Six days into the Montezuma County Fair, an otherwise orderly weigh-in at the scale barn turned rowdy when a pair of cattle ran loose Tuesday, causing ranchers to corral the animals.
Ranchers jumped up to help but recognized that many events happen each time the fair takes place; the occasional livestock chase too is another.
“Every year it usually happens,” said Trent Carver, a Montezuma County fair board member. “We get one or two loose.”
As several cattle were lined up for their weigh-in at the scale barn around noon, two steers being guided on a patch of ground got loose and ran up a hill south of the fairgrounds. In response, several ranchers encircled the animals in a corralling effort, eventually leading the animals into an enclosure on the eastern edge of the fairgrounds.
Wrangling is all part of the learning process for the 4-H Club youths.
Jayce Patcheck, 10, was bringing the steers out from a trailer when the two animals ran off.
“I was holding the first one when it came out,” Patcheck said. “The other one, it rope-burned me. Then that one got away.”
Patcheck made sure to demonstrate his knowledge of cattle.
“Heifers are just girls,” he explained. “They can be used for milk, but we use them for reproducing. The steers are boys, but they cannot breed. We normally use them for beef.”
Although fairgoers compete against one another in events like watermelon-eating and the carcass contest, other instances require a helping hand.
“Out here we’re like family, and we all watch out for each other,” said Amanda Higgins, a Montezuma County fair board member whose kids will be showing swine, steers and goats.
“If something gets done and a steer gets loose, these people are gonna jump in and help.”
