Paying it Forward

With your help and participation in our activities we are able to pay forward to this great industry with scholarships outlined below and with contributions to kids in AG in many counties across Texas. It is our honor to give back, it wouldnt happen without those folks that participate in our clinics and shows each year.

2024 Winners

Our Senior Showmanship Scholarship Award Winner is Kaylee Phelps! She is awesome and will receive a $1000 scholarship!

She kept us up to date all year on her journey by writing us each month and sending photos, and then she finished it off with this amazing essay!

Check out her essay

Summer Sanders, an Olympic gold medalist once said, “To be a champion, I think you have to see the big picture. It's not about winning and losing; it's about every day hard work and about thriving on a challenge. It's about embracing the pain that you'll experience at the end of a race and not being afraid.”

One cannot expect to be crowned a champion if they do not put in the daily effort. Champions are made through perseverance and strength. Even when the days get harder, one must continue to pursue their goals. This applies in the livestock industry because an animal cannot be expected to perform well if the time was never taken to prepare them. Animals do not become a champion on the day of the show but in the many weeks and months beforehand. Animals, like humans are athletes; they need time, effort, and training. They need YOU to be Hungry, Humble, and Smart.

My name is Kaylee Phelps, and I recently graduated from Floresville High School in Floresville, Texas. Throughout high school, I have maintained straight “A’s” and was ranked 5th out of 298 students in the class of 2024. Alongside my high school classes, I was enrolled in college courses and have my first 40 hours of college completed. I was a co-captain of my school’s cross-country and track teams as well as a member of the National Honor Society.

Outside of school, I participate in rodeos and was a very active member of the Wilson County 4-H where I competed in Livestock Quizbowl and livestock exhibition. I have upheld several officer positions including President and Vice President.

I was born and raised in the big city of San Antonio, Texas. I grew up not having much to do with agriculture until my 7th-grade year when my family and I moved down to the beautiful town of Sutherland Springs. I became involved with horses and rodeo. This opened so many doors for me to explore my newfound self, as I flourished and developed a new love for all things related to agriculture.

I started showing goats during my freshman year of high school. The road I took was never easy, as I constantly competed with my peers who had been showing for most of their lives. Oftentimes, this would drag me down. I would tell myself, “You will never be good enough to compete. You are just a beginner.”

I did not believe that I had any potential to be where I am today as both a showman and a person. Telling myself these things did not get me anywhere. I was stuck in a horrible place thinking that I was not in the running to win, but after much time, my mindset changed. I realized that if I was Hungry, Humble, and Smart, I could achieve all my goals; I could compete on the same level as my peers and become a champion. I could be great as long as I put the necessary work and more into my project animals.

During my sophomore year, I began to grasp the concept of showing goats and raising livestock. This created the drive and hunger for me to reach my goals. I had been doing well in showmanship, typically finishing within the top half of my division, but often fell short of winning. Before my Junior show season, I came up with my overarching goal: to find my special touch, so I could excel in the showmanship ring.

Visions of buckles and banners danced in my head each and every day as I raced home from school to take care of my show animals. I spent hours upon hours in the barn this year to make sure that everything was perfect, from carefully selecting feed rations, to making sure exercise goals were being met. The desire to find success was burning within me.

Soon, my family and I would take the drive up to San Angelo to buy my final wether for the season along with a doe I would take to the Texas Stars Wether Doe Show. The drive seemed to never end, as I was exhilarated to see my new purchases in person. About the time I was going to explode from excitement, we finally pulled into my breeder, Derrick’s, driveway.

I busted out of the truck like it was on fire. It was nearly impossible for me to contain all of the delight that I was experiencing. We then made our way to the pen where my new goats were staying. I was incredibly impressed with the wether, but not so much with the doe. She was not at all what I had expected. Hiding my disappointment was a challenge. I did not want to let my breeder see that I was not satisfied, so we loaded the goats and headed straight home.

On the way home, I thought, Derrick would not send me home with a goat that he didn’t believe in. This would change my point of view. I named the doe Colbie. There was always an option to ignore her because she was not my type or kind, but I chose to work with her because I wanted to do well. Every night, I would spend hours working with and training her hair along with washing and conditioning her every two days. Soon, Colbie began to look like a giant cotton ball with her luscious locks.

