Sisters double up as winners in livestock

Tessie Faircloth was busy snapping pictures of the two girls excitedly waiting with their hogs in the ring to see who would go home grand champion Sunday at the Highlands County Fair.

Tessie didn't care who won. They were both her daughters, and as far as she was concerned, the ribbons were going to the Faircloth home. She was in hog heaven.

In the end, 12-year-old Kara and her hog, Bubba, notched the top honor in the market hogs category with 72 pigs showing.

Sister Jayme, 15, who ended up being reserve champion with her hog, BJ, was pleased for her younger sister even though they have a little sibling rivalry going.

"I was so proud of her," Jayme smiled, recalling the few tense moments before the big announcement was made.

It's not often that two siblings place as winners in the same category in a livestock show. At the Highlands County Fair, it happens once in a blue moon, a fair official said. As far as the two girls know, the last time that took place was when their dad was a kid and two brothers won.

"To win grand champion and reserve champion with both of them doing that the same year, it never happens," said their dad, Todd. "It was very shocking and very pleasing."

The two sisters have been showing at the livestock show for the last four years. While Jayme's raised a heifer and a steer, too, Kara's stuck with hogs.

"They are easier to raise," Jayme said. "They are not that big."

Tuesday, BJ and Bubba were frisking around in the grass outside their pens, digging into the mud in the afternoon sun and playing with each other.

When the two came as piglets to the Faircloth home in October, they were 5 months old and weighed 50 pounds each.

Since then, they have collectively accumulated about 500 pounds (Bubba weighed in at 250 and BJ at 268 pounds) and have become "partners in crime" just like the two sisters, Jayme grinned.

Raising a hog for a livestock show is not just about feeding them and making them look plump and healthy. They need to be taken for walks, groomed and taught to walk the walk in front of the judges.

"They are like a kid," Todd said.

Livestock show participants have to maintain a record book on their animals (how much they weigh at each weigh-in, when they get vaccinated, the rundown on the feed bill, etc.), invite bidders to auction day, tell show authorities what they learned from their experiences - and juggle their school work and their other extracurricular activities.

"We lost track of the time we spent (tending to the animals)," Jayme said.

Thursday, Jayme and Kara said their byes to BJ and Bubba, who were auctioned off. The money raised will be squirreled away in the girls' college fund.

"That's a sad time," said Kara, who is the unabashedly sentimental of the two and knows she's going to shed tears when that happens.

"She gets closer to her animals," said Jayme. With the bigger sister, it's business as usual and time to do something else.

Next year, the sisters will likely show again although Todd does not think they will repeat their win from this year.

Whether they win or not, Todd knows they will have fun and learn some valuable life lessons.
'It's not about making money," he said. "It's about the responsibility of paying your bills, keeping good records..."