“Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you’ll go.”
You have seen us. Gathered around the show ring, leaning against the fence. The has-beens. We may be teaching our own students the skills taught to us years ago. We may be toting around our children, holding halters and reminding them to have fun. We may be helping run the show, wanting the same experiences for youth that we had. We may just be there as spectators or in the ring as open exhibitors. Either way it comes, we are around...and those straight backs and intense stares at the judge used to be us.
Just remember, one day we will all be there. We may have traded our Rockies for trouser jeans and our Fatbaby’s for Twisted Xs, but we endure. Not only do we endure, but with years in this industry comes knowledge. Knowledge and experience that can neither be imitated nor replaced. Many very late nights and very early mornings spent with family and people that became family. Losses that were hard to handle and wins that were hard fought for. Similar to the postal service, rain, snow, sleet, or hail (and I would add heat or cold), we were there. There is a quote that says “hard work sometimes brings wins but it always builds character” and BOY are some of us characters! These years...these experiences...have not only taught us, but shaped us. And now, we take that wisdom and share it with others.
I have realized that, in a world where the next new and shiny thing is just around the corner, there is a lot to be said about the fundamentals. After all, nothing (figuratively or literally) can be built well without a foundation. So many things in the almost 20 years I have been showing go back to the things I was taught first starting out, in my Mamaw’s back yard with special black baldy heifer. I can contribute many things in my life to love fostered in the dirt of a show ring.
So, when you see us coaching from the sidelines, just let us. When we tell you about how things were or the reasons things are easier now, don’t just roll your eyes. When we give you advice, even if it is unsolicited, give us a listening ear. You may not take it, but take some consideration and remember where it is coming from. It is coming from a place of caring and probably nostalgia. We remember when we were where you are, and we care about what comes after us, and the industry we love. In short, we know a thing or two. Don’t shrug off experience. We hold onto certain things for a reason, as more people should. We have earned out spot on the fence or in the ring beside you, and hopefully, with that, earned some respect as well.
I have always enjoyed listening to others tell tales about their lives, but over the years, I have increasingly appreciated stories that my parents and my grandparents have told me. I also appreciate that now I have some of my own that I can tell to people. I sometimes preface it with the familiar “I know I have told this story before but I am going to tell it again” that I have heard my family say as they tell “that story” yet again. I don’t stop them. I listen again, even if I don’t catch anything new, because there is importance in those experiences.
Every person in that show ring, new or seasoned, junior or open, had someone they watched when they were first starting out. They had a person or people that supported them and helped them along. They had a “has-been” that offered them advice that they still use. Not everything has to change SO MUCH over time.
So...
The open show exhibitor that’s at least 10 years older than you.
The one holding the halter.
The one cocking their finger telling someone in the ring to loin their calf.
The one leaning on the rails.
The parent.
The teacher.
The judge.
The breeder.
The person in the stands marking the placing in every class in the show program.
Pay attention. Watch. Learn. Listen. Show respect. And never forget that we have been there.
