Girls rule the show

Awareness. Knowledge. Poise.
They are some of the traits typically shared among supreme showmanship competitors.
This year, the finalists at the Jay County 4-H Fair have something else in common.
They’re all girls.
Ranging in age from 13 to 18, the girls took control of the Show Arena on Thursday afternoon at Jay County Fairgrounds while the boys watched from the bleachers.
“I think it’s cool because, well, girl power,” said Lizzy Schoenlein, one of eight competitors in large animal supreme showmanship. “It was just fun.”
Schoenlein, who won advanced showmanship for beef, joined Eden Basford (meat goats), Taylor Campbell (sheep), Deanna Chenoweth (swine), Carissa Mercer (dairy), Kyndal Miller (dairy goats), Lyla Muhlenkamp (dairy beef) and Sarah Schwieterman (horse) in the large animal competition. Schwieterman (cats) had a busy afternoon as she also was in the small animal event with Maddison Baughn (dogs), Asilyn Davis (poultry) and ShyAnn Harker (rabbits).
“I think it’s great,” said Joni (Collins) Linville, who won the small animal trophy in 2004 and was the judge for the poultry portion of the competition Thursday. “I know all these girls. I’m so proud of them. They work so hard.”
“It’s amazingly wonderful,” added horse showmanship judge Susan Elliott. “It’s called cowgirl power, and it will survive.”

Supreme showmanship is a challenge because some of the competitors are showing a species for the first time. They have to know how do display the animals for the judges, which is different for each, and answer questions when asked.
And Thursday’s competition had a few curveballs as well.
Because of the poultry ban caused by avian flu, those in the small animal event instead had to talk through the steps of how to properly show a bird and then answer questions from Collins. With this week’s rain wreaking havoc in the Horse Arena, large animal finalists instead had to show horses in the unfamiliar and cramped Show Arena.
“It was a very tough situation,” said Elliott. “It was a great group of ladies. I really can’t say enough about it in these conditions.”
Staying collected, regardless of the conditions, is one of the keys to being a good showman. Ridgeville’s Jon Winner, who judged the beef and dairy beef portions of the competition along with his wife Kim, said girls tend to be more patient with their animals.
Jay County’s finalists all agreed with that assessment.
“You have to stay calm,” said Schoenlein. “A lot of times we talk to them. It sounds weird to talk to an animal, but you really do. And they get used to your voice. And if you just stay calm, they’ll calm down.”
The groups of girls also displayed a level of camaraderie they said they haven’t seen in previous years.
On Wednesday evening, Schoenlein, Miller, Chenoweth, Mercer and Basford were in the Show Arena, sharing tips on how to work with each type of animal. At times, all of the competitors in each division were practicing together.
“Sometimes it can be a little competitive,” said Schwieterman, who was competing for the third time in the small animal division and second in the large animal, “but most people like to help each other out.”
That atmosphere of helpfulness paid off for Miller, who won the large animal supreme showmanship trophy.
“I knew nothing about a dairy cow,” she said. “And Carissa Mercer, she talked a lot to us about it. It was awesome.”
Her win put the large animal showmanship trophy back in a girl’s hands after Hunter Prescott won last year. And Schwieterman continued a streak of girls winning the small animal trophy following Kylie Osborne from 2014.
Lauren Evans and Jamie Valentine swept the trophies for the girls in 2013.
Though Schwieterman said she would have liked to have boys involved Thursday in order to be able to beat them, the group of 11 girls agreed they liked the female domination of the arena Thursday.
“I think that’s really awesome, because girls can show anything,” said Campbell, a 10-year 4-H member who earned her spot in Thursday’s competition by winning advanced showmanship at Monday’s sheep show. “Because people always think guys can do better at showing the big cows and stuff, but to have all the girls in there doing just as well as any guy would, it’s kind of awesome.”
Or, put more directly: “Girls rule,” said Basford, “and boys drool.”