Shannon McLaughlin has raised sheep for only two years, but she already has learned enough to show her lambs to the championship circle.
Her Suffolk-North Country Cheviot yearling ewe with two lambs at foot were champions at the Alberta provincial 4-H show held in Olds, Alta., as part of Summer Synergy, a youth livestock program sponsored by the Calgary Stampede and the Olds Agriculture Society.
Her little flock was named supreme sheep champions at the Calgary Stampede July 13. She also won a $1,000 scholarship.
McLaughlin is full of enthusiasm for the program, which brings children and livestock together for a week of education and competition. About 240 young people from Alberta and Saskatchewan participated in Summer Synergy.
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“It is really busy and tiring, but it is an amazing experience,” she said.
“It is so fun and you learn so much.”
There is also an opportunity to win more than $150,000 in scholarships and bursaries as well as cash prizes.
McLaughlin belongs to the Whitecourt 4-H Multi Club, which offers sheep, goat, horse and life skills projects. She started in the horse program but was attracted to cute, cuddly sheep.
McLaughlin said programs such as 4-H and Summer Synergy have taught her how to be a sheep ambassador at events such as the Stampede and small town fairs. Her 4-H club has also taught her to milk goats and make soap.
She hopes to pursue a similar project when the ewes are more mature, as well as learn spinning.
The 15-year-old plans to expand her flock on her parents’ farm, where they raise cattle.
She said sheep are part of her future, and she wants to return to the Synergy program, whether she wins big prizes or not.
“It will be tough to repeat what I did this year,” she said.
