21 Jan 2014 ... Colorado Kids reporters gathered last weekend in the Centennial ... stories get
from the website and into the print version of Colorado Kids.
Focusing on Colorado’s Western Heritage
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Tips before going out to report
olorado Kids reporters gathered last weekend in the Centennial Room of the Educational Building at the National Western Stock Show for a workshop and a chance to put learning into practice. The workshop included specialized lessons on interviewing techniques and photography, as well as insights into newspaper layout and how their stories get from the website and into the print version of Colorado Kids. Then they were given an assignment: Fan out through the Stock Show, find stories and file those stories, with photos, within 48 hours. This special edition of CK features some of the stories they discovered and turned in. To see the rest of their work and their views of the Stock Photo by Dana Plewka Show, visit nextgen.yourhub.com
ColoradoKids Colorado Kiiids
CK Reporter Gwen Wilusz, Fort Collins
2013 January 21, 2014
THe STocK SHow iS bUSiNeSS!
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THe STocK SHow iS fUN!
f you are going to the Stock Show this year, don’t just go for the cows and live stock: Take some time to visit the multitude of booths at the National Western Stock Show 2014! Maggie Reed is the co-owner of High Country Carvings, a company based in San Luis Valley. She makes and sells carvings with her husband, Travis Reed. The company makes many carvings, mostly bears and benches. The Hawk Quest booth is also a popular booth at the Stock Show, due to the appearance of many live birds. The organization is dedicated to helping hurt birds, although some of them stay for their whole life, due to injuries that cannot be fixed. The Western Stock Show is home to many other booths, which you can visit through January 26. When you can, take some time to visit the National Western Stock Show! Photo and story by Tripp Ceyssens, 11, from Arvada
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n a snowy Tuesday morning, the stockyard at the National Western Stock Show is a large chilly place. By Leslie Wilburn, 12, a CK Reporter from Denver
Pen after pen of cows slightly dusted with snow, stand like small city blocks separated by dirt and brick roads. Levi Ebert, a rancher from Kansas, is in a white tent near the auction house. Levi raises 40 heifers (cows up to two years old) per year, and he sells between 35 and 40 every year. The “elite” cattle are sold to commercial vendors, so that they can produce more beef. Levi also raises bulls; when asked why bulls sometimes have rings in their noses, he explained that it was a way to control misbehaving bulls. The nose is a sensitive place on a bull and slight pressure on the ring is enough to bring the bull under control. Next to the stockyard , in an old building, sits the auction house where cattle are brought
to be sold. Cows, bulls, spring pasture rights, and bull sperm are sold in an auditorium with a pen at the bottom. Behind the pen is a platform where the auctioneer and assistants conduct the auction. The livestock is brought in from the right, and paraded around in circles until the auction for that particular animal is complete. Then they exit through a door on the left. “Sold!” yells the auctioneer, after a Red Angus cattle auction. These cattle look extra pretty
from getting washed and blowdried earlier in their pens. Ranch hands carrying vacuumsized hair dryers were present in many of the occupied pens in the stock yard. Nearby there were metal containers with numerous spray cans, bottles, brushes and towels. Tons of cattle each year are sold at the auction, making millions of dollars. Most of that money goes to the ranchers, keeping them in business for another year. Photo by Leslie Wilburn
Knowledge, horsemanship, poise make rodeo royalty
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t the stock show, a lady walked up and asked my sister and me if we would like to be rodeo queens. By Kylene Santoro, 11, a CK Reporter from Morrison
I wasn’t sure what a rodeo queen was, but I was thinking “a queen - how cool!” My sister and I both said yes, so she walked us to her booth. There, we met Ayla Newman,
Colorado Kids is produced by Denver Post Educational Services Executive Editor: Dana Plewka
[email protected] CK Editor: Mike Peterson
[email protected] We welcome your comments. For tools to extend the learning in this feature, look under “eEdition lessons” at: www.ColoradoNIE.com eEditions of the Post are free of charge for classroom use. Contact us for information on all our programs. Denver Post Educational Services 101 W. Colfax Ave. Denver CO 80202 (303) 954-3974 (800) 336-7678
Beyond these four pages The Stock Show is part of our cultural history and tradition. Look through today’s paper for stories, pictures and advertisements that reflect history and culture of other places. Choose an example that makes you curious about the place associated with it, and tell why you find it interesting.
