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Livestock Shows
Pursue The Ideal
The event some of us consider the headliner event of this week’s Rockbridge Regional Fair and Expo is the l ive s t o ck show. The fair offers a range of cool things to see and do (see https://www.rockbridgefairandexpo. org/) but arguably more energy and effort goes into our Rockbridge County Livestock Show Friday and Saturday than any other component of the fair.
Two primary types of livestock are shown at our fair, market livestock and breeding livestock.
The livestock show Friday, Sept. 13, is devoted primarily to showing young animals that will be evaluated on their capacity to yield lean saleable cuts of meat when they are slaughtered. The exception is the few dairy classes that will enter the ring on Friday and these animals will be evaluated on their suitability to produce milk. There will also be some showmanship classes where the animals are not evaluated but the young showmen are judged on their ability to show their animal to best advantage.
Friday evening will culminate with the sale of market animals. We are grateful for the many supporters of our young stockmen who have financially supported the program for many years. If you have never attended a live auction, Friday evening at 6:30 offers a great opportunity to gain a taste of the excitement and tradition that is our Rockbridge County Livestock Show.
The livestock show on Saturday is devoted primarily to breeding stock. The selection standards are different with the judge searching for the animal best suited to have an efficiently productive life, producing the type of market animals spectators will have seen the day before.
Other parts of the fair will afford attendees the chance to see poultry and other livestock bred for different purposes or that serve as “dual-purpose breeds,” producing meat, wool, and/or milk.
On each day of the show, the young showman and the judge are in search of the animal that most closely matches an ideal. Or as the Oxford English Dictionary defines ideal: “(a) standard that seems perfect, and worth trying to achieve or obtain.”
Make plans to spend some time at the livestock show either Friday or Saturday. I think you will see the true ideal on display are the young people themselves who in their striving and effort have come closer to being the ideal citizen stewards on which our community’s future depends.
The theme of this year’s Rockbridge Regional Fair is “Let the Good Times Grow,” and all the fair activities provide everyone, young and old, opportunities to grow and learn. Browse this year’s fair book and choose how you will participate in this great community tradition!
