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Before they go out in front of another big crowd, Ilsa and Shawn have a routine.

“We typically like to take a little walk before, just so both of us get our jitters out. Then it's just waiting. We both kind of sit down, take a drink, take a deep breath,” said Ilsa. “I give him a little pep talk ... and then it's showtime.”

Ilsa is Ilsa Johnson, a 17-year-old from Duluth. Shawn is... her 8-month-old market wether sheep. Her “little buddy,” as she put it.

Johnson is among the hundreds of 4-H members who have brought award-winning cows, sheep, pigs and other animals to this year’s Minnesota State Fair. They’ve worked for months to raise and prepare the animals for the fair.

On Sunday, Johnson relaxed in a hammock above her sheep pen before recounting Shawn’s success. He received a blue ribbon in one of his two shows at the fair, and is the biggest market male in his class at the fair, weighing in at 178 pounds. 

Johnson has been feeding him about one pound of grain every day. But when it comes to judging animals at the fair, there’s a lot more to it than just size. It’s also the discipline and showmanship of both animal and owner.

Johnson said the key to getting an animal ready for the show arena is time and repetition. 

“It starts with just the simple things like halter training,” she said. “Then we go to walking on a halter, and then its walking without a halter, and then stuff like setting up, so that he knows how to set himself up during a show. And then him just getting used to people petting him (and) being in big places like the state fair, with lots of noise and people.”

Nicole Skindelien, an 11-year-old from Douglas County in western Minnesota, said she’s worked on teaching her sheep — Steve — how to “brace,” or pose. 

“You push on their chest and they should push back, if you’ve worked with them,” she said. “That shows off their muscles because they’re pushing back.”

Having good muscle tone is key, so many 4-H'ers make it part of their routine to take their livestock out for walks. And, like people, the animals are strategically groomed and styled to highlight their assets and downplay their flaws. Skindelin has a specific routine for Steve prior to a show. 

“Well, we put him in his stand and then we get all the wood shavings off and then we use some oils for his legs,” she said.

These are animals, though, so they do have minds of their own. Sometimes they don’t want to follow their owner’s lead.

“You just keep smiling, keep working and hope it gets better,” said 13-year-old Madi Tollerud, who was at the fair to show Delilah, a Brown Swiss cow.

All the prep and the crowds and the judges used to make Katelyn Slettom anxious. 

“I used to get nervous because I’m like, ‘Oh no, what if I quit smiling, what if I do something wrong?,’ ” she recalled. 

After showing animals for 11 years, the 16-year-old from Itasca County doesn’t get as nervous anymore. She shows pigs, sheep, cows and chickens, in addition to entering the woodworking competition.

Slettom went with a vegetable theme when naming her animals this year. She showed two pigs, one named Squash and the other named Zucchini. And her calves were named Cucumber, Lettuce and Carrot. 

Sometimes she has trouble coming up with new names for her animals, so she’ll enlist the help of friends. But she said that by far the hardest part is knowing she won’t be able to keep her animals forever. 

“When you raise a market animal you do know that he’s going to end up at market,” she said. “But then when you end up loading him on the trailer so that he can leave, you get sad. Like, I understood that my pig was going to get loaded on the trailer and he was going to go — which was fine, because that’s what I raised him for, and I knew that was going to happen all along. And then it happened, and I still cried. And I’m like, ‘I knew this was going to happen, I’m prepared’ — and then you still get emotionally attached.”

But the teenager uses the money she makes off of selling her 4-H animals to help fund her little hobby farm. Both her mom and dad grew up on farms, and Slettom plans to run a small operation of her own in the future. 

Ilsa Johnson also wants to continue working with animals. She isn’t sure where she wants to go to college, but she knows she wants to major in animal science before heading off to vet school. 

“Through 4-H I’ve gained so much confidence and public speaking skills,” she said. “It’s helped me become the person I am. It’s shaped what I want to do with my future. I’ve made some of my closest friends. 4-H has truly opened so many doors for me that I am so thankful for.“

And she’s thankful for her quality time spent with Shawn, too. 

“I think he might be a little bit sad to leave, but we’ve had a lot of fun,” she said.

More from the fair

Minnesota State Fair sets another attendance record

Food critics dish on their must-try food at the fair — and must-avoid

Sen. Bernie Sanders brings campaign to Minnesota State Fair

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Marcheta Fornoff

Author

Each day at the Minnesota State Fair, thousands of people wander into the livestock barns to look at award-winning cows, sheep and pigs. But behind each of those animals — and sometimes sleeping in the stalls with them — are kids who have put in months of hard work preparing for the fair.

4H Kids At The Fair

Madi Tollerud, 13, takes a break at the Minnesota State Fair 

Marcheta Fornoff | MPR News

Ilsa Johnson, 17, of Duluth, poses for a photo with her sheep Shawn

Katelyn Slettom, 16, of Itasca County, Minn.

Devin Pietz, a high school senior from Pipestone County, Minn.

'It's showtime': 4-H'ers work for months to get animals ready for State Fair

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