COLUMBUS, Ohio – Officials at the Ohio State Fair and Kentucky State Fair are out to show that children with special needs have an opportunity to show livestock just like any other kid.

In Columbus, officials for the Ohio State Fair are gearing up for their second Breaking Boundaries Pig Show, a mentorship program for youth and young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

Last year’s show, presented by the Ohio Pork Council and the OH-PIGS youth swine program, gave participants with disabilities the opportunity to care for and show pigs in front of a state fair audience complete with judges, with help from 25 youth mentors.

Miley and Maddie Caldwell, both from Leesburg, Ohio, served as mentors last year. A veteran of showing pigs in Ohio and throughout the country, Miley wanted to share the activity with others, adding that it opened her eyes for challenges others face on a daily basis.

“Giving them the same opportunity that my peers and I have just opens doors to see how working with animals can bring us all together,” Miley said.

Last year, the sisters mentored participant Joel Buyer.

“Even though he was in a wheelchair, he was still very capable of showing a pig,” Maddie said. “He wasn’t scared and was really excited about showing, which allowed him to do a great job.”

Kelly Morgan, OH-PIGS manager and Ohio State Fair assistant swine superintendent, and Cheryl Day, executive vice president of the Ohio Pork Council, came up with the idea last season.

“We know the real-world life lessons that are gained in the show ring for so many youths around Ohio and the nation and we wanted to create that type of opportunity for this special group of young people, too,” said Morgan, who hopes to make this an annual event at the state fair. “While the experience may have only been for one evening at the state fair, we hope that for the young people and their families this inaugural show created a lifelong memory that creates good emotions.”

At the Kentucky State Fair, they’re operating similarly, but reaching special needs children with the use of lambs in what they call The Sunshine Class. This class will enter its third year this summer at the state fair in Louisville. Participation doubled from five participants in 2022 to 10 last year. The increase in participation may require expanding the class to other types of livestock.

Kentucky State Fair Board member Joe Goggin came up with the idea. Helping Goggin is Kentucky Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Warren Beeler, who has a special needs child himself. Beeler was sold on The Sunshine Class two years ago when he enrolled his daughter, Abby, in the event.

“Abby is like an infant at 32, very severe as a special needs girl,” Beeler said. “She was fussing until I tied that lamb to her wheelchair, then she smiled. The Sunshine Class gives an opportunity for special needs kids to be really special. It’s an amazing event.”

Another participant at last year’s Sunshine Class was Damian Barron, 12.

“It was his first year last year, and he wants to do it again,” said his father, Mike Barron, a Kentucky Department of Agriculture field employee in the Division of Animal Health. “When he was little, he got scared by a lamb, so it took us a while to get him warmed back up. Our main goal one of these days is for him to go out into the ring in an electric wheelchair and show by himself.”

Each member of the Sunshine Class is paired with a mentor or other junior exhibitor who usually brings the lambs.

“Sheep are chosen because of being gentle, halter broke, and the right size to not be intimidating,” Beeler said. “I’ve seen a Sunshine Class with pigs and goats. There’s talk of expanding to the hog barn with a class, but just talk presently. We would like to see the lamb show increase significantly to 20, 30 or 40 maybe someday. It has some momentum now.”

Each Sunshine Class exhibitor receives a purple champion banner.

“They are not placed. Everyone is a champion,” Beeler said. “The special exhibitors just need to show up, and we do everything for them.”