WALTON - While the Delaware County Fair may only last a week each year, back home on the family farm - Dam Broke Farm - Kendyll McDonald, 13, spends nearly the entire year not only preparing her animals for show, but doing her part to ensure all other animals on the farm are taken care of.
Between school, sports, and a social life, Kendyll carves time before, sometimes during and after her other obligations to finish barn chores to work with her animals in order to prepare them for the Delaware County Fair, she said.
Kendyll has shown horses, pigs, and sheep in her show career, she said; this year, she will show five-month-old Barbara Jean in the swine market classes.
To prepare Barbara Jean for show, Kendyll said she feeds her a slightly different mix of feed each day than the other pigs get. Additionally, Barbara Jean is a big fan of marshmallows, which Kendyll said she uses as a treat for motivation when teaching Barbara Jean how to properly walk in preparation for showing.
Of all the animals she has shown, Kendyll said she prefers pigs because of their bold personalities and how they engage with her. As Kendyll spoke about it, Barbara Jean displayed her headstrong personality by walking herself back to the barn and opening her pen door to rejoin her friends inside.
Kendyll said she most enjoys the competition when showing animals, and the intensity of the moment when she steps into the show ring. Though showing animals is about more than winning, Kendyll said, as she looks forward to spending time with her friends who also show animals each year.
Kendra Taggart Wiggans, Kendyll’s mom, agreed, and said she appreciates the opportunity 4-H provides her kids to maintain generational friendships with the children of people she used to show animals with. Kendyll and her younger sister Korbyn are the fourth generation of the family to show animals at the Delaware County Fair, Taggart Wiggans said.
On Dam Broke Farm, whether it’s preparing for show season or just day-to-day barn chores, the operation only runs smoothly when each person is pitching in to do their part, Taggart Wiggans said.
The teamwork encouraged at home on the farm is translated in the ring, as each of Taggart Wiggans’ kids have earned the sportsmanship award for going above and beyond to help out others during shows, she said.
“It’s like a sports team. It’s family, it’s teamwork. There’s no way around it. There’s so much that I couldn’t do without them, and they couldn’t do without me.”
