Enjoy the Show!

Friday was a big day for us...our first Northwest Highland Cattle Association (NWHCA) regional show at the Puyallup Fair, a chance to see award-winning animals and meet other breeders in our association.

Lest you think I have any "normalcy" left (ha!), yes, I did take the ENTIRE day off work for this event, which was at 10:00. I actually scheduled the day off a few months ago, and made it clear to Paul that I would be going with or without him. I wouldn't have missed this for the world!

We ran a little late, and the show didn't, so we missed the cow/calf pairs, which was disappointing. We had to be behind the barrier, too, so couldn't get too close, which was a little annoying because they had a bagpipe player who played about every 5-10 minutes - LOUDLY - to the point where it was very difficult to hear what the judge was saying a lot of the time. But it was awesome to see the action, watch the animals move and hear how the winners of each class were chosen. I don't get any of it, and would love to know how our two stack up against the competition.

There were several member breeders there showing cattle, and another there who were just watching, like us, and the coolest part was (besides meeting some of the breeders) they had the fall meeting of the NWHCA board - open to members - about an hour after the show ended, so we got to participate without prior notice! There was a lot of information shared and opinions bantied about, which was cool to hear. Sounds like the spring meeting, which is always at someone's farm, will be up in Sedro Wooley this year, so we'll hopefully be able to attend.

The other nice thing was seeing that Bridgit isn't the only "spirited" animal around...there were others around her age (and the calves, too!) who tossed their horns at their owners or were difficult in the circle and didn't walk like nicely behaved cattle. It occurred to me that it might actually be easier to show Sheila in the future than Bridgit, which sort of blows my mind. (Bridgit is back to good health, by the way.)

Here are a few photos I took (it was tough to see much from where we stood). Enjoy!



Gorgeous red cow. She didn't like having her heifer calf shown in a class by herself...she had a lot to say about that!




Spirited little heifers!




Gotta love the cow butts!




This little guy's breeder family gives each kiddo their own calf to raise and show. Awwww!