This past weekend was the Elko County fair and livestock show, compeltely with horse races as silvermare has wrote about, some rodeo events, plus many 4-H competitions that took plce in their own separate areas and most people probably never noticed.

My brother and parents live on a combination small farm/ranch. It's their land out in Kittridge that I took pictures of here: here, here, here, and here.

For those who don't know, my brother is part of the Elko country Big E 4-H club. 4-H is an organization similar to things like FFA, the kids start when they're 9, they learn how take care of livestock, how to groom them, show them, they learn what a good animal looks like, what will sell at market, what might be a good breeding animal, things like that. During the year, they have various competitions where the judges examine how the kids handle the animals, if they use their show stick properly [the metal pole my brother is holding; they use it to place the animals' feet, help align the back straight, or push the animal forward if it stops walking], if they hold the lead [leash] properly, and if they are knowledgable about the animal they are showing.

I just finished uploading quite a few pictures from the fair of my brother in his 4-H competitions. It was the first year I'd gone to any of the 4-H events, as last year my brother wasn't old enough, and when I was growing up, we lived in Elko instead of in the farming/ranching communities on Elko's edge. I never had the chance to be in 4-H, but after experiencing the events and dealing with all my brother's animals, I truly wish that I had a chance to do it. In addition to the animal projects, there are many other categorys, my brother just chooses to do the animals. They have meetings every week and help out in the community as well.

I love my father's farm. I love to help him feed the animals and water his vegetables. I know that when I'm older and more responsible and mature, I'd love to have a few acres and do just what my dad does; I don't mind digging fence post holes and feeding the animals, walking through cow shit, feeding apples to the horses, any of that.