There isn’t a livestock show kid out there who isn’t juggling a tough schedule with the needs of their animals. Most of those kids, however, didn’t have to do it while in the six-man football playoffs! Eighteen-year-old T.S. Bow of Happy, TX, however, did it successfully, winning the Swisher County Livestock Show with his lamb from Sherrill Club Lambs. “Balancing football, sheep, pigs, and academics was sometimes difficult. I worked really hard with my animals over the summer, so the training part was done when school started.” he explains, “But it still requires time and practice. Making such a deep playoff run in football was fun and rewarding, but it sure made working with my animals tough.”
Along with his football and livestock show success, T. S. stayed very active in his community. “I also play golf. I participate in 4-H consumer decision making. In FFA, I am on the farm business management team, ag mech marketplace team, tractor tech team, and compete in some LDEs and CDE. I am the co-president of student council. I am a member of our church youth council. I also help with the Happy Days Celebration, Wesley-Sims Memorial Roping, and the community Easter egg hunt.”
With so many demands on his time, T.S. credits his success to his “show family”. A family that started, of course, with his dad. “My dad is an agricultural sciences teacher and he taught me how to raise animals. I was checking animals with him before I could walk!” T.S. says. His older sister showed sheep and pigs, developing relationships with several breeders, so T.S. took after her and showed both species as well.
In addition to his dad and sister, T. S. mentions his “littles”. “Those are the youngest members of our show family.” he explains. “We all work hard together to ensure each other’s success.” He includes all the parents of his “littles” and his teachers and football coach in the show family that led to his win this year. “Thankfully they understand what goes into showing and push me to do well and work with me to help me stay caught up in school. Our community is blessed with the support of a great buyer’s club as well.”
This winning combination of community, family, and hard work includes a great nutrition program. “We fed 15% Grower and 18% Apex Enhancer because our breeder recommended it.” He says. “The feeds are of good quality. It really seemed to shape, fill, and help my sheep grow throughout the year. We have fed lots of other feeds throughout our family’s show career. We really liked our results from feeding Hi-Pro Feeds.”
T.S. says it’s all worth it when the hard work pays off at shows. “We have fun. We work hard so we can play hard. Our show family makes tons of memories together.”
As for his secret for success in the show ring? “You have to walk in that ring like you own it.” says T.S. “If you win, you win, and if you don’t, you go on to the next one.”
Hi-Pro Feeds is always proud to support enterprising youth in agriculture! For more information about our show feeds, click here.
