Kennedy Gould named 2022 Supreme Livestock Showmanship champ at 4-H fair
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The excitement in the coliseum of the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds drowned out the voice of the announcer as she was preparing to declare 2022’s 4-H Supreme Livestock Showmanship champion.
The announcer motioned for the audience to quiet down, and when the room was silent, Kennedy Gould was proclaimed the 2022’s 4-H Supreme Livestock Showmanship champion.
It took a second for Gould to realize that her name had been called. The Tippecanoe County 4-H member was nervously looking at her boots, waiting to hear one of her fellow competitors' names.
It wasn’t until Emma Townsend, the 2021 champion and holding the event’s trophy, motioned for Gould to join her that Gould knew she had won.
“It’s not quite real yet. I just never expected it to be me,” said Gould, who attends Harrison High School.
When asked what made her stand out from her fellow competitors, Gould responded with a humble answer.
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“Just being mediocre,” she said. “Because you don’t have to be the best at every breed. You just have to be in the middle of the pack.”
Throughout the week, the 4-H animal projects held competitions to determine the master showmanship among six animal barns in the Supreme Showmanship contest.
After a master has been determined in each barn, they face off against each other in the final event, the Supreme Showmanship contest.
Gould was chosen as the dairy goat master's showmanship.
Her fellow competitors were: Ella Carlson, swine; Ryley McGee, sheep; Skylar Sheets, Boer goat; Grace Klinkhamer, beef; Rachel Townsend, dairy cow.
With each animal, the showman had 10 minutes to show their skills and and level of knowledge to each judge before the final scores were tabulated.
“It’s like golf scoring. If they won a species, then they get one point. If they were second, they get two points, it’s like that all the way down. And the winner is whoever has the lowest score,” said Sara Carrell, the dairy goat judge.
“We are looking for someone who’s just generally a good showman, which is what everybody wants, someone who is smooth, makes good eye contact. can talk to the judge and know a little bit about each animal.”
Gould truly didn’t expect to win Thursday night. Although she was deemed a master showman in the dairy goat category, she was unfamiliar with other species.
It wasn’t until last Saturday that she had even touched a sheep or Boer goat.
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“I don’t feel like I was prepared enough. I didn’t have enough hands on all the animals.”
“To prepare, I spent multiple hours every day, since Saturday, learning about the animal.”
To anyone who was thinking about competing for next year’s title, Gould's advice would be to “get as much time with the animals as you can, and study as much as possible.”
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 4-H fair: Kennedy Gould named 2022 Supreme Livestock Showmanship champ
