The county fair belles of the barn
Cowgirl Sass and Savvy

By Julie Carter

Every day, sometimes twice-a-day, the livestock barns at the county fair see a transformation that seems almost magical.

The ladies of the livestock pens transform from normal teens in a pig barn to bling-bling fashion queens headed to the show ring.

The full-house crowds that always gather around the show ring prior to the junior livestock shows at the fair are missing out on the real show that takes place in the barns in preparation for the competition.

While there are at least an equal number of male exhibitors, the transformation for them is less dramatic and more low maintenance, so for the purpose of this story, I'm telling the "girl" version.

A family testing period takes place for hours prior to "showtime." One or both parents of an exhibitor is up to their whatevers in suds and water getting a pig, who is not known for his hygiene, fluffed, buffed and show-sheened for competition.

All this happens while the sole proprietor of the pig is putting on makeup, spraying down loose strands of hair, giving a permanent set to ringlet ponytail curls with a color-coordinated ribbon and polishing up the rhinestones on her hoop earrings and belt.

A short time before this she was simply a normal teen in a T-shirt and jeans.

While the bling-bling princesses are parading the show ring looking like runway models from a rural setting, their moms try to watch from ringside.

They aren't hard to sort out from the crowd. They have a towel slung over one shoulder, wear high-top rubber boots, old jeans and a shirt splattered with water and other stuff not discussable and carry at least one, if not two, water spray bottles.

Tendrils of their hair fall around their flushed, makeup-less faces. Anxiousness keeps them on the move with a desire to watch the competition while knowing they have yet another hog to wash before the next class of competition.

Most of these moms were once show ring darlings themselves. Those few short years of moments in the spotlight at the county fair are a distant but poignant memory.

It is now what keeps them doing what they do - passing the torch to their sons and daughters knowing the experience is more than just fun, but a solid foundation for life-long attitudes and character traits.

While Dad is often the muscle, the coach and stoic competitive instructor, Mom is the organizer, the cheerleader, the motivator and of course, in charge of all lists for all things before, during and after the fair.

Somehow in the midst of the exhaustion from the preparation to get to the fair with all the necessities for providing for a family and critters for a week away from home, they maintain the ability to smile, and smile, and smile some more.

After all, it's County Fair week and by Saturday night there will be many who know they had a lot of fun - they will just have to rest up a couple weeks before they can recall just when it was they had fun.

And Belles of the Barn?

They start young, but the true queens are the moms who, year after year, give of themselves to raise another generation of kids who are not just about the beauty and the bling.

They know that what really counts is the beauty that comes from hard work, self-sacrifice and responsibility to other people and to their livestock.

Come to the fair and I promise, you will see what I mean.