AUSTIN, Minn. — Keagan Echard and her brother, Ty, may not yet be old enough to show at the North Central Regional Simmental Classic, but the duo have a knowledge of cattle that belies their ages.
Keagan, who turned 8 on May 30, will begin showing in junior Simmental shows next year. Ty, 7, will have to wait two more years. Youth must be 8 years old as of Jan. 1 of a given year to begin showing.
Their older sister, Jessica Kramer, will end her showing career as Keagan begins hers. Kramer's cow-calf pair Brant/EKRD Sweet Clover and EKRD/Brant Valentino won Grand Champion Percentage Cow/Calf on Thursday.
The siblings, children of Amy and Nick Echard, of Farmersburg, Iowa, said they were having fun camping and hanging with friends at the Simmental show. There were 40-some campers on the grounds. They had a scare on Wednesday late afternoon into evening when heavy rain and high winds rolled through. They sought shelter in the Crane Pavilion and waited out the storm. The skies cleared by 8 p.m.
The Simmental breed association has a novice program geared to young people such as Keagan and Ty who are eager to participate, yet too young to qualify.
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They have lots of activities and learn lots of stuff, Ty said.
It's the same stuff the older kids do, but easier, Keagan said.
For example, during the sales talk, the novices brought in a picture of a Simmental and talked to their novice teacher in an attempt to convince the teacher to buy their animal. The older youth give a sales talk to a judge, answering questions as if they're talking to someone interesting in buying the animal.
Sometimes, they talk to a judge as they did in Kentucky last year at the Junior Nationals, Keagan said.
At the North Central event, they completed a Cattleman's Quiz and had a couple more events before the show wrapped up Friday evening, including a session on animal care.
The duo also helped wash and dry the four animals their sister brought. They are used to animals, they explained, because in addition to cattle, they have horses, pigs, dogs and cats at home.
