08/29/2025
I always have to ruminate a bit after the fair (Washington County, Greenwich, NY). So many things at home get left undone while prepping for fair and particularly this year with extreme weather conditions affecting gardens and crops…the very sustenance of farms. But it was an excellent fair….dairy, beef, sheep, goats, poultry, rabbits, horses….all there in abundance.
The fair may seem frivolous to many and many things about it are….it surely brings all kinds of people together. But to exhibitors, the drive to breed better animals, grow better flowers and veg, catch a better photo, sew, knit, paint, create a better project….keeps us moving forward. To gather & compete and celebrate each others’ achievements is earthy and emotional….good stuff.
It’s a bit of an emotional year for me as I continue to downsize my flock and wonder if we can do it next year…maybe at a smaller scale. I am so proud of this group…the Show Team of Thirteen….and their parents. We’ve worked hours training sheep for the few minutes in the show ring. We’ve shared the dirty job of washing sheep. We’ve learned body parts, nutrition and health and some are beginning to clip and do some “fitting”. Some may be moving on to cows….my first love.
We had many wins and champions in the junior show including Reserve All- Breed ewe (Maeve with Naya), Reserve Master Showman (Anneke with Pollyanna), Champion ram (Owen with Outlander). They were all winners in my opinion….everyone had learned so much and presented the sheep so well for two long days of showing. Open class had some nice wins, too. The last class had ten of us in the ring at once with two “flocks”. I could not have been more proud of that display!
