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Jeannie Griswold
As a mom, why was it important to you that your kids compete at the county level?
We are just wrapping up with OYE. It will, by number, be the biggest show we compete in. Even though it is on a state level, it’s as big as a national show. It hit me really hard as Garrett came out of the ring after winning a tough class that so many of the people that were there to high-five him and cheer the loudest were the people from our home county. They come up to the ring, they cheer each other on, and offer a support system that is second to none.
The county shows are like a tight-knit community, friendships that last a lifetime, and memories that are core. As I think back to so many of my best friends and happiest times, it happened at small local shows. I have followed so many of those people throughout their lives, still cheering them on and hoping for their success.
What do you hope your kids would gain from county fairs, beyond just winning?
Working together—you don’t lose alone, and you for sure don’t win alone. Our county fair is as tough as any place we compete. Watching our kids work with others to get one ready, to help them fit and clip, and vice versa is huge.
Being excited for others, cheering the loudest, and not only hoping for others’success but going out of their way to help them are the biggest life lessons they can take from showing livestock.
How do county fairs shape character differently than the big stage?
I like my kids to know that people in our local community are watching them, that they care about them. Garrett had his picture in the local newspaper from our county show. I had three different people send me a picture of that article. Those are the people that watch and help my kids grow up.
We also have a lot of kids that show at our county level that are our biggest competitors at national shows. When we go to a big show, as often as not, that group of friends from home is surrounded by bigger groups of kids from across the nation. They cheer each other on at the small shows, and they cheer just as loud at the large ones.
I want my kids to win graciously, and I want them to lose graciously on every level of competition.
What’s a county fair memory with your kids that still sticks with you?
My kids’first shows have always been at county fairs. Those fairs are the learning ground, the places where everything comes together.
Watching your own kids show just hits differently. Your heart is in the ring just a little more. When they walk into that ring for the first time, it wouldn’t matter how big of a stage it is—they are as nervous as if it was a huge show.
It makes me start to tear up just thinking of those first moments. I don’t remember if they won or how they did. I do remember being proud when they got a foot set right and kept that head up—just the small things that you wonder if they are paying attention to in the practice pen.
Those small shows are huge building blocks for everything they do, and I’m not just talking about in the show ring.
Do you think kids lose something when they skip straight to chasing majors?
There is nothing like a small-town show, nothing like a county fair—you can’t replace it. I always wish that every fair in the nation had the support our county gives. Our buyers night, the support that our businesses offer in supporting our local youth, is unbelievable.
These are the youth that know responsibility—how to get out of bed, work, and make things happen every single day. FFA and 4-H projects on every single level are so huge to the national scope of agriculture.
A lot of the kids that show will never go to a major. They won’t stay involved in ag, but they will have a connection that ties them to what we do for the rest of their lives.
County fairs are one of the most important things in this nation that we do to keep people tied to our lifestyle and what we do. I pray that every one of us that shows livestock will work hard to keep our county fairs healthy and active.
What would you say to parents who feel pressure to“keep up” at the highest level?
Every parent hopes for their kids to do their best, to have the desire to succeed, but sometimes we push that success hard enough as parents that we lose sight of what it’s all about.
It’s not that slap. It’s the early morning chores, the moments spent together, the ins and outs of the barn, and the friendships formed.
Watching your child pull a halter off of a project for the last time hits pretty hard. One of these days, you are going to go out into a big ole pasture with a bucket of grain to see an old show heifer. The pride they take in her calf, and they will follow her through the rest of her life.
It goes fast—you blink, and all of a sudden you are looking at the end instead of the beginning.
Enjoy it, all of it.
It’s okay to be competitive, but just remember we are doing this to raise good kids. The cattle are just the tool.
Please feel free to add any other comments or statements you feel called to share on the topic.
Being in front of a crowd, putting on a smile when everything is going wrong, holding back the tears when you get stepped on, and shaking a judge’s hand when things didn’t quite go how you wanted—that’s life, all wrapped up into a show ring.
Being proud of what you lead into the ring and knowing, win or lose, you are going to do your very best, and every time you walk into that ring you are going to try and do it all just a little better.
Winning graciously, losing graciously, thanking those on the sidelines and those who stand at the gate to take the halter and help you back to the stall.
All of it—I hope my kiddos take it all in, realize it’s not just livestock, it’s a life stage, and at the end of the day, no matter how big or small that ring may be, those who love them are standing at the gate, waiting to come away from the crowd.
When we go home, there is still work to do—the same chores, the same repetitive process, getting up early and staying up late, trying to work our hardest to be successful. Doing those monotonous little things the very best we can and always learning how to do it all just a little better.
Showing livestock shapes our kids in a way I can’t quite describe, but regardless of what they decide to do in life, those lessons in the barn, in the show ring, and next to an animal they have worked with and loved will be part of teaching them success in the ring of life.