|
|
|
|
That's what happened with 12-year-old Emily June Kelley when she first laid eyes on her gray Charolais steer.
"When we first saw him, we thought that he was a really awesome steer," she said of the animal the family named Champ, "and thought that maybe he could win something big."
They thought right.
Champ was the grand champion steer Oct. 3 at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. He competed against about 400 other animals.
"I didn't know what to think," the Yoakum resident said. "I didn't even know what to do. I was just overwhelmed."
It took work to get to that win.
She purchased him in April, and his care included routine feedings at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., working with him for hours every day and showing him at preliminary events.
"That's so he wouldn't be nervous when he got to the big shows," she said. "And I guess all that hard work paid off."
Raising Champ was a family affair, said Emily June's mother, Jennifer Kelley.
Both parents helped her pick out an animal and worked with her to halter break, bathe and work with the steer on showmanship.
"It's a team effort," her mother said. "It takes everybody."
It helps that the family has a background in raising animals.
Emily June's mother once won reserve champion at the Dallas show, and her aunt took home the award for grand champion 25 years ago, and her father, Yoakum school district Superintendent Tom Kelley, grew up raising animals.
Her 8-year-old sister, Laurel Kelley, won for the heavyweight British champion at this year's show.
Emily June's steer brought in $95,000 at the auction, and she gets to keep $30,000 of that.
She said she plans to put the money away for school.
She plans to attend Texas A&M University and study some aspect of agriculture, she said, although she wasn't quite sure what.
Emily June said she plans to continue raising animals. Her win means she can't go back to the Dallas show, but she can compete in other big shows in Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio, she said.
Her sister and 8-year-old brother, John Thomas, also will continue to compete, she said, and the family will work with heifers next year, a first for the Kelleys.
But no matter what you raise, Emily June said, people should get involved with 4-H and Future Farmers of America.
Raising animals is fun and teaches a child responsibility, Emily June explained. And, she said, it can help you in the future.
"In my case I'm going to have plenty of money saved up for college, hopefully, when I get there," she said.
And if you don't win big the first time, she advised, keep trying. Emily June had made it to the Dallas show a few times before her 2008 win.
"I didn't make the sale last year, so I was getting a little disappointed," she said. "To win the whole show, it was amazing."