No Man Stands Alone

I learned a long time ago that it is important to have someone backing you no matter what you were doing.  I learned a long time ago that the "team" behind you didn't have to be conventional to make everything worth while.  When I started showing we had people who helped us, I had older kids that I looked up to, but my parents taught me the value of hard work.  I now get to spend my spare time helping people getting into the cattle business.  I currently have four families that I have been spending the larger majority of my time with.  Four of the five kids are the same age (freshman) in high school, three girls one boy.  We have shown four shows with all of them one has attended six weekends and the fourth has attended five weekends.  Last Friday, on our weekend off the kids all wanted to practice, so instead of having individual sessions I decided to make it our own version of Friday night lights.  The better part of three hours we practiced, it was intense, but I saw something else growing.  These kids right before my eyes were developing my theory of no man stands alone.

They go to three different schools, they live in four different counties, and Saturday night they were having a sleep over to go to a school play.  They have created friendships that will help them survive the cruel world of high school.  They have someone to turn to when life gets them down. These kids are competitors, they are each others challenges in one breath and best friends in the next.  They have all experienced successes and failures, together.

I can't tell you where these kids will be ten years from now. I don't know what they will be when they get done with college, what their GPA will be. I can tell you that their studies come before practice. I can tell you that if they need help in other aspects of life or just a way to get away, they have that in this program. I can tell you that no matter where they will not be going there alone.

I didn't get to post yesterday, because I had three fabulous little girls at the farm for their first 4-H meeting as clover buds. These three little girls may never set foot in the show ring, that is their choice.  However, they are on the road to building their foundations away from home.  They have a long time before they leave, but they have a lot of backing todo what ever they want.
If you, or your kids are in a place that they need help or they are just starting out, and need guidance. Contact me, we build everything around the kids short term and long term goals, so we are never pushing them to a place where they are overwhelmed, but they are constantly being pushed.

Top Left: 4-H Club Cloverbuds learning to tie halters; Top Center: Abi, Taryn, & Bella checking out the baby donkeys; top right: Olivia (left) & Jake (second from left) lined up in their top ten finish at the Wilmington BEST show; center Olivia (second from the left) Abbigail (second from the right) in their top ten finishes at the Wilmington BEST Show; Bottom Center: Melissa (my mom) and Abi learning how to halter a "Calf"; Bottom Center: Curtis getting his pre-showmanship pep talk his first time in the ring with a lamb; Bottom Right: Brooklyn, Abi, & Bella brushing Brooklyn's heifer at the County Fair.