News Release
October 20, 2009

68th annual UW livestock show features dinner, dance and student competition

Department of Animal Science students in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture will compete against each other in showman competition during the 68th Little International Livestock Show Friday, Nov. 6, in Laramie.

The competition is sandwiched between a barbecue dinner, which starts at 5 p.m., and the Ag Olympics, which begin after the show. A dance from 9 p.m. to midnight caps the event.

All is at the Cliff and Martha Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena west of Laramie. Tickets are $4 at the door

Students use techniques learned through the semester preparing, showing, and answering a judge's question about their animals.

“The students have the whole semester to halter break, fit and compete with the other students on strictly a showman basis,” said UW student Kalli Koepke, Block and Bridle Club member and chair for the event.  The club is the event sponsor. “It is a great opportunity for students to work with animals they have never worked with before and those who have never competitively showed.”

With so many students not having a farm or ranch background to draw upon anymore, the event serves as a good introduction to working with livestock and animal handling techniques, said Professor Doug Hixon, head of the Department of Animal Science.

“It also gets many of our new students out to the farm, to meet our people and see some of our facilities and research being conducted,” he said. “It is sometimes a diversion for first-semester students to get away from the typical classroom environment.”

The Ag Olympics contain obstacle courses and fun challenges. Examples from previous years include riding a stick horse around a barrel pattern for the best time and an obstacle course.

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Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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