the once was a young boy who dreamed of raising his own purebred gelbvieh cattle...
this young boy bid and won, all by himself, his first pure bred heifer, {flying caddie}, at the age of 6!!
he was officially in the business...
fast forward a couple years he was now old enough to join 4-H and could try his hand at winning grand champion show steer!
the morning after weigh-in M29X was a little sleepy...{it's hard work being 1330 lbs of fabulousness!!}
each morning brought a fresh pile of hay, bucket full of rolled corn and barley, and fresh spring water trucked in from over an hour away...good grief you can't expect him to drink water with chlorine in it can you!?!
each morning also brought bath time...
nothing better than being showered and scrubbed down in 90 degree weather...
once the young boy and his, *amazing* *kind* *loving* *would do anything for her son including rolling his show steer's tail in hot-pink foam rollers* mother, cut, combed, and blow dried M29x's hide till it shown like a pool of reflected moonlight it was showtime...
this young boy and his steer participated in showmanship and fitting the first day and tried their hand at bringing home a shiny new belt buckle with title of {grand champion steer} the next day...
while many kids were dragged around the arena by their anxious steers, the young boy and M29X quietly made their way around without so much as a snort, tail-in-air, how-do-you-do...
much to the relief of the now, professional tail-curling mother...
the final day was spent much the same in preparation for the young boy and his steer with a different ending though...
M29X was auctioned off and wouldn't be coming home with the young boy...
the young boy was left facing an empty stall and the job of cleaning up after a best friend and a weeks worth of hard work...
many tears where shed and the young boy with the rest of his family still morn the loss of M29X...
he was the most gentle, easy going 1330 lb steer any of the prairie family had seen...
but the young boy's cowboy hat is dusted off and turned to the morning horizon, for he is in the business of raising cattle, bringing to you the best quality of beef out there...
he is already eyeing over his herd of purebred cattle and trying to judge which steer will help in bringing home his dream title {grand champion show steer}...
while during the live stock show i posted updates on my facebook page...one post was of ian cleaning out the empty stall with a caption of: an empty stall and tears being shed for a friend no longer here....
a couple of days later a comment was made along the lines: {i thought he lost his pet, it just broke my heart until i knew it was his steer}...
well he did lose his pet and best friend...
can you imagine working with a 1300 lb animal morning and night for an entire year and not feel some connections?
i hope i can help you understand how much trust {this took a huge amount on my part...considering my 75 lb boy was hanging onto a rope connected to 1300 lbs of wild animal} and love was put into the raising of this steer...
the sacrifice and life lesson that my small boy went through...
yes, we are in the business of raising beef cattle, yes, we send our cattle to slaughter each year...
but it doesn't mean that we don't {live} for those cattle while they are in our care, they are given the very best so you, the consumers may have top quality beef for your own families...
the livestock show was an *amazing* experience for my little family...
it took a lot of work and dedication from everyone and it was a chance to show how much pride we take in the raising of our cattle...
i hope with this little story and explanation you get a better sense of what my family loves and works for here on the prairie...
23 comments:
oh bless his little heart! What a great sotry though. Im sure you are so proud!
Love this post Kristin!! Some people just don't understand whatever type of animal your raising, there will definitely be sadness and feelings of loss when they are gone. This feeling extends further than just dogs and cats. I think what your young son is doing is fabulous!! I wish my boys had something like this to get involved in, especially 4H.
He should be so proud of himself, I know his Mama is!
Have a beautiful week.
Sincerely,
Melinda
Oh my, Little Mama. I have done this for years and years. Not only with my own but my best friends son and on and on. It is heart wrenching to see them parade around that gigantic animal when they are so small and watch them get the "hand" or the "wave in". Their face says it all while our hearts run wild. Some times a victory and some times not. They work hard, they learn lessons nothing else can teach. They learn to let that "friend" go. I could go on and on. God Bless that you raise your children in such a wonderful environment.
I love farm stories! Oh wait....it's a prairie story. But sounds like many stories of small farms/ranches. Being dedicated to the raising of livestock, to the best of our abilities, so consumers can have a great product.
Why can't these types of true stories be shared more often, instead of the stores that scare consumers because they heard it on tv or read it online and it must be true?
:)
My girls used to raise Sheep. They were in a 4-H club and I can feel for you with your sons steer and the tears at saying goodbye to a friend. My girls did the same thing Kristin. It does make them stronger and they both have gone on to be pretty great young women!
Pets mean the world to our family... and I would say that his steer was indeed part of your family. Bless his sweet little heart! I love that you curled his tail! ;o) You're a great mom...
I love this post! What a sweet story of sacrifice, perseverance and loss. Your precious son is learning how to be a man among men. Congratulations.
How hard it must have been for your boy to give over his beloved steer to someone else. M29X sounds like a perfect steer. A heart tugging post.
What a sweet story. It's amazing just how close we can get to animals:)
M29X sounds like a lovely friend:)
I love this post. It brought back such sweet memories of my son showing his steers. But I did not curl the steers tail! That is greatness!
You explained the cattle raising business so eloquently. Those of us who raise cattle for consumer consumption do love our animals and always make sure their health and welfare comes before anything else. By reading your blog, your family, like mine, take much pride is raising health, happy and much loved cattle. GREAT POST!
Oh amazing mama, I think your boy did himself proud:) And I can only imagine the heartbreak he must have felt when he had to say goodbye to his beloved steer. Thank you, to you & your family, for all you do in raising & caring for these wonderful creatures!
Well written mama! What a life lesson he has learned. A sad one but a life long one. My girls are not old enough for 4-H yet, but I'm so excited for their opporitunity.
My siblings and I showed market lambs and Rabbits in 4-H when we were young. Those memories are forever....the tears while walking them around that auction ring are never forgotten. You are bringing strong little people up, Bless you for that!
Thank you for caring for what our families eat!
PS... Forgot to mention... I LOVE your photos! You're amazing!
Great job, thanks for sharing our story about how much we care and love our animals!! What a sweet post from you and I today have seriously jumped up on my crazy soap box for my blog... :) I would love to blame pregnancy hormones but it's something I've been thinking about for a while! Hope you're well!
Such a sweet post of a strong young man. I very much understand the process, care and dedication as our boys are in 4-H too.
Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing all the raw emotion that this experience created for both your young son and you. Loved every word.
Blessings,
Val
What a sweet story. I can't imagine how hard it would be to raise a steer like this and then have to give it up.
Wonderful post! Thaks for sharing all of this with us!!
I cried so hard as a 4-Her at the fair auction selling my sheep each year...I can so relate.
I cried so hard as a 4-Her at the fair auction selling my sheep each year...I can so relate.
I cried so hard as a 4-Her at the fair auction selling my sheep each year...I can so relate.
It's refreshing to see a website/blog that rejoices in agriculture...the ups and the downs, the pride and joy in hard work and dedication. Last year in our small northern Utah town, my little neighbor's show lamb was killed in a fire (stubble field was being burned and the fire got out of control). She lost her lamb and her dog just a week before the fair. She held her chin high and showed her reserve lamb. Steers, lambs, hogs...are our dear, sweet friends. We take much care and pride in raising them for food for our families and others. Long live agriculture. Thanks for sharing your family's experience.
Years ago my husband and I were watching an episode of The Waltons. There was a little boy that kept sneaking a chicken out of the hen house and playing with it instead of letting it be in the hen house. He kept getting in trouble for it and they would tell him to take that chicken back to the chicken coop. I turned to my husband and said, "can you imagine wanting to have a chicken as a pet?" He replied, "No. It would be different if it was a cat or a dog...or a pig." He loved his show pigs and I think he cried every time he sold one.
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