Youth compete in tightly contested sheep show at Cass County Fair

Published 9:10 am Tuesday, July 31, 2018

By Andrew Mentock

CASSOPOLIS — Ten-year-old Isaac Walker, of Cassopolis, was smiling from ear to ear by the end of the beginner division of the Cloverbud Sheep Show, which began at 9 a.m Monday. He saw his mother in the crowd and repeatedly held up his index finger to confirm that he indeed was taking home a blue ribbon at the Cass County Fair.

After he walked out of the Show and Sale Arena, he yawned and sat down on some rocks. Exhausted, he was given a Coke and took a long sip.

When asked about how much effort went into preparing for the event, his answer was simple.

“A lot,” he said.

Like most participants in agricultural events at the Cass County Fair, showing an animal is the culmination of months of hard work. Isaac woke up early every morning this summer to train and take care of his animals and do related chores. He then went back every night to do it all over again.

He said he was nervous during the event and was glad it was over, but he was even happier that he won. His first place finish even earned him a spot in the overall first place sheep showman competition, which was won by 17-year-old Maddie Yuhas of Cassopolis.

“Because she won she gets to go into showmanship sweepstakes,” said Barbie Starr, Maddie’s aunt. “On Friday, she will show every species that they have here — small and large animals.”

Maddie began showing lambs when she was 3 years old. She also won the senior division.

The overall lamb showman event was tightly contested, according to the judge. At one point, Maddie had to switch sheeps with another participant.

“Sometimes it’s harder to show another person’s lamb,” Maddie said. “Or you might do things differently with someone else’s lamb. He can see how good of a showman you are when you switch lambs. He can see if you can show everything or not.”

Each sheep and show person is judged based on a variety of characteristics, according to Maddie, such as how good the show person is able to make the sheep look, how good the show person is positioned, how the sheep’s feet are set, how the show person holds their sheep’s head and other things.

The next event were the Market Ewe Grand Champion events, where Layla True, of Cassopolis, won first place in any other breed. The other market categories were crossbred, Suffolk, Hampshire and natural color.

The market champions were determined based on how a sheep looks, including its size, strength and posture.

“You have to teach them how to set up their back legs, and kind of keep their back low,” True said. “Make sure they are building muscle in their back. There are little tips like putting a cinder block under their feet so they have to build those muscles and teaching them to brace so they hold all of their muscles tight.”

This is True’s first year participating in the agricultural events at the fair. She purchased two sheep and kept them at the Ross Beatty Jr.-Sr. High School FFA facility.

True is not done yet. Like many of the other participants, she has a long week ahead of her, as she also plans to show pigs, cats and other farm animals.

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