Stories from the Fair

Lowe balances showing sheep, cattle with schoolwork, track

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Alexa Lowe shows off Bean, left, and El at the Fulton County 4-H Fair beef show on Tuesday. Bean was named champion Shorthorn Plus, and El was named Reserve Champion Maintainer. Lowe also won third place Market Lamb with a white face cross wether at the sheep show on Monday.

In the photos of Alexa Lowe after the Fulton County 4-H Beef Show Tuesday, it might be hard to find Alexa Lowe.

That’s because Lowe was trying to get in between El and Bean. El won the reserve champion in the Maintainer class while Bean was named champion Shorthorn Plus. A Maintainer is a crossbred Maine Anjou, and a Shorthorn Plus is a crossbred Shorthorn.

She won a plaque for fourth overall heifer and three ribbons – for Reserve Senior Showman, for Reserve Maintainer and for winning the Shorthorn Plus class.

She also won third overall Market Lamb with her white face cross wether at the sheep show on Monday.

“I feel very happy, and I think I’m very at a high point, and I think I’m just so proud of what I’ve done this year to get me to this point,” Lowe said.

Lowe thanked community members for their help when asked how much preparation goes into getting multiple cows ready for the beef show.

“Oh my gosh, so much,” Lowe said. “I know a lot of the community members, they help a lot here for the show, but at home, I’m in the barn all day rinsing, feeding, doing whatever I can to just be in the barn and help my cattle succeed.”

Lowe has to know which feeds work with which cow.

“It depends on your heifer or steer,” Lowe explained. “Some feeds help the flank. Some help the neck. It just depends what your calf needs at that point. For feed, it normally takes about 21 days to kick in for you to see a difference.”

Lowe said those who are in a hurry to see results cannot succeed at the beef show.

“So patient,” Lowe said. “From breaking them to where they’re used to the halter to feeding them to showing them how to brace and getting them to be comfortable with the showing, it’s a long process.”

And after all that, Lowe must adjust to what the judge prefers.

“Some judges want big-muscle, big-frame, big heifers,” Lowe said. “Some want small, feminine heifers where they want showy, show-ring, show-ready. And same for steers. They want all different types of stuff.”

Cattle can be unpredictable once they enter the pen in front of large crowds of people. With experience, they become more comfortable, Lowe said. She said she shows cattle and sheep every weekend in March, April and May.

The state fair in August is the last event of the year that she shows. She said she won’t show cattle at that but will take five or six sheep.

Lowe, who will be a sophomore at Caston this fall, juggled schoolwork and distance running along with her 4-H duties in the spring. She was eighth in the Hoosier North and 12th in the sectional at 800 meters and eighth in the conference and 14th in the sectional at 1,600 meters.

“So I was balancing school, track, cattle and sheep,” Lowe said. “I tried to sleep, but I would go to practice, get home and then feed, maybe rinse if I had time and then get to the house and get what I needed done like homework.”