Gracie Trout said she loves showing animals, and on Monday, the calf she showed at the Westmoreland Fair — Jezebel — took home the Junior Champion title.
This year was her second year showing, and Gracie, 11, of Tarrs won first in the fall Guernsey calf category, both 4-H and open class, contributing to the Junior Champion win.
Jezebel was born in September, and Gracie’s family is leasing her from Maddox Davis, who owns the Guernsey calf.
Davis, 16, of Dawson said the process is “similar to leasing a car,” and he’s been working with various breeds of cows for his “whole life.”
His favorite part of working with cows is “playing with them when they’re babies,” Davis said, and he’s even seen cows give birth.
Similar to Davis, Gracie said she has grown up on the farm and wants to continue showing cows for years to come.
“I like doing it because it takes a lot of hard work,” she said.
Steve Moff judged the competitions Gracie participated in on Monday. Though he has judged many shows, mostly in Ohio, it was his second time judging at the Westmoreland Fair.
Moff of Columbiana, Ohio, has been evaluating cows since 1980. He said he goes from “herd to herd” and suggests what to improve for future generations.
Moff said Jezebel had “a lot of style and balance, really good depth of rib, (and) really good foot and leg.” Gracie and Jezebel showed “a really nice effort” — one that Moff said could withstand more competitions.
One of the aspects he looks for when judging is “really good foot and leg,” which means the calf needs to be able to get back and forth from the pasture and the barn, Moff said.
“It takes quite a bit of preparation — starting when they’re born to have them grown right, fitted right,” Moff said. “They do a lot of clipping and fitting to get the animal ready, a lot of training … to make (them) look their best, too.”
Gracie said she practiced with Jezebel by walking her around the fields. It helps to get the calves used to the process in order to “show break” them, she said.
“Basically, you just wanna walk them slowly and make their heads go up so you can do good,” she said.
