Happy Birthday to Our Show Mom

I know I promised stories from NJAS (National Junior Angus Show) but I am going to wait one more day so I can express a big Happy Birthday to our mom, Patty Harward! I know everyone says it, but I truly believe I have the best mom ever. :) After all who else do you know that could handle us five girls all under one roof? Our mom is one of the most caring, kind, supportive, loving, FUN, and amazing people I know. She is always there for us to talk to, cry to, laugh with, and to give us advice. Our mom not only loves us but loves Christ first, showing us her relationship with Him.

While my mom is amazing in all of these aspects, she is also the epitome of a "show mom," a special breed of women in the livestock industry. My mom did not grow up showing cattle or even on a farm. We always laugh and say she "grew up on concrete" in Charlotte, NC. However, for over 20 years being married to my dad, living on a farm, and helping out with farm chores has definitely (kinda, sorta)  prepared her to be a show mom. Our mom (and dad) have taught us that if we want to show it is our responsibility to feed, halter break, wash, and work with our cattle. In my opinion this strengthens her role as a show mom because she has taught us the valuable life lessons of hard work, responsibility, and team work. She travels with us to almost every show and always has food ready or shirts ironed, ready for us to go in the ring. In the summer when we travel to the NJAS for the week long show, my dad can not go because of our family's businesses so she is the parent who loads up five girls to travel around the country to show our cattle. She is a Show Mom, our Show Mom, and we are extremely proud of and thankful for her. 

Legacy Livestock Imaging

All in all, I do not know what I would do without my mom.

Happy Birthday Mom! You are the best!

And if you all want to you can go over and wish her a happy birthday too either on here or on Facebook ;) !

THE National Junior Angus Show!

For most people summer time means days at the pool, trips to the beach, and sleeping in while kids do not have school. For me and my family it means preparing for shows that will start in July and continue through our State Fair in October. This means that not only do we continue to feed our cattle every day-two times a day-but we must also work with our cattle daily. Working with our cattle includes rinsing the calves (giving them a "bath"), combing their hair, leading them on the halter, working with a "showstick" to work on setting their feet in the "correct" position (more on that in a later post), and more. We work on all of this throughout the summer to get them prepared for the shows, and most specifically, the National Junior Angus Show! This year, Catherine had to stay home to work at the farm, but myself (Brooke), LeAnn, Marcie, and Mattie attended the show with our heifers Corrie, Laila, Panda, and Diamond.

One of our favorite shows of the year is the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), one of the largest single beef breed shows in the world. The NJAS is held for one week during July and varies from place to place across the United States. This year it was held in Kansas City, MO from July 5-July 11 and kids from California, New York, and everywhere in between were in attendance. My sisters and I were some of those kids and, as always, we claim it as one of the most exciting weeks of our summer.

During the week we showed our cattle but we also participated in a multitude of contests and other activities. These included public speaking, a cook-off contest, a mentoring program, career development, photography, and more. We also had the chance to be on TV promoting Certified Angus Beef!

Over the next few days I will tell stories and pictures from what my sisters and I were able to see and do over the 9 day trip to Kansas City and back. For now here are some snap shots of our week at the National Junior Angus Show in Kansas City, MO. Come back over the next couple of days to hear the full stories of these pictures!

Come back soon!!

-Brooke

A little about the Harward Sisters!

A short bio about the sisters: 

We are Brooke, Catherine, LeAnn, Marcie, and Mattie Harward, also known as the “Harward Sisters.” We live in Richfield, NC (Stanly County) with our dad and mom, Marcus and Patty Harward. Our family runs a commercial beef cattle operation as well as three livestock auction markets in NC and SC and a livestock video auction. We all attend Highland Baptist Church in New London, NC. Brooke is 20 years old and is currently attending NC State University. She will graduate in December and plans to return to work at the family businesses. Catherine just graduated high school and has accepted the Parks Scholarship to attend NC State University in the fall. She will be studying Animal Science and Agricultural Business Management. LeAnn is a rising sophomore in high-school at Gray Stone Day School where she is Sophomore Class President and a member of the volleyball team. Marcie and Mattie will be attending middle school next year and will be in the 6^th grade. The twins enjoy playing the piano, singing in chorus, and playing volleyball through their traveling volleyball team.

We started showing livestock about 8 years ago. Even though we grew up on our family’s cattle farm and were involved with the operation from an early age, we had not considered showing cattle before this time. In 2005, Catherine was first asked if she would like to start showing with a family who had seen her at the auction markets. That fall Catherine showed at county fairs and the NC State Fair. The next spring Brooke, LeAnn and the twins, Marcie and Mattie, said they would like to show and began going to shows with Catherine as well. The three older girls showed at multiple shows across North Carolina the next few years and Marcie and Mattie showed wherever they could, even though they were mostly in the “Pee-Wee” division. In 2009 we attended our first National Junior Angus Show in Georgia and since then have not only shown in NC but also traveled across the US to show at National Junior Angus Association shows. We also show in a Show Circuit in the fall attending multiple county fairs and the NC State Fair every year.

What is your favorite part of showing livestock?

Our favorite part about showing livestock is the friends you make along the way. As much as we love our cattle and love to compete, we also love the friends that we have made. We all have at least one friend that we have made through showing cattle that we consider to be one of our best friends. Our other favorite part about showing livestock is the fact that we as sisters have a common goal and passion to show livestock. Showing has brought us closer as a family and we are very thankful for that.

Biggest accomplishment in showing livestock:

We all have different accomplishments but are proud of each other for what we have achieved.

Brooke: Winning senior showmanship at the NC State Fair. Also earning the title of Miss American Angus, although this was not directly showing it was partly due to my success in the show ring and the lessons I learned from showing.

Catherine: Winning Reserve Champion Angus Heifer at the NC State Fair two years in a row with the same heifer.

LeAnn: Earning Reserve Senior Champion with my cow and bred-and-owned heifer at the Atlantic National Junior Regional Show in Maryland.

Marcie: Winning Junior Showmanship at the WNC Spring Fling and winning my first belt buckle!

Mattie: Winning junior showmanship two years in a row at the NC Junior Beef Round-Up.