My Experience with Hillsborough County Fair

October 12. 2021

By: Caitlin Ferrell, 2021-2022 Steinbrenner FFA Student Advisor

At this year's Hillsborough County Fair I was given the opportunity to to show a chapter hog. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Steinbrenner FFA chapter funds different animal projects for students who are eager to live and learn a new project but would be unable to afford that experience on their own. For me, I have been in FFA for 5 years going on 6 and I have shown the same animal because it was affordable for me. I have shown alpacas since 8th grade and as much fun as it is running over jumps with them and taking them through hoops, I had exhausted that project and gotten as much as I could from it. Ms. Morrison caught wind of my interest in doing a new project and approached me about doing a chapter pig. We went and got a 65lb crossed barrow(castrated male) a few weeks later and I will forever be thankful for all of the experiences I was about to encounter and learn from.

Setting a twice a day schedule for going down to the land lab was new to me, taking complete care of this animal and getting it ready for show was new to me, not using a halter or lead but using a little whip to drive this hog around was new to me. This was all so exciting though, I knew I had so much to learn. Having an animal on the land lab teaches you great responsibility, budgeting, marketing, how to be a great showman, how to show your animal off to the best of your ability, organization, teamwork, and so many more. I was so thankful to be a part of that team on the land lab and to start working with this chapters barrow, who we named Bubba.

In a little over three and a half months later we were ready for Hillsborough County Fair. Bubba came in at a whopping 245lbs and after a nice bath, the first thing he did was burry his face in white sand and he was settled in for the weekend. The following day, hours before the show, I was shown by Megan Dempsey how to really get a pig looking good before going into the ring. Megan had her own pig at county fair and she shared her experiences and everything she had learned to mold me into a very knowledgeable and ready first time pig exhibitor. I couldn’t have done it without her that weekend. Going into the ring the first time was definitely something I’ll remember forever. The intensity in the ring, practically being able to hear your own heart beating as at least 8 other pigs are being driven between you and the judge competing for the judges attention, trying to drive your pig while making intense eye contact with the judge and being aware of the showman around you. Knowing I had my advisors and fellow FFA members there watching and supporting me is what calmed my heart rate and allowed me to focus on what all I

had to do. Bubba ended up placing 7th in his weight class. The next time in the ring was auction time. Driving an animal towards a crowd of buyers with a smile on my face was difficult because this was my first terminal project but he very quickly sold and I was happy to make my chapter money off of him. Saying goodbye was hard but it was an important thing for me to experience because I want to run my own ranch someday and even though it can be hard to say goodbye, that’s part of the business.

I am so grateful to Steinbrenner FFA for allowing me that opportunity. I would have never been able to do that on my own and this opened up new doors for me...