Wooly Mammoth Wins State Fair Ribbon

I love the State Fair. Always have. As a little kid, I used to hit the pavement early in the morning with my pack of cousins and end the day by crawling through the sawdust of the Penny Arcade well after dark. During those years the Ag buildings were a distant curiosity, the draft horses huge and intimidating and sheep still part of a nursery rhyme in dreamland. The bright lights of the Midway and the Fun House mirrors were the draw back then.


But not this year. Now firmly in my 'middle-age' (sounds as expansive as Middle Earth) and running our sheep farm, the State Fair has taken on a delicious new flavor. Now I wander through the cow, horse and poultry barns with great admiration. And it was in the sheep barn five years ago, that we first met our breeder and mentor Scott Crawford. Scott was showing his Crawford Rambouillets and his back pocket was overflowing with ribbons. We were embarking on this journey then and I am so grateful we jumped on the wagon.


This year, with Scott's sturdy support, we entered 2 of our own rams. The first was a yearling favorite named Mo, who was born during our daughter's wedding last June. Mo was a bottle feeder we all came to love and he took a respectable fourth place ribbon in his category. But the most exciting was our spring ram, Wooly Mammoth, the biggest and most handsome ram we have ever lambed. He began growing his horns almost immediately after birth and just outgrew every other lamb in our flock. So, with a few rush charges at the American Rambouillet Sheep Breeders Association we completed his paperwork and he became the first Mackenzie Fields entry into this year's Minnesota State Fair Competition!


After 3 years of helping Scott show his sheep, our two kids have a healthy understanding of how to set the feet of an animal properly, how to protect sheep from the eager hands of fair-goers and how not to let a sheep escape from the show ring. This year was especially fun because the kids had grandparents and friends in the stands cheering them on as they shepherded their babies in. Very appreciated at 8:30 in the morning, especially since they came bearing sugar-covered mini-donuts!

But seeing little Wooly Mammoth ushered into the second place spot was the highlight of the fair for me. He didn't know what was happening to him, but the rest of us were proud to see the judges recognize what we already knew. He was a special boy and headed for a great future. That and watching my youngest daughter 'living large' in her cowboy boots with ribbons hanging out her back pocket and one special one hanging off her ponytail as she swaggered up to the Milk Booth for a tall cold one.