"Peachy keen, Jellybean."
My first show heifer was a black baldy, hand-picked by my family and I and gifted to me by my grandparents. I named her "Domino" and she was everything a first show heifer should be. Today, her legacy lives on in our herd, bits of her sprinkled in our herd in ways I am so proud of. Domino not only quickly became the matriarch of our herd, but was known county-wide. The school FFA teacher at the time is a long-time very close family friend, and was instrumental in getting me started in showing. He not-so-subtly suggested that I walk Domino for about half an hour every day, which I took seriously. At the time, we did not have a barn at our house and were keeping her at my grandparents' house in town, meaning Domino's daily walks took place on the city block, as to not disturb the other cows in the pasture and to provide us with a consistent route. As Domino lumbered around the block day after day, afternoon after afternoon, the sight of us became pretty popul...