The 2024 HFFCF Fair

There is a whole additional level of commitment with sheep compared to last year’s rabbit project. Not just the amount of time one has with the animals – four months instead of six weeks – but the final stages of prepping the girls for showing was a real (fun) eye opener. Our breeder arrived earlier this week to help Max with the final prep work: his first experience shearing a sheep, as well as the ins-and-outs of fluffing and wrapping their lower leg wool for the judge.

On Wednesday we dropped the lambs off at the fairground, managed to get them settled before the hogs were due to arrive the next day, and had them weighed by the time they were due for their nightly feed. Lots of excitement in the air with scores of kids from multiple 4H clubs circling with all their animals. Chatter amongst the crowd was the fair scale was weighing light, which had us a little worried because Puffs was only a few pounds above the minimum weight of 100 pounds. But we all breathed a sigh of relief when she clocked in at 108, perfect weight for her lightweight class. Almost every 4H member I watched go through the scales had an animal within the market weight limits, but it was so heart crushing to see the handful whose animals were too light: all that work to have to turn around and go home. There’s always next year…

Every year the beginning of the fair is marked by the annual HFFCF twilight parade. Thousands of people make the trek to Healdsburg to watch all the floats make their way through downtown. There’s something for everyone: Mexican horse troops to bands to animal floats and even the occasional cute kiddo carrying a pygmy goat. Lots of work goes into decorating the float each year for the kids’ Warm Springs 4H club – and Amy swears every year is the last year she’s coordinating – but it’s so fun to chaperone the float through town and see so many familiar faces yelling hellos.

Friday was judging day. No school at any of the Healdsburg schools. The parade ground was buzzing with activity shortly after sunrise, awash with kids in 4H whites and FFA blue prepping animals with all kinds of contraptions ready for the judges. The HFFCF is a terminal fair – meaning almost all of the animals are auctioned off for meat the day after the judging – but the real focus of the event is showmanship. The lengths to which some kids go with the presentation of their animals always impresses me. Sheep and steer seem to be one of the most prep-intensive animals of all those shown: some kids will fluff and wrap their sheep’s lower legs for weeks before the fair to get maximal body to the lower leg wool. It’s tough as a parent to not help the kids as they’re getting everything ready, but the fair is pretty strict on non-exhibitors not being allowed to touch or help with the animals. It’s actually a really good policy, because it forces the kids to help each other with their animals and build a real camaraderie amongst them.

Max was first of the kids with Shirley in front of the judges for novice showmanship. He performed exceptionally well muscling her around (she’s twice his weight). His months of work with her walking and bracing after school really showed. Little Stella Derrico did outshine him, though, her eye contact with the judge and aggressive bracing position really separated her from the other competitors and she rightly took first place. Max came in third, a great result for him, he’s ready to go again next year already! The professionalism of some of the senior showmen was very impressive, in particular Sophia Saini and Eva Munselle – who went head to hear for first in senior showmanship – were pretty incredible. I told Max he should buddy up with Eva and see if she’ll give him some lessons for next year.

The market judging – where the animals are judged on their physical composition and readiness for market – followed showmanship. Another good result for Max with Snugglepuff coming in fourth in the lightweight sheep class. Shirley didn’t do so well in the heavyweight cohort – a little too much rounding through the midsection and not enough shape to her hindquarters – but such a fun and educational experience for the little guy.

Lilia was up next with rabbit showmanship followed by market judging. A much larger and more competitive field of rabbits this year than last, with 38 pens (= 114 bunnies) in the market class. Her show rabbit didn’t cooperate in the flip so she was dinged for that and didn’t place. But she made it to the final round in the market class with her heavier pen, which was pretty cool to see because she’d been rationing one of the bunnies in that pen prior to the fair to try to dial in its weight with the other two. Good to see her thinking (and a bit of regression modeling with Dad) pay off… Her heavier pen placed fifth out of 38, so she was pretty pumped with that.

Fair weekend is without a doubt the most fun event in Healdsburg, and we all look forward to it so much every year. Amazing to think it’s all over! It’s so great to see familiar faces come in to bid on the kids animals, multiple generations of ranchers and Healdsburg locals supporting all their hard work, such an exceptional community event. I’m hearing chatter from Lilia that a sheep may be in her future next year!