THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505240191
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: E12A EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Enthusiasm and a lot of Mott's fruit punch helped Cathy Talley through the long, warm weekend at the Jubilee.
For Talley and her Hereford steer, named Bruce, the 4-H Livestock Club steer competition got off to a bad start.
Bruce had stage fright.
It had been a let-me-out-of-here ride from the farm to the Jubilee grounds. Bruce began trying to climb the horse trailer walls well before the vehicle backed up to the scales at the 4-H tent.
``We had to put him all the way in the back of the tent, because he's the wildest steer in the tent. He has a bad reputation,'' said Talley, adding that Bruce kicked her twice the day before.
Talley checked her palm for scribbled particulars about the cantankerous steer.
``He's classified as a select steer. That's the best grade. He weighed in at 1,128 pounds,'' she said. Since she acquired him in November, Bruce has gained 353 pounds.
But good victuals had not improved his disposition.
Nothing mollified the steer's savage spirit, not cool buckets of water, not the feedings, not a six-inch bed of peanut hulls, not the solitude of his own pen coupled with a good night's rest.
He was so rowdy that Talley couldn't get him into the show ring.
``I was hoping I'd get to show Bruce,'' said Talley, 17, a junior at Great Bridge High School. ``I had been working with him. But he just went down hill. It's very disappointing when you work with an animal and they turn out like that.''
A veteran of eight years as a member of the 4-H Club, Talley was not about to let Bruce spoil her day entirely. She arranged to borrow Jennifer Petry's steer and won a second-place ribbon in senior showmanship.
Later at the livestock sale, Talley was not able to coax Bruce into the auction ring, so she she was considerably relieved when a buyer was found for him.
A lot of work is involved in preparing an animal to show.
Noel, Talley's 220-pound, gray-and-white Simmental-cross hog, was spattered with mud and snoozing in her pen 45 minutes before show time.
With just enough time left to clean up, Talley sat a pail of food in the pen and went to work.
Noel smacked, rooted in the peanut hull ground cover, drank heartily from the automatic water spout, then rested her broad rump against the teenager's legs and continued to root. All the while, Talley hugged, scratched, bathed, powdered and repeatedly wiped spots from Noel's skin.
Then came the competition.
Noel, who, like all of Talley's animals, was named for a friend, placed fourth in the market class. And with Noel, Talley placed sixth in the showmanship class.
For several years, Nubian goats have been Talley's primary area of concentration. Since so few goats compete at the Jubilee, Talley said showing her goats is more like a display than a competition.
``If more people were interested in goats, it would be more like a regular show,'' Talley said. ``The state fairs are really the big thing for me.''
Although there were few contestants, Talley proudly showed several from her menagerie of 17 goats.
During a competition for dairy kids under 1 year old, Talley strolled into the ring holding her Nubian in her arms.
While the judge compared the goats, the little, brown animal with a paint-brush tail sucked Talley's finger, then chewed the sleeve of another 4-H member.
Talley was on hand when many of the 14 spring Nubians were born this spring, even those who entered the world in the middle of the night.
When she knows a birth is imminent, Talley tapes off the teats of the prospective mother. After the birth, she separates the newborn from the mother and takes on the job as primary caregiver herself. By weaning the infants, then bottle feeding them, Talley makes the initial and most important steps in the training process.
Later, she arranges for the animals to have plenty of human company, so they become accustomed to being around people. Her goats will follow her anywhere.
``There's just something special about those babies and the way that they `maaaaa,' '' she said.
At both the Virginia and North Carolina state fair competitions, Talley came away with numerous awards for her Nubians, including first place in goat cart racing at the Virginia State Fair.
During her eight years in 4-H, Talley, who is also a member of 4-H Rebel Riders, has competed in bare-back, western saddle, barrel racing, pole bending and flags.
Over the years, Talley has learned a lot about hard work, responsibility, commitment and even about business. Soon passers-by on New Land Road will see a sign announcing ``Newland Nubians'' and she has printed up business cards, too.
She's serious about her animals.
``When my buddies call and say, `Let's go off,' I just tell them I can't leave until 6:30 p.m.,'' she said. ``I have to milk the goats. I can leave after that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Katherine Talley prepares to show her hog at the 4-H Livestock
Show.
by CNB