Senior Natalie Beauvais shows off her lamb before mid state fair hits. Photo courtesy of Beauvais.
With the California Mid State Fair approaching students at San Luis Obispo High School are getting their animals and starting preparation for their shows. SLOHS Expressions interviewed senior Natalie Beauvais to get an inside look at what it takes to be in the fair.
Expressions: What kind of animals do you raise and what do you raise them for?
Senior Natalie Beauvais: I raise sheep and they are used for, one of them will be for market and meat, and then the other one is for breeding.
Expressions: How long have you been raising animals?
Beauvais: This is my third year going into it, and this year is my first year having a breeding lamb as well.
Expressions: When do you get your animals to start training them, and you’re gonna show them in the fair?
Beauvais: I got mine early this year in December so that I can do some jackpotting shows.
Expressions: What does the process of raising animals for the fair look like?
Beauvais: When you get your animals there not halter broke yet, so you have to get them used to being on a halter, and then you also have to make their feed there, you’ll get different supplements to improve what they need to work.
Expressions: How does this tie back into school?
Beauvais: It’s for our FFA program and it teaches you a lot about animal welfare and also sustainability, eating, and raising meat for food.
Expressions: How does FFA and raising animals translate to the real world?
Beauvais: It’s helped me improve on basic vet skills, cause I want to become a vet, so it’s helped me with that, and just learning basic animal knowledge.
Expressions: Since the fair is coming up this summer, what does the process of showing animals look like?
Beauvais: First you practice with your animal because there’s different judges that will judge you on the way your animal looks, and the meat that you’re getting out of your animal. Leading up to that, you want to make sure that they have the right nutrients and diet to help improve their structure. Then you show them the best that you can, and make them look the best that they can. Then you get ranked and they will judge you, and that determines how good the meat from your lamb is. Then you go into auction and your animal gets sold.
Expressions: Do you recommend this for somebody who wants to do it for the 1st time and what would you tell them?
Beauvais: Yes, I would, would recommend it because it teaches you a lot of skills, even if you want to do it for only a year, it teaches you a lot that you’ll probably use in your future.
SLOHS offers many opportunities for students to raise and learn about animals. Students can get hands-on experience through the FFA and agricultural programs.
