One of the best weight lifting sessions you can find are on farms. Feed bags are no smaller than 50lbs a piece and trust me, you go through a lot of feed bags. Hay bales are roughly 30-40 lbs so there is some more weight lifting. Not to mention carrying lots of water buckets that are 5 gallons (for those who don't know 1 gallon of water = 8lbs so you do the math). The most intense weights are the animals themselves. Whether it's carrying a 70lbs baby calf in from a snow storm or a moving a 60 lbs. pig to weigh in, you are definitely working the upper body. These weights are never evenly distributed for convenience either. So no I did not spent hours in the weight room, but my biceps definitely were working.
When you have livestock you aren't exempt from every day practices. Your animals have to be fed at least twice a day and they don't give you a night off. Besides feeding, you are also washing, brushing, grooming, and conditioning constantly. Finally, your daily practices usually include walking. And you don't do a few sprints. You walk your pigs down your half mile drive way and back once maybe two times a day. This builds their stamina and muscle that is needed for show day. Your animals are conditioned every day and you are too.
Showing livestock works muscles you didn't know you have. Have you ever braced a lamb for a 15 minute class? It's basically one long wall sit without the wall. You also have a 140lbs animal pushing up against you. I have a huge respect for sheep kids because I've done it before in showmanship contests and I was sweating like a whore in church by the end of it. Cattle kids use lots of upper body strength dragging around or holding onto dear life with those stubborn heifers who always seem to come into heat the day of the show. Riding horses requires strong legs and tight stomach muscles. These are all workouts that just happen on show day!
One of the most important thing livestock athletes take away form their experiences is sportsmanship. As my dad says "It's one man's opinion one day." Some days you lose some you should've won or you win some you should've lost. What's crucial is how you accept those wins and losses. You always shake the judges hand even when he screws you over, and you always congratulate the winners. If you are the coveted banner holder you stay grounded and thank those who congratulate you. Knowing how to lose and knowing how to be a gracious winner are lessons that more people need to know.
One of the biggest differences between livestock showing and other high school sports is the life expectancy of the athletes. Many football players stop their career after high school, though a select few will move onto college and even fewer will make it into the NFL. Livestock athletes stop showing after 21, but their involvement in the livestock industry can last a lifetime for a majority of the youth involved. Showing pigs and horses paid for my fist part of college, and it helped me realize my passion was with pigs. I'm not the special case either. Millions of livestock youth continue to stay in the agriculture industry and have numerous opportunities to earn scholarships. You don't have to stop because of a bummed knee or broken bone.
I didn't spend my high school career tossing around balls or running around a track. But I definitely was an athlete who worked hard and found success. My biggest cheerleaders didn't wave pom-poms or wear tight skirts. They were my parents, and I definitely wouldn't want to see my dad in skirt. My team members are my animals who I spend hundreds of hours training with.I have competition who I shake hands with at the end of the day. Stock show kids have rivals, but we also have best friends we wouldn't have met anywhere else. We have numbers on our backs and wear "uniforms" on show day. The judge is our referee and scoreboard all rolled into one man on one day. The show ring is our court and winning is our goal. What else defines an athlete?