All are winners at the San Luis Valley Fair

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By Ruthanne Johnson
MONTE VISTA— This year marked the 116th annual San Luis Valley Fair, and the competition held Aug. 4 through 11 at the Ski Hi Complex produced plenty of winners. There was Amy Kelling, Grand Champion in the market goat program and Lauren Canty, who won Market Swine Reserve Champion with her sweet hog, “Miss Piggy.” There was also young Kaden Cary, who placed first in the market beef division; Isabella Lucero with her Grand Champion gobbler and Durae Naranjo, who won both grand and reserve champion with her two rabbits.
But even if the kids didn’t win a prize, they all came away winners in one way or another.  
The San Luis Valley Fair includes animal and non-animal competitions of all kinds for kids ages eight to 18 who participate in 4-H and Future Farmers of America. Competitors converged from six counties to compete against each other: Rio Grande, Alamosa, Saguache, Costilla, Conejos and Mineral. Besides animal competitions, the fair includes contests in everything from table setting to cupcake decorating, canning, sewing, woodworking and photography. “It’s a very family-oriented event and fun for everyone,” said Swine Superintendent Heather Tillman. “There are just so many interesting things going on.”
Competitor Garrett Horning has been participating in 4-H since he was about 12 years old. Now 18 years old and part of FFA, Horning won this year’s SLV Fair Reserve Champion for his rust-colored, Maine-Anjou crossbred steer. In previous years, his animals have won titles at regional and state fairs.  
Feed, grooming and handling are important when cultivating a winner, said Horning, who for months spends more than two hours every morning preparing his animals for competition. “I typically get up at 5 a.m. to rinse and blow them dry. I apply different kinds of oils and hair-growth lotion to help with the coat,” he said. “I walk them and work them, and once I feed them they gentle down. Most times, they love to be brushed and blow dried.” As the competition draws near, the calves are kept inside a barn during the day to stimulate hair growth and let out into their pens to feed at night.  
“They do all of this to get the animals looking the best possible they can look,” said Michael Lobato with Window Sash Ranch out of Center. Lobato sells calves to FFA and 4-H competitors all over the country and sold Horning two of his winners.
The event culminates in a market auction on the fair’s last day. But long before market closes, as the kids are raising their animals, they work to cultivate relationships with local businesses and individuals as potential market buyers. “That’s real important, and some kids are better than others,” Lobato said. “It takes work. A lot of kids will take a plate of cookies to past buyers and give them complimentary tickets to the barbeque prior to the sale.”  
Working with animals and participating in FFA has helped Horning break out of his shell. “I used to be pretty shy,” he said. “But 4-H and FFA helped with that. When I go to competitions and leadership conferences, I get to meet a lot of new people. I talk to them and that helps, and then practicing skills like showing my animals.”
Time spent caring for his animals and cultivating their trust has given Horning a special appreciation for the task of showing and selling them at market. After being sold at fair, his steer went on a truck directly to the slaughterhouse. “They take them that night. That’s just the way it is, and that’s what you raise them for,” he said. “I try not to get too attached. But it’s difficult to let them go sometimes, especially when they win.”
Horning’s steer brought a hefty $4,200, which he’s saving as seed money for his future ranch. “I’d like to buy 160 acres to start with in the Valley,” he said.  
Participating in 4-H and FFA has helped Horning in other ways. “I’ve learned a lot of responsibility caring for animals. I think it’s made me a better person,” he said, “and it’s given me a greater appreciation for the animals.”
Lobato’s son and daughter both received full scholarships to Colorado State University in Fort Collins thanks to their experience in 4-H. “What my kids learned— leadership ability, work ethic, caring for animals, public speaking— these are the things that colleges are looking for,” Lobato said.
The Tipsword family, living south of Saguache, enrolled in 4-H after moving from Davenport, Iowa last year, where they lived in a hub of city folk just off a major highway. “The kids were always playing video games,” said their mom Wanetta Tipsword. “They couldn’t really go outside very much because I was always worried what might happen.”
Tipsword describes her four adopted children— Emily, Alyssa, Westlea and Gabriel—as special needs children because of past traumas. “All of my kids come with their own special needs— like anger explosion disorder, PTSD, autism, emotional trauma— from before we adopted them,” she said.
Working with animals has helped bring calmness, balance and more confidence into their lives, Tipsword said. Each of the kids competed with their dogs (two of whom were brought from Davenport) in the fair’s dog show, and Alyssa even won Grand Champion. They also competed chickens, ducks, goats and turkeys---which they raised since moving to the Valley. “My youngest one, eight-year-old Westlea, his goats are like his therapy animals. He goes in the backyard and snuggles up with his goats and brushes them and walks them.”  
Animals other than dogs are something new for the Tipsword family. “All the 4-H leaders have been great about helping to make sure we know what we need to know and supporting us through everything,” said Tipsword. “One of our 4-H leaders is helping the kids with horse lessons. Another leader helped us find goats.” The 4-H community also rallied when the family’s tack barn burned down, bringing them halters, saddles and other items necessary to keep working with their animals.
To ready their goats and dogs for competition, Tipsword’s dad built an obstacle course in the front yard to practice with the dogs and a ring in the back pasture to walk the goats. “The kids dove right into it,” she said. Westlea’s favorite project, because of his autism, has been the animal crackers game, which is an animal trivia to help teach about things like animal care tips and the different breeds of goats, ducks and chickens.
In the end, Emily, 16, won grand champion in showmanship with her goat, Rumor Has It. Westlea won overall breed winner for one of his ducks, Quackers. Alyssa, 16, won grand champion in the dog show and Gabriel, 10, won grand champion in showmanship for one of his three goats.
Most of the animals they competed went back home with the kids. “Westlea got to keep his turkey, Rosemary and Emily kept her champion goat. “I love her personality,” said Emily. “She’s calm and loves to give kisses.”
Tipsword said her kids are already talking about next year’s fair. “They want to show chickens, and Emily wants to add rabbits.”
Since moving to the Valley, the kids have been 50/50 about returning to the city. “But after the fair they said, ‘No, we don’t want to go back,’” Tipsword said.


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