To my exasperation, hair training was the easiest part of raising Colbie. Once I began practicing showmanship with her, I realized that I had my work cut out for me. She was as defiant as they come. At this point, I knew I needed to find my unique touch if we wanted to succeed. She refused to walk and would duck out anytime I attempted to brace her. I began to work with Colbie for hours at a time on showmanship alone since I knew that the way I presented her could make a huge difference in how we placed.

After several weeks, Colbie began to get the hang of being a show goat. She was walking like she was on the red carpet and she braced like a true champion. I worked on my stature and “game face.” My newfound ring presence would make me stand out in a judge’s mind.

Then, the moment of truth came when I took Colbie to my county show. She behaved better than I could have imagined as we strutted through the ring with a champion mindset. I knew that I had put in the work for us to excel, I worked day in and day out to make sure everything was perfect, and it paid off. I like to think it was because of my showmanship. Perhaps Colbie hadn’t been the best animal out in the ring, but still we worked together to exhibit so well that we stuck in the minds of the judge and clawed our way to the top. All of the blood sweat and tears paid off in the end; Colbie and I received the Grand Champion Wether Doe handshake. But that wasn’t the end. I used Colbie for showmanship that day, and we proved that we could compete amongst the “big dogs.” Coblie and I worked together as a team to make my dream come true of winning Senior Showmanship. This made all my efforts worth it.

I was hungry. I had a drive to win that carried me past my lowest points and to the finish line. I knew I wanted to win Grand Champion Senior Showman at my county show. I practiced showmanship every night with all of my goats for months. I worked on finding my special touch to help me stand out amongst my competitors and this strategy began to work wonders for me. All the time and determination began to fall into place and I watched my efforts shine throughout the ring.

I was humble. I knew that winning was no easy task. My county show consists of many excellent showmen and some who coach clinics such as MJL5. I knew that I had a long road ahead of me if I wanted to excel in my county ring. I went through many losses that only made my drive stronger. I was fueled by the desire to succeed and to “Never Quit.” I knew I was surrounded by amazing showmen, but I was humble enough to ask for advice and receive critisisms when I was lost, and kept my head high through it all.

I was smart. I learned from others in the ring to see what helped them to stand out during showmanship. I recognized the improvements that I could make to help me succeed. I also began to help others; I helped teach beginners in my 4-H club the tips and tricks that I had learned while showing and the advice I received with others. One of the young men I helped even became the Resvere Grand Champion Junior Showman at his county show! I was smart and devoted my time not only to myself, but to others to help them develop a passion for the livestock industry.

After attending my first MJL5 clinic in 2021, I learned the power of being Hungry, Humble, and Smart. This motto has helped to carry me through my stock show career and motivate me to always do my best. I will continue to be guided by this phrase throughout the rest of my life.

Our MJL5 Showmanship Essay Contest Winner is:

Julie Lipka. Congratulations Julie on a job well done!!

Hungry, Humble, and Home Grown Hanko 2024

At the end of the 2023 season, I jumped off the deep end and decided to start breeding my own goats. I bought two bred does that both had big names behind them, and they were mothers to previous goats that were very successful. I was very excited to raise my own goats, but what I didn’t know is that it's a lot more difficult than you think. I took care of these does the best I knew how. They got abundant fresh water every day, clean pens with plenty of room, and good feed with the needed supplements. What I didn't know was that there is a fine-line of overfeeding and not feeding enough. I was very generous with feed, thinking that they would need a lot of feed so that they could grow their babies. As their due dates got closer, I began to worry more and more. Neither of the does had a very big frame, but one of them had a much bigger stomach than frame, Lemon. It came time for her to have babies, and I had never been a part of the birthing process. I didn’t know what to do so I called my mom and she hurried home from work, but it seemed like Lemon was having some trouble. We FaceTimed the lady we bought them from, and she tried to talk us through how we needed to help Lemon. I realized my mom and I weren’t going to get the babies out, and I said “why don’t we call papa?, I’m sure he’s helped a ton of cattle.” We called him and he tried to help, but we still couldn’t get them out. Finally, we took her to the vet. I knew by now it was already too late for the babies, and we were trying to save the momma. After what seemed like forever, the vet was able to get the babies out. There was a still-born boy and a girl. At this time momma was still alive, but in pretty rough condition. We brought her home and got her settled in, and she lived for a couple more hours. We came home and we thought she had died of trauma, but she did live longer than the vet expected. We milked the colostrum from her, and froze it so we could use it later if needed. Like I said, I’d never been a part of the breeding side of goats, and this was not the ideal first experience. I was very sad that my first attempt did not go well, and I told my mom that I never wanted to go through that again, but I still had another momma that was about to pop.

