That smell. City folks may not get it, but the smell of shavings, greasy fair food, kettle corn, all of it. That smell took me back to the best times of my life-- sitting on tack boxes spraying eachother with water bottles and hoses, balancing a pig board on our knees playing speed or some spin off game of war. It was the best times of my childhood.
I always used to say I had two favorite holidays; Christmas and fair time. So year after year, even when I changed to FFA and showed cattle instead, I embraced fair, I lived at fair. And the rest of the world ceased to exist during fair.
So now that I am finished with my final year of showing, I have some words of advice for those just beginning, and even some advice for those who don't have much time left:
Soak it up. Do not let the drama of the fair ruin it for you. So what you didn't get first place with your hog? Stop throwing your tack down and storming off after yelling at your parents. It isn't about getting first place. It's about you and that animal. It's about the early mornings, late nights, frustrating days of halter breaking, and it's about the little moments when your pig is so exhausted he lays his head on you, or the times during fair where you go to tie up your steer and find yourself laying your head on him for hours. It's about the reason you do it in the first place. And let me tell you, if it is about the big check at the end of the week, or that flimsy little banner that proves you're better than everyone else... you're doing it for the wrong reason.
You can spend thousands of dollars on chasing banners to prove nothing in this world.. or you can spend months raising and loving an animal so they can feed the world. It can mean something more than an outside party telling you you're good enough. It can mean that you get a lifetime of memories and satisfaction.
If you need to make a hard decision (whether it be about a boy, or a college acceptance letter) go blow out your steer. There is something about the sound of the blower that drowns out the rest of the world and leaves you with your thoughts. Trust me on this one.
Be the kind of person who won't lose patience with their steer after getting whipped by its tail over and over again. Be gentle.
Always start blowing on the left side. It is much harder if you do it last.
If you win, be proud but humble.
If you lose, be proud to be humbled.
Help out the new guys. Yeah they haven't been in the show world much but you have to start somewhere. And it wasn't so long ago that you too were the baby.
Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Do not let others hurt your animal and do not hurt others' animals.
If someone isn't taking care of their animal, rip them a new one by all means. If they can't be proud and passionate about our industry and what we do, they shouldn't be a part of it.
Remember the why.
Why you started. Why you kept going.
And if it isn't a good reason why, then change it.
Be thankful for this experience.
Don't be afraid to feel. These animals we put on this earth by God to nourish one another. What Mother Nature gives us she will soon take back one day. So make it the best life they can ever have. Give them the kisses. Cry when they leave. Feel it all. Even the bad parts. Because it will fill your soul in a way no one can understand.
And when you leave your animal for the final time, do not be afraid. They are going to serve the greatest purpose; to feed the world. And that is something you both should be proud of.
