As I write this, I’m sitting ringside at looking at Jersey cows parade across hot pink shavings at the “Big Dance” – otherwise known as the World Dairy Expo. I make this trek across the Midwest every year, and this is one of my favorite jobs as a member of the media.

Yesterday was the Junior Holstein Show and, as always, my camera found its way to capture some of the cutest shots of youth as they paraded their projects over the same shavings as some of the most famous breeders down through the years.

One of the cutest kids was a little blonde girl with a big silver bow in her hair.

She was a standout not just because of her big bow, but because of her confidence as she led a heifer, a foot taller than her 60-pound frame, into the winners’ circle.

As she showed that jet-black heifer she fixed, touched, moved and paraded just like show-ring peers 50 years her senior. You know the saying when someone is an “old soul,” a young person who acts much more mature than their numerical age? That was her; she had an old showman’s soul.

She knew what to do, when to do it and she wasn’t doing it for showmanship sake – she was doing it to win. She was a joy to watch and even more fun to photograph.

Then the aged cow class entered the ring and so did one of my favorite cows from Indiana.

She is truly no stranger to the winners’ circle, winning several shows over the years.

She rose to the top of that class and ended up being tapped for Reserve Grand Champion of the show.

Her leadsman? A teenager who always has a smile on his face, a good word to say and also an “old soul” in the  show ring who knows what to do and when to do it.

Some faces are as intense as an NFL lineman, and others parade through wearing their poker face. Like their leadsman, some cows are barn-sour and can’t wait to trot back to the stalls, while others are born for the ring, ears perked, head held high as if to say, “Look at me, I’m the Next. Big. Thing.”

At the end of the day, the White House press corps can keep their press badges that allow them into every area of a Presidential world. I’ll keep my show-ring photographer’s badge, the sore feet and manure-stained boots that allow me to see some of the best cows in the world.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.