If you give a child a heifer, she will need a halter for her calf. And then she will want a bucket and a feed pan. Before you know it, she will be comparing all of the best heifer rations to feed her calf.
When she learns of the dairy shows at the county fair, she will want a leather show halter. This child will go to dairy shows so she knows how to lead her heifer, and she will discover that show heifers have fantastic toplines. The child will want clippers and brushes and clear magic. She will be persistent. She will watch master-showmen, and she will see that she needs a number harness. Watch out for the day that this child yearns for more than just the county dairy show, and trust me this will happen.
The child will take her heifer to a show and will need straw and hay and feed and beet pulp, maybe even natural fill. This child will be the one taking excellent care of her heifer. She will soon discover that she needs a pitchfork and a wheel barrel at the fair, not just at home. When the heifer gets dirty the child will need a hose, wash brushes and orvus.
You will soon realize that this child has chosen a lifestyle different from her peers. Show whites are the outfit of choice and Old Navy carries what you need. While this child’s friends are at the ball diamond, your barn yard princess is cleaning out barns and building fences. When her friends are sunning themselves by the pool, this child is reading bull proofs at ringside. When this child has sliced open and sprained her arm she will cry. . . She will cry because the doctor has ordered no use of the arm. Oh, but she will cry out that her heifers need clipped and led and fed.
And when it is vacation time you will soon learn that this child would rather spend her time in the dairy barn than at the beach. After all, cows don’t make good swimming companions, but they are her best friends.
When you give a child a heifer you will teach her to always hold on. And hold on that child will. She will hold on to her calf, hold on to her dreams, hold on to her goals and plans, but most importantly she will hold on to what she holds dear.
Maybe, just maybe this child will realize that a dream that started with just a heifer can take her around the world and back. One heifer will become two and then four maybe even eight. Tears of sadness will be shed with defeat and tears of joy and happiness will be shed with triumph. But there will be tears, all because you gave a child a heifer. When you gave this child a heifer, you gave her a dream. And, you helped her blaze a trail that is different than that of her peers.
Thank you to Rebekah Powers Headings for allowing us to share.