MOUNT VERNON — Jill Bouton had to wait her turn.
And she’ll admit, it wasn’t easy.
She watched her older sister, Audrey, claim the dairy showmanship title at the Knox County Fair in 2019. Then she watched her younger sister, Ella, do the same in 2021.
But Jill, the middle child in one of Knox County’s premier dairy families, didn’t quit. She kept showing up – spending long hours with her cattle after volleyball and basketball practices, breaking them in and training them to walk – and she kept improving.
And on Monday, after seven years of hard work and determination, she got what she came for. Jill Bouton claimed this year’s dairy showmanship title – marking her family’s third in four years, and completing the sisterly trifecta.
Bouton, stoic in the show ring, couldn’t help but smile when Judge Matt Griffith announced her as the winner.
“It’s kind of like a relief, to get that first (showmanship title),” said Bouton, a rising junior at Fredericktown High School. “Now you’ve won it, and you feel confident you can win it again.”
Bouton did it Monday with a mix of poise and precision. She was able to guide her heifer, a year-and-a-half-old Holstein named Winks, calmly through the show arena, while keeping her head up and her legs set.
Griffith praised Bouton for her skill and focus throughout the competition.
“When we pick our overall showmanship (winner), the two things that we start off showing is, ‘How do we carry the head on this handle? Are we keeping the head carried just? How are we holding the (animal), or how are we positioning our body around the animal?’ And then, ‘How do we set (that) rear set of feet and legs up on the heifer, whether we’re setting the animals up in-line or just around the ring?'” Griffith noted near the conclusion of Monday’s contest, before announcing the winner.
“For me today, I’m gonna stick with our oldest shower, our senior showmanship winner,” he continued, motioning towards Bouton. “She’ll be our overall showmanship winner today.
“I felt like she did a really nice job. She was quick on (this) rear set of feet and legs. She never lets the head go down. She’s correct in the faults that this heifer has, and she shows this heifer to her best potential, as far as making her look good out here in the show arena today.”
Bouton outlasted nine other competitors – including her older sister, Audrey – to claim the senior showmanship title. She then surpassed three more competitors – including her younger sister, Ella – to earn the title of master showman.
Ella, a rising freshman at Fredericktown, finished second overall. Audrey, who graduated this spring and will attend the University of Toledo in the fall, placed second in the senior showmanship class.
A total of 24 exhibitors, ages 8-18, participated in this year’s dairy showmanship competition.
Jill Bouton was reserved afterwards, when asked about her performance. It wasn’t her best work, she said, but it got the job done.
“I (showed) her pretty well, but I could’ve done a little bit better. I set her up pretty fast, but a couple times I got a little slow. Her head wouldn’t stay high the entire time, so I was kind of holding her up a little bit,” Bouton conceded. “But other than that, it was OK.”
What Bouton didn’t mention was the fact that she won this year’s dairy showmanship title with one hand.
Bouton broke her right wrist at an AAU basketball tournament in Louisville two weeks ago. She landed awkwardly while trying to take a charge, and it snapped when she hit the hardwood.
Bouton had practiced for months leading her heifer with her dominant hand. It’s what she – and Winks – were used to. But now, with two weeks until the fair, she knew she’d have to change course if she wanted to compete.
So, that’s what Bouton did.
“We worked on it almost every night for the past two weeks, to make sure that she was comfortable with me holding her with that hand,” she recalled.
By the time Monday rolled around, both Bouton and Winks were ready. And it showed come showtime.
Bouton appeared cool, calm and collected while guiding Winks with her left hand around the ring. She sported a black brace around her right wrist – but other than that, nothing seemed out-of-place.
Bouton credited her preparation for her ability to perform – and win – this week.
She and her sisters worked with their projects nearly every day in the weeks and months leading up to the fair. They’d come home from practice, eat dinner and head straight to the barn.
“We walked them 45 minutes nearly every night. …” Bouton recalled. She said the experience has taught her about time management – and priority-setting – at a young age.
“You get home from practice, then you eat dinner, and then you’d go walk your cows,” she continued. “And it’s like, ‘Do I have time to do this? Do I have time to do that?’
“It’s like, ‘What are your priorities?'”
This was the last year all three Bouton sisters could show together at the fair, with Audrey graduating this spring.
Jill called the experience “bittersweet.” While the sisters competed against each other during fair week – and would often find themselves at the top of show classes, duking it out for blue ribbons – they also served as teammates every other week of the year.
It’s been a unique experience, Bouton said Monday. And it’s also been fruitful, as all three sisters now have master showmanship banners to their names.
“It’s like friendly competition,” Bouton said with a smile. “You always try to beat each other, but at the same time, you helped each other break (the cattle) to hold and (got) them to walk. So it’s kind of bittersweet at the same time.”
FULL RESULTS
The following exhibitors were named master showmen in their respective age classes Monday morning:
Senior showmanship
Grand champion: Jill Bouton, Mount Vernon
Reserve grand champion: Audrey Bouton, Mount Vernon
Intermediate showmanship
Grand champion: Ella Bouton, Mount Vernon
Reserve grand champion: Galen Ruprecht, Butler
Junior showmanship
Grand champion: Simon Ruprecht, Butler
Reserve grand champion: Grace Mensching, Mount Vernon
First-year showmanship
Grand champion: Brock Mensching, Mount Vernon
Reserve grand champion: Hazel Ruprecht, Butler
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