Junior Evie Mahan has been in 4H and showing pigs for 6 years. Mahan participates in a total of around 19 shows each year and works with her animals all year round.
“I show pigs all over the county and all over the state,” Mahan said. “Sometimes out of state.”
Ranging from the Johnson County Fair, to the Indiana State fair, to Team Purebred in Tennessee, Mahan said she enjoys every second of showing and feels the competition between other participants makes the whole experience more exciting.
“I think showing is fun because I’m pretty competitive, and everyone else who shows is as well,” Mahan said. “That makes the competition harder, but at the same time funner. I enjoy going around and doing shows because I love seeing the different atmospheres and having different competition.”
Though the show itself may seem straightforward, in reality there are months of diligent work and preparation that lead up to show season. Right now in January is when Mahan begins to work with her baby piglets.
“It’s a lot of work to prepare for shows,” Mahan said. “Right now we are weaning the baby pigs from their moms and introducing them to actual feed instead of milk. I live on a farm, which is where I raise the pigs that we own. You have to make sure to keep the pens clean, feed them the right food, and give them their skin and hair treatments. You also have to wash them about every other day. Over the next couple months we will begin picking the actual pigs from the litters we will show this summer.”
Though caring for the pigs is an important part of making sure they are the best version that they can possibly be for a show, a critical role in the outcome of every competition is training the pigs by walking them.
“Walking a pig means taking them outside and walking them in the yard while keeping them by your side,” Mahan said. “It’s necessary to make sure they are ready for a show and that they will obey you when you’re in the ring. During the winter the pigs are kept in a heated barn. We will spend time in the barn handling them which allows them to get comfortable with us.
Though Mahan begins to train her pigs in January, the task of training a pig gets progressively more tense as the number of weeks until show day decreases.
“During the summer we walk our pigs every day,” Mahan said. “I normally do it at night so the weather is more comfortable for them, and I wash them about every other day. When the shows start to come up sooner we start walking them two times a day. You have to make sure that they keep their head up for the most part and you want them to understand that when it’s showtime it’s showtime. It’s definitely a stressful process, and it makes you angry sometimes. It’s not at all easy. I feel like once you start going and you work with them every single day, you’ll get to where you want to be.”
When the time arrives that Mahan gets to show off all the effort that went into putting together her pigs for the shows, she is well prepared.
“You’ll go into a ring where there’s a judge,” Mahan said. “They judge the pig on how they look and their body. I show crossbreds and purebreds. Crossbred pigs are the result of breeding pigs of different breeds. A purebred pig is a pig that has identical pairs of genes.”
Mahan shows swine male pigs, which means they are specifically raised for the market, and female pigs which she breeds for future show pigs.
“Any breed can be shown,” Mahan said. “The only unique thing about show pigs is how they are individually and how they are trained for the showing.”
After each show is over and each contestant has been judged, Mahan is awarded for her hard work.
“I actually won showmanship at the Johnson County Fair,” Mahan said. “When you win that, you get a banner. They normally do the top five or four. I’ve gotten the first place position five or six times. Then at the county fair you move up to Master Showmanship. That’s where you show every animal at the fair. If you win that it’s a big deal. I was in Master Showmanship this past July.”
Through the last several years, Mahan has competed in over a hundred shows. She has learned something new from each experience that has progressed her to compete even better at the next. The commitment Mahan has taken on has caused her to fall in love with the art of showing pigs.
“I love it. It’s almost like a quiet place for me,” Mahan said. “It brings me peace. Next year will be my last year, so I’m just showing pigs for the rest of high school. It’s definitely been a thought to work with pigs in my future, but it’s not something that I focus on. I’d consider it 100 percent, though.”
