From Katie

I’m Katie Lacey and I live in Independence, CA. I live on a cattle and horse ranch and I love to show 4-H animals. Just recently I went to Western Bonanza, to show animals and it was so much fun. The reason why I love showing and raising animals is because they are fun to name and work with. I show rabbits, pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses. I love my 4-H animals! Taking care of them, showing, and seeing how they turn out is the best.

I have a heifer named Jane, a Black Angus and she is wonderful and I have learned so much about cattle and from her. She is the family pet and a great heifer I got her in October she weighed about 550 pounds and now she is weighing about 1,100 pounds.

Then I have my swine project. Last year at the end of the fair the FFA teacher in Bishop took my 4-H market pig to use as a breeding sow. Now she is one of the two pigs on the farm to have babies. She was my second Hampshire pig they are my favorite breed of hog, she had nine babies and is a great mom. This year again I will be getting two pigs a Hampshire and a Yorkshire/Hampshire cross called a Blue Butt. Also my sister’s pig got to go to Bishop to be a breeding sow, with a 4-H leader Robin. Her pig had thirteen babies and is another great mom. I love pigs they are so funny and entertaining.

I also show and raise sheep; I have four ewes that had lambs this year Nicole, Terra, Nutmeg, and Tinkerbelle. All of them had twins but Nutmeg, this is her third year having triplets. I have a bummer lamb his name is Zeus and he is the cutest thing, he’s like a dog I swear. The lambs are fun to take care of, but the most fun is taking them to fair.

I do two types of rabbit showing. Meat pen where you show them and then sell them, I won Grand Champion last year, and it was so cool! I show Californians for that. Then there is showing where you just show in the breed of rabbits. For this I have Duchess, she is a black and white Dutch and I also have Seymour, a Minnie Rex, and I just show them. With the breeding rabbits unfortunately I have all the boys in the family for breeding and Molly has all the girls. I have Midnight, Master, and Bud and all of them are Minnie Rexes except Bud is a Californian. The babies are funny and kind of cute when they are born but showing, especially showmanship, is really what I enjoy.

Last but not least are horses I don’t actually show horses. But I do take trail rides, barrel race, help on the ranch, and jump English. For all but one of these I use Lena a wonderful Quarter Horse mare that we raised. She is bay and I love her, she is the best, but she is not fast so she is more a Western Pleasure/English horse. Then there is Frito another Quarter horse bay mare that we raised and she is as fast as lightning so I barrel race on her - she is great! I love my horses to death and we are unstoppable.

I have now told you about all my projects. My wonderful heifer Jane, the start of my herd. Also my breeding pig Zorra a great mom and soon my new pigs. And the crazy sheep including my breeding sheep and my market lambs. And the trillions of rabbits I have. Then my wonderful horses Lena and Frito. I love all my projects and will work very hard this year- stay tuned to see how the show goes.

From Molly

I’m Molly Lacey I live in Independence, California and I live on a ranch. The ranch life is really fun I like working with my horse Frito she is the best. We do mountain trail rides, barrel racing, and shows. I enjoy photography especially taking photos on the ranch I get a lot of great pictures of the cattle, horses, and the Owens Valley. March-July its really busy for my family, not only are we branding and shipping cattle, but I am raising rabbits and hogs for the Bishop Tri County Fair. In March my sister Katie and I bred our four Californian does to the bucks for the rabbit meat pens.

In April Katie and I got our hogs for the livestock show. My pig from 2009 had babies so I got one from the sow Bella and I named her Quincy. Then I got my other pig from a friend of ours and it came from South Dakota. I like showing pigs because they are really fun and they are easy to take care of. In April my mom sold her lambs to the 4-H and FFA kids to take to the fair. I like showing lambs, but they are a little too hard for me to hold onto. My sister shows sheep way more than I do, but I like seeing the babies grow up. So my life is mainly around the ranch, my school work, and now being a cheerleader. I love helping on the ranch and where I live, the Owens Valley is a beautiful place. I will keep you posted about my projects and how my last 4-H year goes; I can’t wait to join FFA next year when I go to high school.