By Celeste Baumgartner

Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It’s held on Showmanship Day at the state fair, so the swine barn is always packed for the Ohio Pork Council’s (OPC) Breaking Boundaries Pig Show. People love it. This year, 13 young people with intellectual, developmental or physical disabilities worked with a mentor and experienced the pride of exhibiting livestock at the fair.

Each participant entered the show ring alongside an experienced youth exhibitor who showed at the state fair and is in the OH-PIGS program. This program, during its summer show circuit, seeks to instill positive character-building traits in young people through the demonstration of great sportsmanship, respect for others, responsibility and care of livestock.

At the Breaking Boundaries Show, these exhibitors act as mentors; they share their pigs, their livestock knowledge, and encouragement while helping participants learn how to present an animal before a crowd. Lessons are learned, friendships formed and memories made.

“Breaking Boundaries is a show where kids with physical and mental disabilities have the opportunity to work with some of Ohio’s finest showmen and women,” said Kayla Barker, OPC consumer outreach director. “They get to work with them, get to know the animal, and get to have a little showmanship contest at the state fair.”

This was the fourth year for the show, Barker said. Some of the participants were working with their mentors and pigs before the fair. The others had about an hour before the show started to spend time with their mentor and the pig that they would be showing.

Kelly Morgan, the swine barn director, works with the kids and their mentors beforehand, Barker explained. They make sure that the mentors, the pigs, the participants and their parents are comfortable with what is happening so everyone is safe in the process. The parents love it.

“Each participant who stepped into that ring showed tremendous courage,” Morgan said. “Our mentors understood that their job was not to take over. It was to stand beside each participant, listen, adapt and give them the confidence to show the pig for themselves. I am incredibly proud of our OH-PIGS youth for using the skills they have gained in the show ring to open that ring to someone else.”

Added Barker, “A couple of the kids that were in either a wheelchair or a walker went to the mentor’s farms and to see how the wheelchair or walker would work while showing their pig. That was cool.”

Some of the participants have been coming back for the past couple of years, and they stick with the same mentors, Barker explained. They are close with those families. They are able to visit the farm to see the pigs beforehand.

“We give the mentors and participants T-shirts and banners, and we make little goodie bags for them, just something to take away from the experience,” Barker said. “I think this show is something that everyone looks forward to, whether you are a swine barn exhibitor or not. The stands are always full. It is a great experience. I think agriculture is the best thing to get your kids into.”