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Photo by Rebecca Long Chaney
Whitney Wastler of Middletown prepares her crossbred steer for the 4-H beef fitting and showing competition held on Monday. |
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Many Frederick County 4-H'ers are looking forward to Thursday night's livestock sale when their prized beef steers, lambs and pigs will go to the highest bidder. But other kids dread the evening; they know their animals' fate is a processing facility. Whitney Wastler of Middletown loves her cows, but is philosophical. "It's all part of raising market animals for the fair," she said. "You get attached, but understand that they must be sold." Whitney, 12, described exhibiting her crossbred steer Monday in the 4-H beef fitting and showing competition. "First we spend 15 minutes fitting our steers and a judge watches us. Then we compete in the show ring. We're judged on how good the animal looks and how they behave. The judge may ask me some questions, too." The Middletown Valley Youth 4-H Club member has shown her steers at the fair for four years. "Fitting and showing helps you learn more about your project," she said. "I've improved a lot because of showmanship and each year I get better. When family and friends come to watch, she said, the competition becomes a social event. Whitney said her interest started young, when she saw her cousins, Nina and Nick Bidle, show steers. "They got me into cows. I fell in love with cows probably when I was just one year old." A 7th grader at Middletown Middle School, Whitney said raising animals is hard work but worth it. "My brother and parents help me a lot," she said. "Mom feeds in the morning for me while I go to school. When I get home, I do evening chores." Whitney's goal is to have the grand champion steer at the fair. "I've had class winners lots of times, but no champion yet," she said. "I've been in the run for champion and that's always exciting." She is exhibiting three crossbred steers at the fair and is eligible to sell one in the livestock sale. Two weeks later, she'll get her steers for the 2008 Great Frederick Fair. "Raising steers is a year-round project," she said. Caring for livestock on her parents' 40-acre farm has inspired Whitney's career dreams. "I want to be a farmer and study to be a veterinarian."
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