By Cristopher Pineda, Dec. 10, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona’s Livestock Show Team, in partnership with the Fairplex, hosted its first show – the Pomona Classic Livestock Show Nov. 23 and 24.
Initially, the Show Team tried to host the event last year but realized it was a bigger endeavor than expected.
Amber Freeland, Career Coach at Huntley College of Agriculture, said she created a committee of students and faculty to lead the show’s planning as the first step to jumpstart this event. The committee was a good opportunity for students to get involved in the planning process, leadership opportunities and networking.
“There needs to be more of a push for agriculture education since a lot of people are misinformed with where the food and animal products come from,” Freeland said. “I love being able to give students jobs, volunteer work and internships where they can harness the skills they’ve learned within animal education.”
The team from CPP consisted of around 65 general volunteers, who helped the Livestock Show Team, including the committee members who were in charge of this show.
Not only did CPP students show, but there were also 140 entries to the actual show and 35 exhibitors as well. The showcase was a two-day event, where different shows occurred on each day. The category of showmanship, progress and breeding for goats and sheep was scheduled for showing in the categories on Saturday, while the same category for dairy goats and beef cattle was organized on Sunday.
The event was from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and volunteers and the club were setting up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. Before the animals were let into the show, the club had to check both the exhibitors and their animals.
This meant the animals had to get medical approval to compete, if there was an unhealthy animal, they would not be let into the pens for the health concerns and safety of all the animals and people alike.
AnnaLyce Brockham, RVT and animal and veterinary sciences lecturer, was conducting health checks alongside members of the Livestock Show Team so that students would learn to do a physical exam and practice their clinical skills.
“We are looking for anything that can be skin lesions, respiratory issues, contagious and checking animals’ lymph nodes,” Brockham said. “We want to make sure nothing spreads during the show since it could impact many animals.”
After all the exhibitors and their animals were checked in, exhibitors went to work prepping their animals by showering, drying and brushing them to look ready for the show.
Samara Asad, an agribusiness management student and goat team captain, said she is excited to see how far the event has come.
“I really enjoy the environment of showing; this is my last time I am showing goats until I just start coaching, so I am excited to show this last time,” Asad said.
While exhibitors were prepping, the volunteers worked on creating the showing ring by setting up fences, tables and prizes for participants in the show.
Iris Garcia, an animal science student, stated that her career goal is to work with a mix of small and large animals. As a volunteer, she could watch and talk to others behind the scenes with years of experience.
“I know nothing about how to show, so I hope I get to learn and enjoy it,” Garcia said.
There were two shows each day, one at 9 a.m. and the other at 1 p.m. Each show was judged by Doug Edge who was hired by the Fairplex. Edge is originally from Indiana and has 10 years of coaching the Riverton Parke Livestock Judging Team and has coached multiple different types of shows.
Freeland said judging standards are usually subjective to whoever the judge is. One thing Freeland pointed out is that Edge is very thorough with his judging, asking questions to exhibitors and explaining to the crowd what he is looking for in each category.
Since there are three different categories of progress, breeding and showmanship, each category is scored differently. Showmanship is based solely on the exhibitor’s ability to handle and present the animal, while progress and breeding are how well the animal is progressing in their development.
At the end of each show, the exhibitors were given different prizes depending on the type of show and placement within their category.
Jazmyn Mendoza-Rios, an agriculture science student and media coordinator for Pomona Classic, was the one in charge of getting all the publicity out for the event, including helping with the designs of all the prizes for the exhibitors. Sophia Gaitan, sheep and swine unit manager, created the different graphic designs seen on social media and flyers.
“While it was hard to coordinate all the posts and digital designs, getting to see everyone have something to remember our event is very rewarding,” Mendoza-Rios said.
Freeland states as long as students and faculty work together, this event will continue as a way for students and general attendees to understand what truly goes into livestock shows and how important these animals are for our community.
Feature image courtesy of Cristopher Piñeda
