Chris Lowrey
TORONTO Nov. 9, 2018
Local 4-Her Rebecca Nugent got a chance to show off her skills at the TD Canadian 4-H Dairy Classic at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto on Nov. 9.
Nugent, the president of the Shawville 4-H club, participated in both the showmanship and conformation classes.
She was chosen as one of five participants to advance past their heat of 25 participants.
Although she was chosen for her heat, she didn’t advance to the finals.
“This is my second year going,” Nugent said. “Last year I wasn’t one of the five chosen, so I thought that I improved from last year.”
She was showing Looper – a calf belonging to Ed Rusenstrom from Rusendale Farms in Bristol.
The road to the Royal Winter Fair for a 4-Her is a long one. They must qualify at fairs in their region in order to participate.
Nugent took part in the Quebec 4-H provincial show, which is held on the Friday of the Shawville Fair. She also participated in the open show at the Packenham Fair and the regional show in Metcalf, Ont.
She went to Toronto as one of eight participants representing Northwestern Quebec.
The 4-H Canadian Dairy Classic features participants from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
“It’s kind of like the national championship for cattle,” Nugent said. “One year I went just to watch and that was an experience itself just to see the difference. It’s massive.”
The 4-H Canadian Dairy Classic has three categories: junior, intermediate and senior. Participants can take part in the conformation and showmanship classes.
In all, Nugent was in one of five heats that featured 125 participants in the intermediate showmanship class.
It’s a fine line between being chosen and not.
“I guess you could say one of my calf’s legs was too stretched and that was the only reason I didn’t get picked for the final,” Nugent said. “It’s just the smallest little things.”
The 17-year-old Luskville native was accompanied to Toronto with two fellow local 4-Hers – Willis Egan and Jeremy Laforest.
Unfortunately, Laforest’s calf was under the weather and he couldn’t show, while Egan opted not to show and instead helped his teammates.
Nugent said she was very happy with how she did.
“It was a great experience,” Nugent said. “It’s an eye opener if you go down there because there’s so many people and the competition is super strong. So just to get chosen out of your heat, that’s a huge deal.”
Nugent said she’s looking forward to trying her hand again next year at the Royal, but she was happy to be able to represent her region on a larger stage.
“It was pretty nice to go down and represent Shawville,” she said.