2014 Brush Rodeo queen and Madison Warffeli, her lady-inwaiting. They looked sharp, dressed in sparkly cowboy outfits with tiaras on their hats, decorated leather sashes across their shoulders, and colorful vests. Alya and Madison were at the stock show explaining and demonstrating what being a rodeo queen is about. Most rodeos hold a rodeo queen competition. In order to compete, you must be a single female under a certain age. At the rodeo in Brush, girls compete to become a lady-inwaiting. They then follow the queen for a year to learn her job, and are crowned queen the following year. Ayla became lady-in-waiting at age 18 and queen at 19.
The competition considers horsemanship, appearance, and personality. Horsemanship is having respect for your horse, having knowledge about horses, and being an excellent rider. Appearance judges confidence, modeling, and how you look in western clothing. You are judged on personality by answering a series of questions. The judges look for contestants who answer with knowledge and poise. Ayla explained that as rodeo queen, you are basically an ambassador for your rodeo. You promote your rodeo by riding in parades and visiting other towns and rodeos. You also volunteer at schools and public events, sign autographs and answer questions about the rodeo.
Photo by Jade Santoro
You can meet Alya and Madison at the Stock Show or see them in action at the next Brush Rodeo from July 2-4, 2014. They will be the ones smiling and waving at you from atop their horses.
Neglected horses seek second homes
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heyenne, a gentle dappled horse, was purchased in 2006, with a price of 30 cents per pound. She only weighed 940 pounds at the time.
acres, enough land to hold 60 horses. CHR has booths at the Western Stock Show, Boulder County Fair, Horse Expo, and Pet Expo, where volunteers share info about the nonprofit’s efforts to save horses, By Lexie Greenawalt and sell merchandise, such 13, a CK Reporter as T-shirts, water bottles, and from Evergreen brightly colored horse stuffed animals. But her buyer, although a At least half of the profits horse rescuer, was horribly from these events go to the neglectful to all her horses, horses. Every year on September 27, and didn’t provide them with Wish Book Kristen Hartman and Debbie CHR holds its “Mane Event,” the food or medical attention Skillicorn look through pages of horses need- a night to spread information they needed. about CHR and hold auctions, So Cheyenne arrived at Colo- ing homes. Photo by Lisa Hamm-Greenawalt where all the proceeds benefit rado Horse Rescue barely alive, horse rescue. malnourished, literally all skin Kristen Hartman and Debbie Skillicorn, a and bones. Colorado Horse Rescue (or CHR) is a non-profit mother and daughter from Peyton, have found CHR to be their favorite booth at the Stock Show organization that takes in horses like Cheyenne for the past 19 years. and works to provide them with the care they They flipped through CHR’s catalog of horses need. as they spoke affectionately of Maggie and Niji, “We try to get them healthy, then find them forever homes through adoptions and sponsorships,” the rescue horses they’ve adopted. “What Colorado Horse Rescue is doing is very said Kaitlyn Swain, who has been volunteering for important,” Kristen said. “All animals need a good CHR for three years. home, and deserve a second chance. ” CHR is based in Longmont, where it has 50
These Stock Show performers start young
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his mother pig, or sow, is part of the National Western Nursery, a new exhibit at the 107th Annual National Western Stock Show that lets people see brand new animal babies and maybe even watch them being born.
