I stopped by the swine showmanship competition Saturday night at the Florida State Fair to check on Ryann and her pig Garth.
Garth seemed to be the biggest pig there. Ryann said he weighed more than 280 pounds.
He was a real handful that night. He plopped down in the dirt twice while Ryann was trying to walk him around the ring. A couple of other FFA members had to help out by prodding him with canes until he got back up again.
Ryann also said Garth had chewed on another pig’s ear that night.
So, needless to say, they didn’t win the competition, but Ryann took home a red ribbon.
You should have seen Ryann and Garth together afterward, though.
After Ryann climbed into Garth’s pen, he perked up immediately. As some of her family members said, “You can see the love.”
Ryann and Garth were supposed to have said goodbye yesterday. I asked her if that was going to be hard, and she said it was. She said she was just telling herself that Garth was a project, that she was raising him so she could eventually sell him. But she grew close to him, and this was her first time showing an animal.
I suspect we’ll be hearing from Ryann this week about her impressions of the fair and what it was like saying goodbye to ‘ole Garth.
In the meantime, here are the photos I took of them Saturday night: