THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050283
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
There's a lot more to raising a 4-H steer than meets the eye.
Shane Horsley, 18, knows for sure there's more to the effort than just feeding and watering the big animals. He's been raising steers for the 4-H Livestock Show and Sale since he was 9.
This year Horsley's big hunk of beef weighs in at over 1,200 pounds. Still, the massive animal with its doe eyes and glistening wet nose, gets its hair combed, brushed and sometimes blown dry on a regular basis. An electric fan sends breezes through the stall on these warm May days to keep the steer cool so its shiny black hair won't shed.
The placid beast is walked on a halter on a regular basis and is kept in its calm state by music and talk shows on a radio in its stall. Radio sounds also help the steer get used to the noises it might hear at the 4-H show and sale next weekend at Princess Anne Park.
The sale, part of the Beach Country Classic, begins with the market and breeding animal show at noon Friday. The highlight of the event is the Fitting and Showmanship Competition from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday. That's when 59 Virginia Beach youngsters, including Horsley, will be walking their steers, hogs and lambs around a show ring and that's when the extra efforts of grooming and training really count.
Then Horsley's steer and the other 4-H animals will be judged on more than conformation and weight. They will be judged on fitting - which means grooming to the layman. Judges will look at how squeaky clean the animal is, how its hair is brushed and styled and how well the animal behaves. Horsley and other 4-H'ers also will be judged on their own showmanship.
Recently Horsley was walking his lumbering, black steer with a white blaze on its nose around the barnyard at his family's farm in Blackwater. A new black leather halter was Horsley's main means of control.
The steer, rarely balking, paraded calmly with its master. With a tap of a ``show stick,'' on the steer's legs, Horsley got the animal to position itself in a show stance in much the same manner a dog takes a certain stand at a dog show to show off its conformation.
On show and sale day Saturday, the fitting and showmanship competition culminates with an auction when the 102 animals raised by 4-H youngsters will go up for sale. Other activities that day include pony rides, a petting zoo, agricultural exhibits and entertainment. The Pungo Strawberry Festival World Championship Rodeo at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday are part of the festivities, too. There is an admission fee to the rodeo but the 4-H events are free.
Horsley will not only be occupied with his steer next weekend. He will be showing three hogs in the market animal show Friday and one of them in the showmanship competition Saturday. This is the award winning 4-H'er's swan song. Next year he will be at Virginia Tech studying animal science and his 4-H show and sale days will be behind him.
In fact there aren't many more challenges that Horsley could meet in his 4-H career. The Kellam High School senior, who is president of the Virginia Beach 4-H Livestock Club this year, has had several champion steers and hogs over the years. He was awarded Overall Senior Showman at the 1994 Livestock Show and Sale and his induction into the Virginia Chapter of 4-H All-Stars is one of several statewide honors.
Despite his many achievements, Horsley still fondly remembers Woops, the first pig he ever raised for the event. When it came time for the auction, his dad, pig farmer Don Horsley, purchased Woops back as a breeding pig for the farm.
``That was nice,'' Shane said, ``because you get more attached to them when you're little.
``It's still a little hard,'' he went on, ``but now you know you raise them for food and you get used to it.''
P.S. THE HERB SOCIETY OF AMERICA meets at 7 p.m. today at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Meg Shelton from Shelton Herb Farm in Leland, N.C., will speak on Growing Herbs in the South.
BACK BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE has opened its interior dike for activities such as bird or wildlife observation and photography. Access to False Cape State Park by foot or bike along the dike road also is permitted. The refuge is open daily sunrise to sunset. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Shane Horsley, 18, walks the 1,200-pound steer he raised for
this year's 4-H Livestock Show and Sale. He and his brother, Ryan,
also raise market-sized hogs.
Photos by
MARY REID BARROW
by CNB