Suzette Cook
They don’t call it a show for nothing.
While Newberry 4-H member Bryer Boyd, 8, was preparing her lionhead rabbit on Saturday with a checklist of what the judges are looking for, cattle were getting the hose, swine were getting soaped up and goats were under the blow dryers.
Boyd, a Newberry Elementary School (NES) student, said it’s all about cleaning the ears to make sure there are no mites, and making sure the eyes are clean. “And no cuts in the nose,” she said.
Her pen neighbor Ava Huff, also a student at NES, agreed and was fussing over her mini rex rabbit named Snoopy. “You brush him and clean his feet,” she said.
Jason Whitney, of Gainesville was scrubbing his 260-pound Hampshire swine.
“I use soap and a hand brush and then rinsed him off,” he said about sprucing up his fair contestant before the upcoming swine show.
Kherish McDaniel, 11, says his dairy goat remained calm and that’s why he just left the show ring with a blue ribbon.
The Alachua County Youth Fair and Livestock Show at the Alachua County Ag and Equestrian Center in Newberry is free to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony happening at 5:45 p.m.
Upcoming events include:
Saturday, March 6
12:00 – 2:00 PM Market GoatShow/Breeding Goat Show/Showmanship
2:00 PM Steer Show
3:00 PM Poultry Skill-A-Thon
5:15 PM Celebrity Show
5:45 PM Alachua County Ag & Equestrian Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
6:00 PM Swine Show
Sunday, March 7
10:00 AM Goat Skill-A-Thon
10:00 AM Poultry Showmanship
1:00 PM Beef Showmanship
6:00 PM Swine Showmanship
Monday, March 8
9:00 AM Livestock Judging Registration
9:30 AM Livestock Judging Competition
12:30 PM Cattleman’s Contest
1:30 PM Swine Sense
6:00 PM Beef Heifer/Bull/Mature Cow Show
Tuesday, March 9
11:30-12:45 PM Buyers Luncheon
1:00 PM Market Animal Sale
Click here for a complete schedule through Tuesday.