Photo by Deb Gau Lincoln County 4-H members led sheep “models” down the red carpet to help with a livestock demonstration on Saturday afternoon. Presenter Hadley Fruechte came up with the idea of a “fashion show” to talk about the different kinds of blankets, leg wraps and halters available for sheep.

TYLER — Their main purpose was educating others. But Lincoln County 4-H members were also having plenty of fun sharing what they knew about raising and showing sheep.

“Welcome to the fashion show,” Hadley Fruechte told an audience gathered at the Lincoln County fairgrounds on Saturday. As 4-H members led sheep “models” down a red carpet set up in the show ring, Fruechte explained the different types of sheep covers, leg wraps and halters the models were wearing.

“I like talking about it, and it’s a fun demonstration to do,” she said.

Livestock demonstrations were among the 4-H events going on at the Lincoln County Fair on Saturday. Youth took turns giving short presentations and answering questions related to livestock production. There were four presentations about different aspects of raising and showing sheep. Youth speakers brought visuals — and sheep — into the show ring to illustrate points they were making. They also took questions from the audience.

Presenters said they got their demonstration ideas from their own experiences.

“I thought that we had a lot of people asking questions about blankets and leg wraps,” Hadley Fruechte said. That was what gave her the idea for the fashion show.

Lane Fruechte said he decided to demonstrate a topic he knew well: how to groom and prepare a sheep for the show ring.

“It’s something I do at every show, so it’s easy,” he said.

Sara Dwire and Madison Dwire teamed up to give a demonstration on identifying sheep breeds. The two girls went into detail on how to tell the difference between a Dorset and a Southdown lamb.

“Usually people don’t know the difference. We thought it would be interesting,” Madison said of their presentation. The two breeds of sheep might look similar, but they definitely have some different physical traits and different personalities, Sara and Madison said.

Alivia Fruechte talked about going “back to basics” with raising sheep. Before going all in on products like supplements, it was important to make sure your animals had basic things like good nutrition, water and bedding, she told audience members.

Part of the fun of doing a demonstration was getting practice in public speaking, 4-H members said. Being able to interact with the audience was part of the experience, too.

“It’s something that’s helped me be more of a comfortable speaker,” Sara Dwire said of doing a livestock demonstration.