MARION, Ohio – Beautiful weather greeted nearly 600 lambs and almost 200 exhibitors in Marion on June 8 for the Marion County Lamb Jam.

The event was another stop in the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association LEAD series of sanctioned shows. The series provides competitive events and educational opportunities for Ohio’s young sheep farmers.

The event featured more than sheep and kids, as a network of parents and relatives were on hand to support the young exhibitors.

Much like parents’ active involvement in youth sports, parents of children who raise and show livestock are also heavily invested in their children’s performance. Lamb Jam was no exception.

Many parents anxiously stood around their children as they prepared for the ring. They helped their children prep their sheep, washing, and trimming, trying to make sure that the child and their sheep were presented in the best light possible.

Judges Tyler Homann, Annie Schoetmer, and Scott Peters offered constructive feedback, describing animal traits and critiquing exhibitors’ skills as they paraded and posed their sheep in the ring.

Some families celebrated success, while others consoled their children, explaining that it was a learning opportunity and there would be other chances.

This is the third year the Marion County Fairgrounds hosted the show, which featured a market lamb show and a breeding sheep show split between meat and wool breeds.

“It’s an Ohio Sheep Improvement Association-sanctioned show so kids get points for showing their animals,” Steve Isler said. “We have showmanship class for both the market lambs and the breeding sheep.”

Isler and his wife Cath serve as the Lamb Jam show managers and live and farm in Marion County. “We’re crop farmers and have some Dorset and Shropshire breeding sheep that we raise and show,” Isler said. “Both of our kids are involved in showing in the series too.”

Showmanship classes, part of the market lamb and breeding sheep shows, allow young exhibitors to demonstrate their hard work preparing their sheep for the judges.

Sheep entered in the breed show must be registered with the appropriate breed association while market animals may be cross-breeds. In addition, the breed show featured meat breeds and wool breeds in two different categories.

Ohio Sheep Improvement Association Lead series sanctioned shows start the first of May and go through the end of June, which bleeds into the county fair season.

“Most of the people that show in these shows may take those lambs to their county fair or the state fair in August,” Isler said. But a lot of the time they just show on that show circuit.”

More show opportunities exist for breeding sheep than market sheep. “There’s an All-American show in Michigan this year that a lot of people go to on the breeding sheep side,” Isler said. “And there’s a national show in Louisville in November that the same breeding sheep will go to.”

Market sheep shows generally end with the county fair season.

Russ Johnson described how the OSIA show series works as he and his 13-year-old daughter Mallory, prepped her Southdown January ram to compete in the Breeding Sheep Meat Breeds Show.

“The Ohio Sheep Improvement Association Lead series is for kids to show market lambs and breeding sheep in June and then at the state fair,” he said. “We’ll have five breeding sheep shows and the goal is to earn prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the series.”

Johnson and his family live in Wooster, Ohio, and raise sheep as a side interest. “My wife and I are employed off the farm and we do this as a side with the kids, probably more as a hobby than a vocation,” he said. “But my wife and I have been involved in sheep since we were youth, so this is a way to raise a family of seven.”

Mallory finished fifth in the Breeding Class Junior 13 Showmanship class and participated in several Breeding Sheep Meat Breeds Show classes.

Brianna Moeller, an 11-year-old from Orient, Ohio, showed several Border Leicester sheep in the Breeding Sheep Wool Breeds Show. The wool breed produces long hardwearing wool that’s easy to spin into mittens, sweaters, and hats.

Her father Brian. who was helping Brianna put the finishing touches on a wool sheep before her turn in the ring, raises purebred Shropshire sheep, and started Brianna with a purebred Border Leicester as an agriculture project.

Even at her young age, Brianna’s a veteran of the show ring. “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” she said. She started showing when she was 5 and she still enjoys each show. “It’s about getting to meet new people and new experiences,” she said.

Brianna participated in both the Breeding Sheep Wool Breeds Show and the Breeding Sheep Meat Breeds Show as well as the Breeding Class Junior 11 Showmanship class, where she finished fourth.

Because this was an Ohio-sanctioned show, most exhibitors were Ohioans. However, youth from Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan also participated. Exhibitor age divisions ranged from 9-18. There was also a novice division for kids a little younger. They could show either a market animal or a breeding animal.