January 16, 2012 – Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo – Fort Worth, Texas
Our first show of the New Year was the Fort Worth Stock Show. This is always a fun show because we get to visit with our North Texas and Oklahoma friends. It is a show where we are required to stay for several days, so there is definitely time for visiting. The judge was Justin Hansard of Montague, Texas.
February 11, 2012 – San Antonio Stock Show – San Antonio, Texas
This was our second year to attend the 2012 Kids and Longhorns Show at the San Antonio Stock Show. One of our favorite things about this show is that we only have to stay one night and then we can head home after the show the next day. This year the youth judge was Joel Lemley.
We kicked off the female show with Hannah showing “Consuela CSF” and placing 1st in Class 2. Tabitha showed a new little heifer that we just pulled off of our lease pasture in Oklahoma. Her name is “VNR Sweet Melody” and she placed 3rd. Hannah and “Consuela CSF” went on to win Junior Champion Haltered Female. In Class 9, Joseph and “Diamond Q Myrah” placed 2nd. In Class 10, Julia and “VNR Dynamic Uno” placed 2nd. Hannah and “Consuela CSF” won Reserve Grand Champion Haltered Female.
We only showed one little bull. “VNR Dynamic Dos” was shown by Joshua and won 1st in Class 16. In the steer show, Joy showed “VNR Sir Spots-A-Lot” and placed 2nd in Class 24. In Class 25, Sarah showed “Solo PC” and placed 3rd. In Class 27, Samuel showed “DDM Joker’s Wild” and placed 1st and Nathaniel showed “SH Bold Boy 3/10” and placed 2nd. Samuel and “DDM Joker’s Wild” went on to win Grand Champion Haltered Steer.
If you know our kids, you know that showmanship is their favorite part of showing. In the Junior Division, Jonah placed 1st. In the Intermediate Division, Joy placed 1st, Miriam Grace placed 2nd and Rachel placed 3rd. In the Teen Division, Tabitha placed 2nd and Lydia placed 3rd. In the Senior Division, Julia placed 1st.
As soon as the show was over, we headed home to meet Robert and Kim Richey who were staying the night with us. We had a great San Antonio Stock Show and look forward to next year!
February 16-19, 2012 – Autobahn Classic – Fort Worth, Texas
We arrived at the Autobahn Classic late in the evening and immediately started washing our animals and getting our area set up. The following morning, we rose early and headed to the barns to get our animals ready for showmanship. The judge for the Autobahn Classic was Wes Stover of Binger, Oklahoma.
Showmanship: After taking Sophia and Gabriella in for Pee-Wee Showmanship, the real competition began. Because the showmanship classes are huge at Autobahn, they divide each division into two heats. This year they added a little bit more excitement to the showmanship competitions. The first place winners from each of the two heats in each division have to come out again and face each other one on one for the title of Division Showmanship Champion.
In the Junior Division B, Jonah placed 3rd. In the Intermediate Division A, Miriam Grace placed 1st, and in Intermediate Division B, Rachel placed 2nd. Miriam Grace had to face off, and she won Intermediate Division Showmanship Champion. In the Teen Division A, Lydia placed 1st, and in Teen Division B, Joseph placed 1st. They had to face off against each other and Lydia won Teen Division Showmanship Champion. In the Senior Division A, Sarah won 1st and Joshua won 2nd. In Senior Division B, Julia won 1st and Hannah won 3rd. Sarah and Julia had to face off for Senior Division Showmanship Champion, and Julia won. It was pretty exciting seeing them battling it out.
Speech Contest: This year the speech topics were “Goals and Choices.” The judges were Chief of the Fort Worth Police, Jeffrey W. Halstead, Kristin Jaworski, Trail Boss for the Fort Worth Herd, Betsy Price, Mayor of Fort Worth, Dan Stuchal, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Big Brothers and Big Sisters Lone Star, and Jerry Wackerhagen, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for First Command.
