Indiana State Fair

showewetheway
Aug 15, 2022
3 min read

The dirt in the Coliseum at the Indiana State Fair is dreamed about. Showman from throughout the state plan their season and focus their efforts on making the cut to be one of the lucky ones to represent their breed and hear their names called to enter the ring. As Landrey has begun to develop her own goals, many of them circled around this week. Collectively as a family, we have all pressed hard toward the goals Landrey set and focused on doing everything we could to prepare. Late nights, early mornings, and time spent in the barn putting the animals through their regimen have piled up.

Thursday morning, Landrey kicked off her first 4H experience by winning the Junior Southdown Showmanship Division in a very deep and competitive class. Winning the breed allowed her to come back in for a drive with all the other breed champions, and while she wasn’t selected we were sure proud.

Friday was a super early morning and very packed day of showing with five of the six sheep scheduled to hit the ring.

“Lucy” our Hampshire yearling ewe we raised was second in her class and stood in the Senior Drive.

“Socks” our Hired Hand Dorper won her class and earned the title of Junior Champion. We stood in excitement with the hope she may be the ticket to the dirt.

“Coral” our JFSS Hampshire ewe was fifth in class in a very deep group of spring lambs.

“Gemma” our Oldenburg Ewe lamb was sixth in the spring class.

“Stella” our Hired Hand Yearling Southdown won Yearling class 3, and later was named Senior Champion Southdown. “Stella” stood out to many. She received amazing comments from a lot of our peers and people we were honored to meet but as hard as it was to watch, in the judge's eyes she fell just one place short. As Landrey’s glow from making it to the Drive faded quickly to tears, we all began to reflect on just how big of a day she had. The resonating message we received was “So Close” which ultimately hurt to hear but also filled us with pride as we nearly made it to the top. We got to sit in the Ferrari but we didn’t get to drive it.

As questions filled my mind, I began to get lost in answers for myself. Can you achieve your dreams but fail? Can you feel moved to tears with happiness but be sad? I thought about an Olympic athlete that may break a record but finished second or win the gold but miss the world record by a few hundredths of a second. Landrey fulfilled several of her goals but also missed one too. The big dream of the dirt fell right through our fingers.

Saturday we woke up rejuvenated. It was time for our JFSS Yearling “Shine” to show in the Commercial division. “Shine” lead Landrey to her fourth division drive of the weekend, as she was second in class.

In total Landrey won two classes, a senior division, a junior division, two second-place finishes, a fifth, and a sixth for her first trip. Additionally, she hung a showmanship banner that allows us to realize dreams really do come true!

As 2022 starts to slow down a bit with show season, we are motivated to drive hard the remainder of this year and fight to raise and find the next magical ewe that might just lead us to the dirt.

Thank you to the army of people that helped us. Show mentors who helped in the ring; Isaac Thompson, Alexis Koch, and Madalyn Crouch.

Congratulations to Isaac Thompson and Jordan Leininger!

The Crouch Family The Koch Family Johnson Family Show Stock Oldenburg Farms Burns Stock Farm Parker Farms Southdowns Shafer Show Stock Purina StockShowSecrets.com Show Stopper Supplements Sawtooth Supplement Science Rule Supplements Aaron Jennings Simplicity Creative Lindsay Hanewich Photography and Design Leggett's You Gotta Believe Livestock Camps