My lambs

It wasn't until the end of my junior year when I really got into FFA. FFA stands for Future Farmers of America and is an organization where you raise animals as “projects” over the course of months and then show them to a judge who judges them based on appearance and quality. 

April of 2015 was when I went to pick up my first lamb, Chia, to show at the county fair at the end of the year. He got his name from my mom because she called herself a chia pet while her hair was growing back after chemo. Chia and I worked well together. Over the summer we went to a few small jackpot shows where we got 3rd and 4th in our classes. In November of 2015   we showed at our last and final show, the Fort Bend County Fair show. All our hard work and preparation lead up to this moment. We ended up placing 4th in the class and 21st overall. I wasn't too happy with Chia because he decided to sleep while in the show ring. He fell to his knees a few times, but luckily the judge wasn't looking. 

October 2015 I picked up my majors sheep for Houston and Austin, and also got my school lamb. My Houston lamb was a tiny and stubborn little one. His name was Yoda and he got that name because I got him as a baby and he was so small but his ears were huge and such straight out of his head. He was the devil lamb I swear. It took me forever to train him how to walk and id even use a hot shot on his butt and that still wouldn't phase him. Yoda and I only went to one jackpot show together which was a struggle, but we still got second in our class. At the Houston Livestock show Yoda actually showed his little butt off for me, but the judge wasn't feeling him so we hit the gate and onto the slaughter trailer he went. I gladly put him in there 

without any tears!!        

Next comes Delilah, my lamb for school. She was the only female lamb that I ever raised. Our school sheep all sucked because they are the left overs who aren't good enough to go to majors so the breeder is getting rid of them. She was a well put together lamb, but wouldn't eat anything I put in front of her. She would just stare at it and look at me like I was crazy. At show did really well! We placed first in the light weight class and got 3rd overall! I was very proud of her considering that I was force feeding her Pediasure and hay at show.  

Lastly, I had my Austin lamb Taco. Now this is the lamb that I got attached to and didn't want to let go of. Taco was like my best friend and he was there for me at my lowest times in life. As funny or weird as this may sound, he was always there for me and knew when I was upset and needed to be picked back up. Taco and I only went to one jackpot show together but it was a huge success. We got first in the class and Reserve Grand Champion and picked up our first belt buckle. When we went to the Austin Rodeo to show, the judge wasn't feeling Taco like I was and sent us to the trailer. Giving up Taco and putting him on the slaughter trailer was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Giving up your best friend to be eaten isn't easy.