Lee Simanton likes to keep busy, whether he is sandwiching homework around farm chores on the family dairy or making time for sports.
Winning an intermediate showmanship class against nine other youngsters at this year’s Stampede Dairy Classic was a pleasure but not the nerve-wracking experience it once was.
“I’ve been showing for a long time, probably since I was five or six,” he said after winning his division.
Simanton attends school in Ponoka, Alta., and plays goal for his local midget hockey team, but managed to slip away for a week in Calgary to attend the Holstein show in late March.
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Travelling with his parents Everett and Marylee Simanton, owners of Crestomere Holsteins, he often competes against friends and family members, including his two sisters. The family fits in six shows per year.
Simanton said he has learned to get comfortable in the show ring through 4-H and working with his parents. As a Grade 10 student, he has already planned his future after he finishes school.
“I’m going to stay on the farm.”
Crestomere milks about 250 cows and Simanton’s jobs include the evening milking and weekend chores before he dashes off to hockey games and practices.
He has participated and placed at 4-H achievement days, junior dairy shows and team showmanship at the Western Canadian Dairy Classic, a youth show that rotates across the western provinces.
This year’s dairy classic saw the grand champion Holstein cow and best udder prize awarded to R & F Livestock of Warman, Sask., and reserve grand champion go to Lampada Holsteins of Arcola, Sask.
The grand and reserve Jersey champions also came from R & F Livestock.