Luckily she was much larger framed, and even though I over fed her, she was still able to pull it off. Unassisted, she had two healthy baby boys. Their names were Hanko and Cuddles. Once again, the world had to slap us with some kind of problem. The weather was warm and sunny until the day after they were born. It got very cold, and it began to rain. We don’t have a proper barn that we could put them into, so we set up a wall tent and ran a generator to power a heat lamp because we don’t have power either. It definitely wasn’t the most glamorous or ideal setup but it worked. Cuddles, the smaller baby, was having some trouble figuring out how to nurse, and he became fairly weak. He also had very cloudy eyes and I thought he was going to be blind. Fortunately, we got him to start nursing, and his eye got better with treatment, but it took a while for it to get fully clear. 2-3 weeks after Hanko was born, we bought 3 does that had already kidded out and they all had twins. We now had 3 new baby girls, and five baby boys. These babies grew, and then it came time to wean, band, and start picking out which ones we are going to show and sell the rest. My sister and I ended up keeping the two boys that were born at our house, and kept all of the doe kids to add to our growing flock. There was also one boy left, and he went to my cousin to show at our county show. All the other goats we sold went to kids that lived in our county. All of these kids had never shown goats before some had shown other species, but not goats.

During the fall we held a small clinic at the county ag barn, and we hauled all those kids’ goats there, along with some of our own and we taught them how to clip for a show, worked with them on bracing, and helped them get their animals ready for a jackpot the next day. We hauled the animals to the show and helped them with getting to the ring, weighing in, and talked with them about what the judge is looking for. Helping these kids show was very fun, but it was sort of difficult to give my animals as much attention as they needed, but we got through it. We took these kids to a couple other jackpots and clinics before county. Then we took the kids to the school show and they were very excited for the county show. We helped haul them to the county show with all the tools they needed to be successful. I thought it was difficult at those jackpots we went to, only because I hadn’t taken the kids to the county show where I had all 4 does, 3 Southdown ewes, 4 wethers, and 3 market lambs, on top of all their livestock. There were a few other kids that didn’t buy goats from us, but we helped them learn the ropes of the barn too. I was so proud of all of these kids for getting out there and working hard with their goats.

Over the summer, I set a goal to win the Kerr County Intermediate Showmanship. I worked really hard, and it was a very difficult showdown against me and one of my show friends, but in the end I won showmanship. I had wanted this for a very long time, and I finally got it. I won showmanship with a goat named Dumpy. He was the first goat that I had ever bought at a live sale auction, and that sale was on my birthday. Dumpy went to the State Fair, but didn’t make the cut, so by the time he got to the county show he was kind of stale, but that didn’t affect his ability to show. I also got to show a goat that I raised myself for the first time ever. I took Hanko to many jackpots and he did really well at all of them. At county he was at the bottom of a really tough class, but he still ended up 4th. I was hoping for him to do much better, but it was good for me to be humbled so that I would continue to work really hard, and the victory would be that much sweeter. I took Hanko to District, and my showmanship abilities got another chance to shine here. I was one of the last people pulled in class, but I showed all the way up to 5th place. I was almost relieved that Hanko didn’t get a sale slot because he was my first ever baby, and he could shine again at Rodeo Austin. I knew all my hard work would pay off. At Austin we wouldn’t have been able to pull off the doe show, skillathon, and the market shows without the help of our show friends. A similar thing that happened at district, happened at Austin. Hanko was the second to last goat pulled, but we showed our way up to 9th. I got 9th place at RODEO AUSTIN! The other goaI I set for myself this season was to get a pull at a major, and not only did I get a pull, but I got a place, and it was with the first goat I’d ever raised from birth.

I had a very good show season, from achieving my goals, to fighting through the struggles of raising your own goats, and helping kids learn and grow in the livestock industry. I began the show season with a very hungry mindset, telling me to jump in head first and breed my own. Then I started showing these babies and I grew even hungrier. When they began performing very well, I got cocky and I just knew Hanko would win everywhere he went, but then I was humbled and reminded that I still needed to continue to work and strive for better. I was also smart because I wrote down my goals, and I knew what I needed to do to achieve them, and then I did it. I knew that I couldn't get lazy because that’s when you get passed over. I hit many walls this season, but I continued to persevere, and just kept showing. Every showman should always be Hungry, Humble, and Smart because the more they pursue these principles, the further they'll go on their journey.

