Showman of Showmen

It takes an incredible amount of courage to enter a show ring and put not only your animal, but also yourself up for judging. Each year, a large number of youth flock to the 4 County Fairgrounds in Dunlap, Iowa to try their chance to impress the judge and win an award. These youth have invested countless hours during the year caring for their animals and practicing, all to prepare for the fair season. Caring for show animals helps teach many important life lessons and judging day is no different. This year’s showman at the 4 County Fair gave a great show and really set the bar high. A showmanship award was awarded to youth for each species of animal that was shown. Of those who received showmanship awards, the top for each species had the chance to compete to be the showman of showmen. For this competition not only did these young showmen have to show the species of animal that they are used to but also all the other species of animal at the fair. The species in the competition were rabbits, chickens, cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats. Each showman gave it their all with Mabel Langel winning Champion and Brylie Anderson winning Reserve Champion. In order to win this honor these competitors had to show that they had knowledge of all the species and were able to connect with the judges while showing. All in all, this was a great opportunity for youth to step out of their comfort zone and show all the talent they possess in the show ring.