Author | April Breedlove |
For many students here at Scholars Guild Academy, our daily to-do lists are filled with school, work, activities, chores, and other fun things to occupy our free time. But freshman Kate Ash has one extra item on her busy schedule. In addition to participating on a swim team with her older brother, Kate is also a girl who loves to show pigs!
How does one “show a pig,” you may ask? Well, according to Kate, an expert on the topic, someone who shows pigs gets them when they are about two months old and then raises and trains the pigs until they are ready to compete in livestock shows and county fairs. At these fairs and shows, the pigs are presented to the judges who score them based on how they look, and on the relationship between the pig and the owner.
Since she started in the winter of 2015, Kate has raised somewhere between 6 and 8 pigs, and has competed in so many shows that she has lost count. At a show hosted in Oglethorpe during the last pig showing season, Kate won the Grand Champion award, meaning that her pig Dusty was the best looking pig of the entire show! When asked about any funny stories involving her interesting job of raising and caring for her pigs, Kate mentioned a time when one of her other pigs accidentally got let out of its pen while she was walking Dusty. The pig came rushing toward her and swept her off her feet! She described it as a scene from a cartoon. Luckily, Kate was not hurt. Pig showing may seem like a very lively adventure, but there is a lot of work that goes into Kate’s job every single day.
Twice a day, Kate has to feed her pigs: once in the morning, and once at night. In addition to this feeding schedule, Kate also has to condition her pigs’ skin to prevent it from drying out and walk them for 30 minutes at a time to prepare them for shows. She has to spend a lot of time with her pigs every day in order to build a strong relationship with them, a relationship that will be noticed by judges whenever she and her pigs compete.
Despite all of the work that goes into preparing her pigs for livestock shows and county fairs, Kate says that her job is very rewarding. It teaches her responsibility and accountability. She has to be responsible enough to tell her parents that her pigs are running out of feed, to properly care for her pigs, and to spend quality time with them. Kate says that there is nothing that she dislikes about her job. She enjoys a challenge!
One of the most interesting parts of Kate’s job occurs at the end of each pig showing season. Because her animals are livestock, and she gets new pigs for each new season, Kate and her family eat the pigs once their showing saga is over. This isn’t as weird for Kate as one may think. She raises her pigs with the mindset that they will end up dying in the end. But hey, who would ever turn down fresh pork?
Kate Ash: Swimmer, student, and pig showing extraordinaire. Kate is a clear example of how many fascinating and unique talents and passions are represented here at Scholars Guild Academy.