Thanks for your time and consideration, always stay hungry, humble and smart.

Julie Lipka

Center Point 4-H

2019 Winner Brittney Haby

As a family we have one "WHY" and that is to serve by sharing and paying forward the blessings we recieve. Last year we were blessed to serve 65 families in our 2018 clinic and 80 entries in the next days goat show. It would not be possible without an awesome group of coaches, judges, and volunteers that helped us. It was an awesome turnout and experience for our first clinic. From this effort we were able to share blessings with over 20 families and kids in AG at various end of year auctions. In addition we funded our 1st MJL5 Scholarship at OConnor High School we had several applicants for that scholarship and I am proud to announce the winner Brittney Haby, we are beyond excited to be able to share our blessings with a true showman like Brittney and feel confident our country's future leadership will be better for having her in it!

Hungry, Humble, Smart Essay

“Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.” -Alan Armstrong.

I wanted this opening of my story because I feel as if it pertains to my life so well. I often have many people ask what it takes to show livestock…the short answer, determination, dedication, a passion to succeed, and the will to give it your all day in and day out.

My name is Haley Hancock, and I am currently a Sophomore at Benton High School in Benton, LA. This is my seventh year to be in 4-H. In the organization, I am not only dedicated to my livestock project, but am also involved in Junior Leader activities, planning committees, and hold/have held multiple officer positions. In the past, I have been involved in shooting sports, photography, and competitive art exhibits, but have given that up so that I can expand my leadership activities and livestock career. Outside of 4-H, I am an FFA member at Bossier Parish School for Technology and Innovative Learning (BPSTIL), an FCA member at my school, as well as also being a member at my church, Word of God ministries. In my spare time, I absolutely love to hunt and fish.

I began my show career 5 years ago with market goats, and now exhibit both market and breeding sheep and goats at the local, state, and national levels. Since then, my view of the industry has changed drastically!

When I first started, all I had on my mind was winning. I was so discouraged when I didn’t get the placing I had hoped for, and I let that ruin my whole show experience. As I have aged, my perspective has changed for the better.

In order to succeed, you must have the drive, the passion, and the mindset to be able to outwork everyone else. We are true believers that success comes from work at home, it is just awarded in the ring! From the moment I wake up, to the second I lay my head down in the evening, all I think about is how to improve and better myself in the ring. I spend hours talking to breeders and feed reps to gain more knowledge about my show stock and how to feed them to their max potential. I watch recordings of state and national shows to listen to critiques on showmanship to improve my showmanship skills, and classes to improve my livestock judging and sorting skills. For the 2021-2022 show season I wrote down a list of things I wanted to accomplish. They followed as, win Sheep Showmanship at the LA State Fair, make the Final Drive for market goat show at the LA State Fair, win a big showmanship title outside of the Ark-La-Tex, and win Supreme Showman at the LSU Livestock Show, with my never ending determination, I was able to successfully achieve all of those titles! I then took this method and applied it to my 4-H activities and school. This is how I used being “hungry”, to better myself, not only in the livestock industry, but in other activities as well!

Recently, I have started coaching and counseling at various livestock clinics. Since I have many youth’s and other peers’ attention, I strive to be the best version of myself! Every show I attend, whether it be a jackpot or state show, I watch many of the younger showmanship classes and younger showmen. Even if it is not asked, I like to give my input and help them perfect their showing ability. When I was younger, I knew I needed help, but I didn’t want to ask so I went without, and that’s why I try to help out when I see a showman struggling! It brings me much more joy to watch the youth I coach succeed, rather than myself succeed. This is how I used being “humble” to better myself and others around me, around the ring!

With being an only child, all of the livestock chores are completed solely by myself. I wake up every morning, even on the weekends, at 5 am and weigh feed, hay, and water all of the animals in the barn. Livestock work better when things are consistent, so I keep them on a tight schedule. After I come home from school and work, I grab something to eat and go outside to the barn to get started. I hand walk all of the showstring and run them on the treadmill or track if needed. Then I work on showmanship with each animal 15-30 mins a day, as well as work hair every other day. I am out in the barn way past dark almost every day and my stock is always fed before I eat. I work myself back to the house for dinner and to get ready for bed, then wake up the next morning and do it all over again. I am so grateful to have grown up in the industry, I truly believe if every kid was raised in 4-H and FFA, the world would not be what it is today. Thanks to livestock, I never have time to get caught up in all of the problems normal teenagers get themselves into. This is how I used livestock to better myself and become more “smart” this past year.

