb can be time consuming. They said the hours they spend every day between feeding and exercising the animals provides them with a constructive way to spend their summer months.

“With all the activities you can choose from, 4-H keeps us busy during the summer,” said Sage. “We walk them every day and practice our showmanship every night.”

“We work with them for about 15 or 20 minutes after they are done feeding,” said Sydney. “Then we walk with them for about 30 minutes every day and then we work with them in the evening.”

The Jacksons said they plan on expanding their range of activities in 4-H next year. The twins said they may start to work with pigs and cattle in the future.

After demonstrating the proper method for “bracing” during the showmanship phase of the competition that shows the judges the bond that has been established between human and animal, the twins elaborated on the question and answer phase.

“The judges can ask when the lamb’s birthday is, what the different parts of the lamb are,” said Sage. “They also ask us what are threats and non-threats to the lamb industry.”

“This year if they ask us what the threats are we will be ready,” said Sydney. “Wolves can be a threat, scrapies which is a disease that affects the central-nervous system can be as well as people. Sometimes people get too close during the fair and make them nervous.”

The Sanders County Fair begins August 26 and runs through September 1. The 4-H competition will take place throughout the duration of the fair.

4-H is a youth organization under the supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. The stated mission of 4-H programs is to “engage youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development.”

According to the website, the goal of 4-H programs is to develop leadership, citizenship responsibility and life skills through learning programs with an emphasis on “a positive youth development approach.”

Though typically associated with agricultural education, contemporary 4-H curriculums include science, engineering and technology based programs. 4-H was founded in the early 20th century and has since grown to exist in 80 countries around the world with 6.5 million members in the United States alone.

Each of these programs operates independently but cooperates with each other through modern communications, international exchanges and global education programs. The 4-H motto is “to make the best better” while its slogan is “learn by doing.”