In the Junior Division, Jonah placed 3rd. Rachel placed 4th in the Intermediate Division. Hannah surprised us all and placed 1st in the Senior Division against some really tough competition. Samuel placed 3rd in the Senior Division. We are so proud of each of our kids for competing in the speech contest. It is not easy to stand up in front of people and give a speech and there’s so many people competing. It’s one of the toughest things they do each year, but it has helped them to really grow in their ability to present themselves in a crowd.
Female Classes: In Class 1, Julia showed “VNR Camielle” and placed 5th, which means she got a scholarship. Autobahn gives scholarships for 1st through 5th place in each class. In Class 4, Hannah placed 3rd with “Consuela CSF.” In Class 7, Hannah placed 1st with “Diamond Q Wakesha,” and Julia followed her in 2nd with “Diamond Q Katerina.” In Class8, Lydia showed “Diamond Q Elaina” and placed 3rd. Thank you to the Quary’s for bringing heifers for the kids to show. You are the best and we love you so much!!!! In Class 16, Joseph showed “Diamond Q Myrah” and placed 5th. In Class 18, Lydia showed “VNR Feelin Spooky” and placed 3rd, Julia showed “VNR Dynamic Uno” and placed 4th, and Sarah showed “Diamond Q Danisha” and placed 5th.
Bull Classes: We only showed two bulls this time. Hannah showed “VNR Don Sombrio” and placed 1st. Joshua was in the following class and placed 1st with “VNR Dynamic Dos.”
Steer Classes: In Class 24, Joy placed 4th with “VNR Sir Spots-A-Lot.” In Class 28, Samuel placed 2nd with “DDM Joker’s Wild.” We also took our three year old steers, but we took them straight from the pasture and they had not been on show feed. In Class 30, Rachel placed 4th with “VNR Belated” and Samuel placed 5th with “Stone Ranger ECR.”
It was a fun show as usual! In the Team Penning Competition, Lydia was the only one of our kids to be on a winning team. Her team placed 4th, and she won a $500 scholarship for this. All of our kids at the show won a scholarship in some event except for Nathaniel and Olivia. Maybe next time will be the one for them! With ten kids either in college full time or part time through the dual credit program, the scholarship money they have earned has certainly helped them to start towards their goal of getting a college education. Thank You John and Diane Chase for making this possible!
February 24-26, 2012 – San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo – San Angelo, Texas
This was our second year to make the long drive to West Texas to take part in a show that is quickly becoming one of our favorites. Of course our favorite part of this show is enjoying our visit to Triple R Ranch, and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Richey. The terrain of West Texas is so different than what we are accustomed to. The Richey’s have some of the most beautiful Butler Longhorns we have ever seen. They are so far off the beaten path that there is no cell phone service at all, which is kind of a nice change! We checked our cattle in on Friday afternoon and headed out to the Richey’s, which is about one hour from the fair grounds. We had dinner at the old homestead that Robert’s grandparents lived in. The Box Z crew was also staying with the Richey’s. We had a lot of fun and the time passed quickly.
The Open Haltered and Non-Haltered Shows were on Saturday. We didn’t have any animals entered in these shows, but Julia was asked to show a bull for Mr. Bob Jackson. She did a great job of working with the bull to get him used to the show stick. Julia and “SRR Joker” won Class 23 and then went on to win Junior Champion Bull and then Grand Champion Bull. She was asked to show him again in Austin, Rockdale and Brenham. J
On Sunday morning, we had the TLBT Youth Show. Lana Hightower was the judge. We started off the morning with a big surprise. The San Angelo Stock Show had provided a nice belt buckle for all of the showmanship divisions, including Pee-Wee. Gabriella won the buckle for Pee-Wee Showmanship! She was adorable! She loves showing.
Hannah showed “Consuela CSF” in Class 3 and won 1st, and then went on to win Reserve Junior Champion Female. In Class 10, Rachel showed “VNR Charlotte” and placed 1st. Miriam Grace placed 3rd with “Bonita Leigh.” In Class 11, Lydia placed 1st with “VNR Feelin Spooky” and Julia placed 2nd with “VNR Dynamic Uno.” Lydia and “VNR Feelin Spooky” went on to win Senior Champion TLBT Female and then Grand Champion TLBT Female. Julia and “VNR Dynamic Uno” went on to win Reserve Senior Champion TLBT Female.