Growing up raising and showing sheep and goats has taught me the most valuable life lessons. While there are many fond memories of fun and success, there are also some not-so-pleasant instances that I often recall. I whole-heartedly believe that my involvement within the livestock industry has shaped me into the person who I am today. I have learned to get back up when I fall, try again when I fail, and put my best foot forward in all that I do. Our livestock teach us more than we may realize – both emotionally and physically. You learn to take your time and do things the right way. Putting half the effort into a job will always yield half of the intended results. You and your livestock are a team, and can be a winning team if you put forth the time and work. Our livestock may not always cooperate, but giving up will not get you any further in the race.

2021 Essay Contest Winner

Congratulations to Adysen Janacek she is the winner of our essay contest, she has won a complimentary entry to our Goat Showmanship Clinic, a $300 credit towards a goat purchase, and a cool MJL5 Hat.

Read her Essay below!

Hungry, Humble, and Smart

Well, how do you even start a story about showing during the 2020-2021 season? My show season runs from August until March. When I completed my second year of showing. I wasn’t even sure there would be the next year for me. There were so many uncertainties with COVID just coming out. I kept in contact with my breeder and took a leap of faith that I would get to show. I got my best goat to date, a little red wether I named Iceman. So, as you are reading this might be thinking, how does this fit into hungry, humble, and smart? I hope you are ready for this. Oh, hungry doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt this year. You see, this all started two years ago. I had lost at our county show to the same two boys in showmanship. I wanted to do everything in my power to overcome that losing streak. I attended many prospect shows but never won. I heard things from the judges like you are too small or too young, and you have many more years ahead of you. This created a fire, a HUNGER. I wanted to win showmanship. So, I began searching my mom's Facebook page for showmanship clinics that I heard other showmen talking about. I attended one in November that helped me get a better start, but it wasn’t the experience I was looking for. I stumbled across a clinic I thought would be too far of a drive. However, my parents agreed to take me not only to one of the clinics but two! During the clinic, I realized, while I was working hard already. I needed to push myself harder. I learned I must set a goal; then, I had to tell people my goal. The goal I set was to win junior showmanship at our county show. By telling people my goal, they began to watch me. This pushed me to be even better, to go get my goat and work him when others were not watching me. I knew my goal was going to be hard to achieve. As my competitors were working just as hard as I was. During these clinics, I also learned that I must be humble as a winner. My mom has always told me that I could not show off if I had won. I never really understood why until now. I learned that for me to win, the others had to lose! I had never thought about it that way before. You see, I was always on the losing side. No one ever came up to me, shook my hand, and said thank you for doing your best and pushing me to show better. I knew if I would ever win, I must shake not only the judge’s hand but the showers too because they pushed me to be better and to try hard. So, after the clinics were over, I began practicing what I was taught. The hunger to win was driving me each day. The closer the show got, the more I practiced. Iceman knew what I expected him to do, and it almost seemed natural for him. The day of the show was finally here. As I was making some final adjustments, a boy I would be showing against walked by and said, wow, I wish my goat would brace like that. Before I knew it, my mom said Adysen could help show you how. I thought to myself, why would my mom want me to help someone in my same class! But before I could even second guess myself, I had already taken his goat from him to see how it was bracing. It didn’t take long, and I had his goat bracing great. Then, I showed him how to put his hands, legs, body position and even worked on helping him lead better. I saw my mom smiling at me. She asked why did you go through all of that with him when all he wanted was to have him bracing better. I smiled back said I want to win, but I want to win because everyone showed the best they could. That meant I wanted to help make him better. It was finally time for our class to show. It was the largest showmanship class of the day. I had to stay smart and not focus on what everyone was doing. Iceman worked like a dream! I could tell the judge was having a hard time picking a winner. We did several laps around the ring before he shook MY hand. I had done it; I had met my goal! I wanted to scream. I was so happy. Then, I remember all those other showmen had just lost, and I remember what that felt like. To give it everything you had and to lose. While most walked out of the ring before I could tell them how good they did. I made sure I found them and thank them for showing as well as they did. You see, losing can make you better, well, at least it did for me. It also makes winning that much more special. You will always need hunger to push you. Humble to remind you what it feels like to lose and smart to better yourself and those around you.

Senior Showmanship Scholarship Winner 2021