Swine hog the limelight at the fair

Handlers guide their pigs in showmanship events

When it comes to showmanship, hogs and women handlers ruled the ring Wednesday at the Northwest Montana Fair.

Women dominated the finals and took top honors with Caitlin Sterchi named grand champion senior swine showman for 2009 and Shelby Schroeder taking reserve.

As each of the five senior swine showmanship classes started, the freshly scrubbed chubby pink pigs and the odd brown hog dashed into the ring ahead off their handlers, frolicking to and fro in the sawdust.

Judge Mark Heitstuman, an extension agent from Washington, soon brought decorum to the event as he asked the young men and women to parade their pigs at a distance of eight to 10 feet.

"Drive the pig toward me without running over me," he said. "That would be helpful."

It was easier said than done, as the 4-H and FFA competitors could attest. With just a crop in their right hand and their left hand behind their back clutching a brush, they sprinted to keep up with their galloping hogs then guide them with a well-placed swat of the crop.

Sterchi and her Yorkshire-cross hog named Nancy were standouts in the fifth class as she and the other handlers worked to get their pigs' snouts pointed in the right direction. They then walked their hogs back and forth before the judge, smiling all the while.

Heitstuman was a moving target, shifting about the ring and probing competitors' swine knowledge. He jotted his impressions on a small note pad, making quick decisions on showmanship as well as pig grooming before commenting to the crowd on the fifth and final group.

"A couple did a really excellent job driving their pigs -number 753 and 938," he said.

Those were the numbers worn by Sterchi and the other fifth-class finalist Emily Stafford. They joined the top competitors chosen from each of the other four classes for the grand champion senior swine showmanship match, where Sterchi emerged victorious.

The daughter of Simon and Amy Sterchi, she was still breathless and perspiring from moving Nancy through the required pig paces when she sat down for an interview fresh from the ring.

A member of the Trail Blazer 4-H Club in Whitefish, Sterchi, 19, was particularly happy to take the top swine showmanship honor this year.

"This is my last year," she said. "I've been in 4-H for seven years."

Sterchi also won reserve senior grand champion in the 4-H horse showmanship competition and grand champion in the open horse showmanship contest held last weekend.

A 2009 graduate of Whitefish High School, Sterchi plans to begin studying art with an emphasis on painting at Flathead Valley Community College this fall. This was her fourth year showing hogs at the fair.

She recommends the animals as a good choice for the aspiring showman.

"You don't have them very long and they are really easy to take care of and show," Sterchi said.

In 2007, she came close to the top honor, taking home the reserve grand champion senior showmanship rosette. Things took a nasty turn in 2008 as soon as she entered the ring.

"Last year my pig totally gave up on me and sat in the corner and screamed," she said. "I could not get her to move."

All was not lost as Sterchi got a good price of about $4.50 a pound for her porker, around $1,200. She bought her 2009 hog from a Hutterite colony in early May as part of a group purchase with her 4-H club.

"They were really big pigs this year," she said. "When I got her she was 80 pounds."

Sterchi went with the Yorkshire cross, which has given her consistently good results. She described the breed as lean and well-muscled.

Her pig put on weight so quickly that Sterchi feared the dreaded overweight disqualification from the livestock auction. She put Nancy on a diet but almost overdid it as she learned at the weigh-in.

"I thought she was close to 230 but she weighed 222," she said. "The minimum is 222."

In the weeks before the fair, Sterchi worked on her showmanship moves, getting her pig to yield to the pressure of the crop on her face. She said she had high hopes for Nancy from the beginning.

"My pig this year is really smart. She's a sweet pig," she said. "I worked with her for a couple of months before the fair and she was fine."

Sterchi said her pig came through and she knew she was doing well in the ring. The judge took notice, and she left 4-H with another grand champion rosette.

She shared a few of her showmanship secrets as a parting gift to swine handlers behind her. Sterchi said she doesn't shave her pigs but just gives them a good wash with gentle baby shampoo.

During showmanship trials, she keeps a certain distance from the judge and just goes back and forth.

"Eye contact is huge -and smile," she said. "Keep bent at the waist and never get between the pig and him [the judge]."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.

Northwest Montana Fair

Thursday, Aug. 20

All day - Senior Citizen Day

8:30 a.m. - Judging 4-H/FFA goats (break for Round Robin)

9 a.m. - Open miniature horse judging

9 to 11:30 a.m. - Pocket Pals accepted

10 a.m. - Beef fitting contest

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. - Flathead Electric Co-op Day, bucket trucks and safety demonstrations, near trade center

11:30 a.m. - Round Robin pre-training

Noon - All Pocket Pals judged

1 p.m. - Draft single driving, single log pull, horse/mule/donkey team log pull, CHS Arena

1:30 p.m. - Round Robin competition

• p.m. - Judging open goats

7 p.m. - Justin Mutton Bustin'

7:30 p.m. - Dodge PRCA Rodeo; rodeo conclusion: wild horse racing

9 p.m. - Exhibit buildings close