Hard work is paying off for Keagan Jones as his lamb was named the Division Three Market Lamb Champion.
ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - If you start counting the number of sheep and lambs at the Allen County Fair, you will be in dreamland before you know it. But the kids that are showing them in the arena have a bigger dream in mind.
There is a lot of hard work that goes into raising the lambs, but for some of the kids, it's a lot of fun too.
"It shows dedication, hard work, and to stay committed, good things will happen. It teaches you basically life. If you work hard and good stuff will happen," says Keagan Jones, 2nd year showing lambs.
That is what Keagan Jones gets out of 4-H, and that hard work is paying off because his lamb was named the Division Three Market Lamb Champion. This is Jones's second year showing lambs, but he had to talk his dad into it.
"It shows dedication, hard work, and to stay committed, good things will happen. It teaches you basically life."
"I just wanted to do it. Watching them at the fair looks a lot more fun. I begged my dad; after years he finally gave in; now we are showing lambs," says Jones.
His family gets a handful of lambs each year, and Jones and his sister pick the ones that will make it to the fair arena. But once they get there, it's up to them to show the judge how good their pick is.
"So, we have to set them up, get them stretched out enough but not too much to make them all come together, and you get them to brace, and they are just flexing basically to make them harder."
"So, we have to set them up, get them stretched out enough but not too much to make them all come together, and you get them to brace, and they are just flexing basically to make them harder," adds Jones. "He's structurally sound; he has big legs, good look, touches great, big back, big muscled. Just a sound lamb."
There is a lot of hard work that goes into raising the lambs, but for some of the kids, it's a lot of fun too.
"I just like lambs. I feel like you can have a really strong relationship with them. I feel like they are the most easiest maybe," says Aria Moorman, 1st year showing lambs.
