OK State Fair 2012 - Part 3

OOPS!  Look what we found in the DRAFTS box!

When I go to the OK State Fair, I know that the TULSA STATE FAIR is just around the corner!

At 10 A.M. Sunday morning, we met with our show team at the Ag Farm to load up the trailers to go to the fair at OKC.

Since they don't allow COWS at the OK State Fair as of this year, we were able to get supplies in one trailer and heifers in another.

We headed to the city and pulled into the livestock gate, but when we gave them our exhibitor tickets, they wouldn't let us in.  They sent us the wrong tickets.  (Good only for Monday.)  So our poor advisor had to leave the truck and trailer holding up the line and go pick up the correct tickets to get us in.  I'm sure all the people behind us were mad.

We got unloaded.  It was my first time to see the new barn facilites.  Sometime after the fair last year, they tore down the beef and dairy barn and rebuilt.  Things are a lot different.  It used to be dark and dirty.  There were wood and pipe panels to tie your animals to.  This time we had to bring our own stock panels in order to have something to tie them to.

They tore out the milking parlor.  Even when Southwest Dairy Museum offered them $250,000 to build a new one, they would not.  So now we cannot bring cows.  We cannot even bring DRY cows.  This has become a heifer-only show.

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Sunday night we unloaded and set up, ate, fed, and went to bed.

Monday evening was the Purdiest Cow Contest.  I brought Cleopatra with me.  (I dressed up Stopnstare.)  I was Julius Caesar.  We got first place and Grand Champion.

Then we had Showmanship.  I chose to use Stopnstare.  I kept loining her when she didn't need it because I'm so used to doing it with Posey and Juicy.  Stopnstare doesn't need it.  Ooops.  I came in second.  Probably could have come in first if I hadn't done that.

Tuesday was the morning of the show, we got up at 4:20 A.M. so we could be washing the animals by 5:00 A.M. so they could start drying and the first toplines could be started at 7:00 because the show started at 9:00 A.M.

Jr. and Open show happens at the same time.  If you were placed second behind someone in Open that is not a Jr., then you would place second in Open, and first in Jr.  So they hand you both of your placings at the same time.  This is different from Tulsa.  At the Tulsa State Fair they do Purdiest Cow and Showmanship on Friday, Open show on Saturday, and Jr. Show on Sunday.  The judge is different for every event.  It's one more day of hard work, but it makes it interesting.  Different day, animal acts differently (maybe), animal is in a little bit different condition (maybe), you perform differently (maybe), different judge, different results (maybe).  You just have to wait and see.  It's more interesting.

Prize summary:
*Best Dressed Cow Contest - (Cleopatra and Julius Caesar) Grand Champion - Rosette, blue ribbon, medallion
*Showmanship - Stopnstare - 2nd place ribbon, plaque
*Stopnstare - Spring heifer Jersey calf - 1st in Open, 1st in Jr., Reserve Breed Champion Jr., Reserve Breed Champion Open, (two blue ribbons, two rosettes, two banners, and an embroidered garment bag) $5 from Oklahoma Jersey Jr. Assoc.
*Carmelita - Spring yearling Jersey - 1st in Open, 1st in Jr. (two blue ribbons and $5 from OJJA)
*Juicy - Spring yearling Brown Swiss - 2nd in Open, 2nd in Jr. (two red ribbons)

OH . MY. GOODNESS.