In the bull classes, Hannah showed “VNR Don Sombrio” and placed 1st in Class 17. Joshua showed “VNR Dynamic Dos” and placed 1st in Class 18. Julia showed “SRR Joker” for Bob Jackson in Class 19 and placed 2nd. Joshua and “VNR Dynamic Dos” went on to win Reserve Grand Champion Bull.
In the steer classes, Joy and “VNR Sir Spots-A-Lot” won 3rd place. Sarah placed 1st with “Solo PC” in Class 28. In Class 30, Nathaniel placed 2nd with “SH Bold Boy 3/10.” Olivia placed 3rd with “VNR Cinch.”
We finished the day with showmanship. In the Junior Division, Jonah placed 1st. In the Intermediate Division, Olivia placed 1st, Rachel placed 2nd, and Joy placed 3rd. In the Teen Division, Lydia placed 2nd. In the Senior Division, Hannah placed 1st and Julia placed 3rd.
It was a great show and we plan to return again next year.
March 2-5, 2012 – Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo – Houston, Texas
March 16-17, 2012 – Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo – Austin, Texas
The warm welcome you get when you check in at Austin makes it all worth while. The folks in charge of the Longhorn Shows have embraced our family and visiting with them is always enjoyable. This year we opted to commute rather than paying for a hotel for two nights. Sometimes it just feels so good to sleep in your own bed!
This year all the shows have been smaller than years past. I’m sure everyone is feeling the economic crunch like we are. We’ve been hauling only one animal for kid in our family to show. We’ve had to really cut back on the shows we are going to also, and it’s been tough having so many of the shows we want to attend back to back on the weekends. Austin was one that we did not want to miss though. There are two youth shows at Austin. One is on Friday morning and the other was on Saturday afternoon. The judge for the Friday show was Justin Hansard of Nocona, Texas.
Friday Show - We kicked off the female classes with Hannah showing “Consuela CSF” winning first and Tabitha showing “VNR Sweet Melody taking third in Class 3. “Consuela CSF” and Julia went on to win Junior Champion Female. In Class 10, Rachel placed second with “VNR Charlotte.” In Class 11, Lydia placed first with “VNR Feelin’ Spooky” and Julia followed in second with “VNR Dynamic Uno.” Lydia and Julia have spent a lot of time competing for those top two positions this year! It is funny listening to them teasing each other about whose animal is the best. Well, today Lydia and “VNR Feelin’ Spooky” rose to the top again and won Senior Champion Female and Grand Champion Female!
We only brought two bulls to show. In Class 17, Hannah showed “VNR Don Sombrio” and won first. In Class 18, Joshua showed “VNR Dynamic Dos” and won first as well. Julia showed “SRR Joker” for Mr. Bob Jackson. He won first in Class 19. Joshua and “VNR Don Sombrio” went on to win Grand Champion Bull.
In Class 26 Steers, Joy and “VNR Sir Spots-A-Lot” placed second. We were very proud of both of them, especially being that Joy was just released from the hospital a few days ago after having surgery on her leg. I could tell she was in some pain, but she was determined to show today. To make a bad situation worse, we removed a nail from her steer’s foot earlier in the week, so he wasn’t feeling too swell either. In Class 27, Sarah won first with “Solo PC.” In Class 29, Samuel and “DDM Joker’s Wild” placed second and Nathaniel and “SH Bold Boy 3/10” placed third. Samuel and “DDM Joker’s Wild” went on to win Reserve Grand Champion Steer.
In Junior Showmanship, Jonah won first place. In Intermediate Showmanship, Miriam Grace placed first, Rachel placed second and Joy placed third. In Teen Showmanship, Joseph placed third. In Senior Showmanship, Hannah placed first, Julia placed second and Joshua placed third. After the show was over, we headed home to get ready for the following day’s shows.