Published: September 08, 2006 12:00 am            

Supreme Showmanship contest gives 4-H'ers a workout

ZUMBROTA - You don't need to know anything about pigs to enjoy the Supreme Showmanship contest at the Goodhue County Fair.

After all, eight of the 10 contestants in the show ring likely don't know anything about them, either.

The contest pits the top two senior showpersons from the 4-H swine, beef, dairy, goat and sheep competitions in a showdown of livestock handling skills. Contestants are responsible for gathering the equipment they will need and can usually be found taking a crash course in general knowledge and showmanship from their friends.

A group of volunteers line up animals, making sure none of them are shown by their owner during the contest. Qualified 4-H alumni from Goodhue, Rice and Wabasha counties judged the youth based on how they answered questions and controlled their animals. The contestants are identified only by number and the judge's placings from each heat are added to determine the winner.

The audience is easily amused by the antics of both the animals and the youth. Standing at the halter of a large beef heifer may be daunting for the champion sheep showman and a bleating, jumping goat a completely new experience for someone used to controlling a dairy animal. The swine steal the show, running amok and refusing to be penned while giving their would-be handlers a good workout.

Heide Dudley of Red Wing, qualified as one of the top goat showpersons. She said the hardest part of the contest was, "Keeping my pig in the show arena, it broke through the 10-person barrier and headed for the wash rack." She also lost her grip on her sheep when another contestant's animal ran into it. Her luck improved when she drew a well-trained beef animal.

This year was the first year that Goodhue County also offered the rabbit and poultry exhibitors this type of contest. Dudley said she would participate in the large animal contest again, but next year she hopes to compete in the small animal Supreme Showmanship contest.

She opted to take a rabbit to the Minnesota State Fair this year where she earned the Grand Champion showmanship award and was also on the Grand Champion rabbit judging team.

The winner of the 13th annual large animal Supreme Showmanship contest in Goodhue County was Greg Berg of Kenyon. This was his first year in senior showmanship and he qualified through the beef show. Greg Hovel of Cannon Falls was the Reserve Champion and also earned participation through the beef show.

Although Berg had previous experience showing sheep and had helped a friend during the dairy show earlier in the day, he wasn't sure if he would be able to win. He said the contest is "something different" and would definitely have done it again but is now ineligible.

As winner of the Supreme Showmanship contest, Berg received a silver platter, and in keeping with tradition his rivals carried him off to the stock tank in celebration. A short but intense water fight ensued. Even after nearly two hours of heated competition in the show arena, Berg described the water temperature as "brisk."

        

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