After being placed in order of finishing by the judge, young cattle handlers await her personalized comments, critiques, and suggestions at Putnam County High School’s 17th annual Briar Patch Classic Dairy Heifer Show.
An entrant carefully checks the positioning of her entry’s rear feet before the judge arrives to meticulously evaluate both cow and handler.
Maggie Harper of Morgan County earned Grand Champion status at the 17th annual Briar Patch Classic Dairy Heifer Show at Putnam County High School. KATIE WILLIAMS/Contributed
Flanked by UGA student Mackenzie Jones (left) and Putnam High School senior Kady Batchelor, PCHS Agriculture Education Advisor Kelly Smith managed the 17th annual Briar Patch Classic Dairy Heifer Show from an elevated position beside the show ring.
The PCHS show ring is housed in a dedicated structure built beside the baseball diamonds behind the school. A relatively small number of heifers are housed inside throughout the show, with most arriving for judging after being tied up and groomed outside beside the trailers they arrive in from all across the state.
Newton County’s Lily Atkins was named Reserve Grand Champion at the 17th annual Briar Patch Classic Dairy Heifer Show. KATIE WILLIAMS/Contributed
Mixed-animal veterinarian Dr. Brooke Crump (above) is a veteran judge who began showing dairy heifers when she was just eight years old. Crump is a UGA College of Veterinary Medicine graduate (2017) who continues to raise and show registered Holstein heifers with her family.
One by one they enter the ring, led by students as young as eight years old to seniors in high school, these docile bovines have been shampooed, groomed, and even taught to stand still with their hooves and legs set just so to best impress the discerning eye of a veteran judge of prime dairy heifers.
This is serious business for these young showmen and show-women, a business betrayed ...
