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What can I say other than the road that my family and I have traveled on to get to this point has been tough at times but educational and rewarding. Hi, my name is Brian Blackburn of Broadview, New Mexico. I am the 18 year old son of Jay Lynn and Darshan Blackburn. I have two phenomenal older sisters Jennifer (22) and Heather (20). I live on a farm and ranch operation where we raise a few sheep and mostly cattle. My family has always showed lambs and steers. We raised our own and bought some and were fortunate enough to win with both.
It was during my first show that I had my first exposure to what my family always would refer to as our show family. No matter where we have shown there are those groups of people that were willing to help us. Whether it is to help us unload all the stuff that we always seem to carry to a show or to help us show our animals because we always seemed to haul too many. To rooting for us on the sideline of a big show or being in the show ring side by side as competitors. May the best family win and when it’s all said and done they will still be there no matter who won or what the placing.
I began my show career when I was eight years old at the Eastern New Mexico State Fair. I only had two lambs and one steer. One Finewool Cross from Kyle Smithwick and a Blackface lamb and a steer both of which came from Storm Gerhart. I did not make the sale with anything but it was an experience that would set my showing career in motion. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail but the effort put into a project should be 100% and then no matter what the outcome you will be a winner. I was in the ring showing Freckles in the initial line up before the first cut was made and the Judge came over to feel my lamb then he pointed at me to move up and go to the scales to weigh. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there still showing my little heart out until Heidi and Halee Best (who were showing right next to me) told me that the judges motion was a good thing and to go weigh my lamb. When the class was over I ended up in fifth place behind Heidi and Halee. Like I said no matter what the placing we were and still are friends with the entire Best Family.
The next seven years my sisters and I were all showing and the majority of my family’s time was spent at the barn. During all my years of showing, the fairs were considered our vacation. I have learned many great lessons about life from my experiences though showing. I have learned patience, which does not come easy for me. I have learned how to win and lose not only from others whom I have competed against but from within the competition of my own family. My very competitive sisters always seemed to have the luck of the draw and were always on top, but in reality they were just paving the path for me. This allowed me to win Reserve Grand Champion at Denver with a Ceasar bred lamb raised by David Garrett. The other highlights of my show career were Reserve Grand Champion lamb at the New Mexico State Fair that was bred by Storm Gerhart and I ended my show career in New Mexico by winning Grand Champion Lamb at the Eastern New Mexico State Fair with a lamb bred by Jim Miller.
As I began my show career at the Curry County Fair the lamb show had been won for many consecutive years by one particular family. Shay Willoughby set a good example that made us strive to get better. After a couple more years experience under our belt we finally achieved our goal as a family of winning the show in 2001. We have won it as a family with me winning it twice and Jennifer and Heather each winning it three times.
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Our steer projects at the county level were very competitive. As a family we managed to win Grand Champion three times and Reserve Grand three times. These Champions were home grown except for one bred by Lyle Hutchins and the other from Mike Mimms. Competition year end and year out came from families such as the Hinrichs, Grau’s, Runyan’s, Lockmiller’s and Armstrong’s.
The New Mexico State Fair is where the most competitive showmen in the State of New Mexico come to show and see if their animals are good enough to win and be called the best in the State. We looked forward each year to seeing family and friends from across the state. My older sister Jennifer had Reserve Grand Champion Lamb in 2005 with a lamb bred by Jim Miller the year before I had my reserve. We were fortunate as a family to win numerous breed and reserve breed champions. Many thanks to a number of breeders for great lambs such as Kyle Smithwick (Finewool cross), Dwayne Hurlman (Dorset), David Garrett (Mutton Cross), Jim Miller and Storm Gerhart (Blackfaces) and also my Dad Jay Lynn (Mutton Cross and Blackface). Recently a new show was added to the steer barn at the State Fair the New Mexico Bred Steer Show. With home grown calves I was able to win Reserve Grand Champion for the past three years. Thanks to my Grandpa C. J.’s A-I and embryo program this would not have been possible.
The Eastern New Mexico State Fair is another competitive show that my sisters and I ended the show season with until we began to go to National Shows in 2006. At this fair we always did fairly well with our lambs and managed to win Grand once and Reserve Grand once. In 2004 Heather managed to win Grand Champion with a steer raised by my Dad. This show was always different from the others, in regards to the fact that the calves were slick sheared.
In 2006 Jennifer was the only one that could attend the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. She had Reserve Champion Speckle Face Lamb which was bred by David Garrett. In 2007 Heather and I went to my first national livestock show in Denver. It was very different from anything I have ever known, for one it was freezing cold and another was I could only take two lambs. That year I took home the Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb and Champion Speckle Face Lamb which was bred by Todd Bradley. In November 2008 Heather and I also traveled to Kansas City for the American Royal. We took one steer and four lambs.
Through all of this hard work and dedication to the sheep and steers, I also managed to play high school sports and participate in many FFA and 4-H judging competitions. I was a member of the high school basketball, baseball, and track teams, as well as being a member of FCA and the National Honor Society. My senior year I was voted Homecoming and Prom King as well. Part of my high school activities also included judged meats and livestock through Grady’s FFA and 4-H programs. At the 2006 State FFA Competition, Heather and I managed to be a part of the winning Livestock Judging Team. This gave us the opportunity to travel to Indianapolis, Indiana for the National FFA Livestock Judging Contest where we placed seventh overall. I have also traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky, and many other places for National 4-H contests for meats and livestock. I would like to thank the various people who helped us practice on our way to judging trips, your valuable advice and support keeps these organizations going strong.
My life has been blessed with many people who love and encourage me to be a better person. I want to thank all of my show families who have been there no matter what the outcome of the show. I will never forget the memories we made and the stories and laughs we shared. To all the friends and families such as the Luce’s, William’s, Crist’s, Leonard’s and Shafer’s I would like to thank you. I would like to thank my grandparents C. J. and Nancy Blackburn, whether it was grandma taking numerous pictures to capture the moments we wished we had back or grandpa who was always around when we needed a hand to hold an animal or a bottle of water to quench our thirst. Thanks to my other Grandma, Pug Jennings and Aunt Debbie for always rooting for me and my sisters on the sidelines. I would also like to thank my family, my parents for teaching me responsibility and that hard work will pay off, and my sisters for keeping me competitive and keeping me wanting to do better. Win or lose at the end of the day we, as a family knew we did it the right way.
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