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Taylor County Livestock Show 4-H contestant talks about preparation

 

 

The Taylor County Livestock Show kicks off today as 4-H and FFA members begin showing their animals at the Taylor County Expo Center. Steer, lamb, goat, rabbit, heifer, swine and poultry are all included in the four-day event. 

 

Twelve-year-old Shae Nicholson has been involved in 4-H for three years. On a recent Wednesday afternoon she was standing on an overturned bathtub with a goat named “Fearless.”

 

“We are stretching them out and teaching them how to push,” Shae said as she wrestled a little with Fearless. 

 

She does the same exercise with her other goats-Cream, Frank and Fancy. The movement teaches the animal to “brace” against Shae so that a judge can see the goat’s flexed muscles. 

 

Shae’s mother, Heather Hess,  said raising livestock for 4-H has taught her daughter about responsibility and hard work. 

 

“There are times when she wants to come home from school and pile up on the TV or play a game on her iPad or something like that and I tell her put your jacket back on, we’ve got to get outside,” Hess said. “And it's not always what she wants to do.”

 

Shae has been working with her goats every day for 10 months to prepare for this year’s show. The time and energy she invests does have rewards beyond any buckles or ribbons. Shae said she’s met some of her best friends through the experience of raising animals.  

 

 “One of my best friends is in 4-H and she even goes to a different school,” Shae said.  “So without 4-H you would never have met those people.”

 

Shae will continue raising goats but she enjoys learning about all animals. Her mother describes Shae as “an animal person through and through.”

 

“I want to try pigs and I kind of want to do lambs,” Shae said. “I really think pigs are really cute, they’re like my third favorite animal after giraffes.”