R.I.P. WILLIE

I've always been a huge country girl. Grew up on a farm, pretty much everyone in my family has a farm. Started riding horses at age 3. Been around cows since age 5 and so on. My dad also grew up the same way (mom was from the city). Dad was a member of FFA (Future Farmers of America) and 4-H (a city ag group). In high school my father raised a bull named Homer for FFA. He went to school in Houston and would walk this bull up and down the streets of his high school. In my dads high school year book there is a picture of him and Homer sleeping on the ground next to each other at the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo where my dad took home the Grand Champion award! HOW COOL IS THAT! I dont have the picture from the year book because its at my grandmothers house in Houston. 

So after always hearing about how much fun my dad had in FFA I knew I wanted to join when I got in high school! My freshman year was to late to start showing any animals so I waited till my sophomore year to decided what I wanted to show. My dad wanted me to show a heifer but I was so little I dont think I could of handled it. So I went with a pig. I always got comments like "Ew a pig?" or "Arnt they nasty or smelly?" and the answer is no! pigs dont smell if you take care of them! So me and my mom and my ex boyfriend and his mom (cause he was going to raise one as well) all went out to this pig farm with our ag teacher to find a pig for us

(my ag teacher and the pig guy)

(he was the only black one!)

His new home

Trying to go under the fence to his friend! (We would always find him in the other pins the next morning)

OMG look how little he was!!! awwwwww

I trained Willie all by myself. And for those of you who dont know anything about pigs. There EXTREMELY smart! Willie knew how to unhook his gate and get out. he knew how to Sit& Lay down on command. and he knew how to turn on a fan! He was so smart! We had to teach Willie how to walk using a stick as his guide. Meaning, if you tapped him with the stick on his right side he needed to turn left and if you tapped him on his left side he had to go right. He needed to know how to stop and walk backwards and everything. 

(he would always run up to the gate when he heard us coming)

sitting giving me kisses!

(look how big he is now!)

(I always bathed him in apple shampoo)

(he wasnt the best bath taker)

(if you rubbed his belly he would fall over and lay on his back like dog)

(so shinnyyyy)

(he loved it!)

I showed Willie at the Nacogdoches Pineywoods Fair in October. He had to weigh around 270 pounds. Which if I remember correctly he weighed 282 pounds at weigh in. All my family came down to support me. It was so much fun! I loved every bit of it!! 

walking to load into the trailer

at the expo center in our spot

getting a bath before the show

my OMA (german for grandmother) bought me this shirt and I wore it the day of the show! haha it said I LOVE WILLIE

showing! 

After showing you were suppose to put your pig on a truck to be sent to a slaughterer house. Well i did NOT do that. I quickly loaded my pig on our trailer and brought him back to the FFA farm were we had to keep him. Weeks went by, and my dad finally made me take him to a slaughter house in Weimer where my aunt has her big ranch. I was devastated!  I cried for months! I was so attached to that pig that it killed me! and still to this day I will not eat anything pig related. bacon,ham, ext. 

R.I.P. WILLIE! I miss you so much! 

MARCH PHOTO A DAY CHALLENEGE! 

March 5th - A SMILE

(I chose to blog about Willie today because of this photo challenge and if you looked at yesterdays photo challenge (your bedside) I have a picture of me and willie and I look at it every morning and SMILE!)