pounds, Alison Seedorf tells the small crowd. Seedorf is the Vice President of the Colorado Future Farmers of America Association. Though the piglets seem to be the main attraction at the nursery, there are also pens with alpacas and goats. By Asher Hoyt, In the alpaca pen is a mother and 11, a CK Reporter a baby, but the “baby” is almost the from Denver same size as the mother! The baby is six months old and is bred for its soft pretty wool which is a mix between hair and fur. It also teaches people about farm The goat babies, called kids, are animals and how they live. two months old and are all hudThe sow raises her eleven-daydled together in a corner with a old piglets in a pen bedded with heat lamp. straw open to the public to ooh The two females, or nannies, in and aah as her children run to and Dinner line Piglets enjoy a family meal together and the Stock Show’s the pen each had twins, which is fro squealing almost as much as the new National Western Nursery exhibit. Photo by Asher Hoyt typical for goats. crowd. The kids are already great climbThe babies seem small but that is ers; they were scaling the hay bale in their enclosure as if it were a because with pigs, the larger the liter, the smaller each piglet. These piglets are, for now, drinking their mom’s milk, but will peak. The National Western Nursery will continue to delight visitors soon start eating more solid food such as a corn and soy mixture. On this diet, within a year each piglet will weigh around 300 until the Stock Show ends January 26.
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Kids and adults can find live links to information about stories in Colorado Kids at www.ColoradoNIE.com
Sudoku
Rules: Every row across, every column down and each of the six smaller boxes must contain numerals 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, one time and one time only. The solution to this week’s puzzle is on Page 4.
3 3 4 5
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HarriS THe alpaca ‘Small fry’ bowS did expecT To raTe To No compeTiTor
6 5
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4 2 1 3 5
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Come read more stories, and maybe write one yourself!
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w w w. n e x t g e n .y o u r h u b . c o m
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Youth-written stories that appear here also appear on
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Jesse was there to impress an audience, not to stand in one. Ever since Jesse could walk he has had a fiddle in his hand. When his grandmother played her fiddle for Jesse it was love at first sight for him. Today, he practices an hour a day in the mornings and at night. Jesse has the knowledge to play 30 tunes at his young age, and loves every minute he places a finger on his fiddle. This young gun was at the stock show for the Colorado Fiddle Championships. There are 8 divisions in this competition ranging in ages
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By Ben West 13, a CK Reporter from Denver
from under 8 to 60 and above. Jesse participated in the youngest division called the Small Fry. He had already tried for two years to win this, and this year, still competing against much older competition, Jesse was determined to win the $250 and silver belt buckle with a fiddle on it. After Jesse played his three tunes the audience went nuts, and even more so when they found out that the little 5 year old beat out all the other contestants. Jesse is known around the Denver fiddling world for being the great young jammer he is. Linnea Kenney, head of the Colorado Fiddle Championships, said “Jesse is so good at what he does bePhoto by Ben West cause of his strong ear, great sense of time, and the way he just loves it.” Jesse Quintana is a kid to keep on the lookout for, and will hopefully grow into something even greater one day! 2
But that’s how Harris, one of the alpacas from Annie’s Alpaca Ranch, greeted me when I showed up to talk with ranch owner Ann Danielson at the National Western Stock Show. Apparently that’s normal for a more aggressive alpaca. Woodrow, the other alpaca she was showing, was friendly but shy. The alpaca’s wool felt like a soft blanket. Alpacas are sheared once a year, and the wool is sent to a mill to be turned into yarn, which is used to make socks, hats, scarves and even blankets. Alpacas are much smaller than llamas and have pointier ears. The average alpaca is about 160 pounds and is valued mainly for its wool.
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ive-year-old Jesse Quintana visited the Stock Show Sunday, January 12, but not to see the animals.
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By Kaden Porter, 11, a CK Reporter from Denver
Llamas are used as guard animals or to carry heavy loads on long trips. Danielson has been raising alpacas for nine years. Having grown up on a farm in Iowa, she’s used to taking care of livestock. She currently has 16 alpacas and shows them around the state. In competitions, alpacas are judged on the quality of their wool, their gait, their teeth and their build. Before judging begins, the alpacas are separated into groups by color and type. Suri alpacas Photo by Kaden Porter have more of a silky, stringy wool while Huacayas have more of a blanket-like coat. Harris and Woodrow are both Huacayas and are both brown, so they competed in the same class at the stock show. Harris placed second and Woodrow third. Alpacas eat 2 percent of their body weight a day, mostly grass and hay. Danielson says she likes alpacas “because they are easy to care for and are smart.” What she likes least? “Probably the spitting.”
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eing sprayed with spit isn’t what you would expect when first meeting someone.
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