Prewitt teen rocks N.M. fair DOWN TO STORY

Courtney Spencer of Prewitt holds one of her lambs during judging at the Bi-County Fair in August. Spencer, who did well at the fair, also had success at the New Mexico State Fair.— © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

PREWITT — Thirteen-year-old Courtney Spencer continued her winning streak from the Cibola-McKinley Bi-County Fair with two first place wins at the New Mexico State Fair last week.

Spencer won a first place with one of the two lambs she entered, and the top prize in showmanship as well.
The competitiveness Spencer showed at the Bi-County Fair also continued at the state fair: “In my mind I should have gotten grand champion and done better with my second lamb,” she said.

She won a silver buckle for showmanship in the lamb category.

At the Bi-County Fair, Spencer took grand champion for one of her two steers, grand champion for a breeding ewe, reserve grand champion for a lamb, showmanship for a steer and a pig, a third place for a pig and a fourth place for her second steer.

At the annual Bi-County Fair sale, she earned about $7,500 for her sale animals.

At the state fair, she earned $1,500 for her first place lamb.
“There is no question that going to lamb school last summer paid off. She learned how to work with her lambs and do better in showmanship at that school,” Lynda Spencer, Courtney’s mom said.

“It carried over,” Courtney said.

“What I learned about showmanship with the lambs helped me with the pigs and steers too,” she said.

Spencer has plans now to take her last two lambs and compete either in Phoenix in December or Denver in January.

Not too close

She said the animals that did not make the sale at the Bi-County Fair were sold or butchered for meat for the Spencers.

“The first year I had animals I got too close to them,” she said.

She is now in her fourth year as a 4-H Club member and a wily veteran.

“I loved my pig, I laid on his back until the meat truck pulled up and I watched him all the way,” she said. “It was really hard on me, I just didn’t think about these animals being eaten.

“Now, I play with them, I work with them, but I don’t get too close, it’s too emotional for me if I do.”

There were hundreds of 4-H’ers entered in several classes and in one, Spencer had to compete against 80 other kids.
“That was different than competing against three, like the Bi-County Fair,” she said.

Hard work

“We’re really proud of Courtney and he hard work she has put in working with her animals this past year,” Lynda Spencer said.

“Because of the prices of everything going up, we will probably have less animals this next year though,” she said.
“The money Courtney has earned, she has to budget to buy new animals and pay for the feed.

“A good steer costs between $2,000 to $3,000 to buy and pigs costs about $300-$500,” she said.

Feed comes in 50 pound bags and costs $15-$20 a bag. The pigs eat one bag every two days or so and the steers eat one bag a day, each.

“Some of those people at the state fair pay $20,000 for a steer to compete. We just don’t have that kind of money,” she said.

In all however, Spencer said she is really happy with the results of her efforts at the two fairs, though she feels strongly she should have done better at the state fair.

Lynda Spencer may have said it best: “I am really happy for her, she really took it upon herself to go out and work with the animals this past year. I didn’t have to get after her to put on her boots and go to the barn every day, she did it herself.”

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.