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Preparing for the Purple: Taylor Norris

Thursday, March 24, 2016

#bidbuyshowwin Breeder Central Showmanship

Showing pigs is what Taylor Norris loves to do. When she was younger Norris tried gymnastics and still manages to play a little basketball in the winter. But this Honey Grove, Texas, girl has spent numerous hours in the show barn, and on the weekend of February 26, 2016, those hours paid off.

And she’s only 12-years-old.

Norris drove a crossbred heavyweight barrow to the Grand Champion Market Barrow title at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

But getting the title didn’t come easy or without nerves. In fact Norris says she was nervous showing her pig in its class; even more nervous showing for division; and when she won the crossbred show she was so nervous her stomach hurt.

Even though the nerves tried to strike her down, Norris brought her A-game to the show and edged through stiff competition at one of the largest junior swine shows in the country. She says she likes showing in the Texas Majors because the level of competition is so fierce. And to top it off, Norris likes showing crossbreds versus purebreds because the quality of pigs is tough. Needless to say, Norris did not let nerves get her down.

“When I enter the show ring I go into a zone,” she says. “Everything else is gone from my mind.”

The first year she went to San Antonio she was sifted, but the following year Norris was pulled to a spot just behind making the sale, earning 7th place. Last year her pig won its class, which was an amazing feeling. After winning the entire show this year her experience at San Antonio has run the gamut. Now that she has taken home the purple banner, she is no longer eligible to show at this event again, a big deal for her at such a young age.

“I had low expectations, and my main goal was to get through the sift,” she says. “But I set my goals higher every time I would go. This year when I won my class I was so excited. Then when I won the division champion I kind of had a good feeling but didn’t want to jinx myself.”

“When I won, a lot of people came up to me to say congratulations,” she says. “It was really great.”

Norris and her family put in hours of work in the show barn at home, and preparing for this Texas Major took a few extra hours of labor. She says she was lucky with this year’s pig since he would do anything she asked him to do. When she picked this pig from its breeder Norris says she had looked at 400 pigs that day and saw a small pig that had big bone with a clean neck and jawline that looked the part. However, he was a runt with a ruptured testicle that had just had two extra dew claws removed.

“He didn’t have a whole lot going for him,” Taylor’s dad, Kevin, says. “The breeder said, ‘He is an ugly duckling but if you try him a while and it doesn’t work I’ll mail you your money back.’”

However, that was never something the Norris family had to worry about. The pig’s personality, she says, was just perfect. When the pig came home she treated him like just another pig but each day he ate well and looked better and better so eventually he was moved to a good pen in the good barn.

When Norris brings her hogs home she believes it’s important to make friends first. She walked her San Antonio pig for five minutes a day and built up his stamina to 45 minutes of walking. She kept him clean, oiled his skin and because he was black and white belted, she put him under lights to darken his black spots. Norris also paid close attention to the pig’s foot pads, to be sure they were in good shape.

Because his personality was so easy, Norris says she paid a little extra attention to him in the barn, rubbing his ears and keeping him in a special pen. Every season she says she typically has a barn favorite, one that is treated a little better than the others, and this pig definitely made it to that place. This pig also had a special whip-a blue one with a while club handle on it. Norris says he always walked best with this whip, and she used it for him and only him the entire time.

Before the family left for San Antonio, Kevin says they loaded two hogs into the trailer. The show is so large, Norris could only take one and they made the last-minute decision to take her belted pig.

“For once in my lifetime we picked the right one,” Kevin says. “We had that going for us.”

At the show, Norris knew her pig was heavy so she watched his weight closely. She also planned for his stamina, knowing that if he did well he’d come out of class and go right back in the ring for division champion. After she won champion crossbred she waited two days to show him for Grand Champion Market Barrow. To be sure he was ready she would routinely get him out of the pen, walk him to stretch him out and wash him. She also put him on the scales many times to check weight.

“He was an angel,” she says. “He’d do anything I wanted him to, anytime I wanted him to do it. We just keep getting him ready to show, to make sure he looked as right as he could be.”

Norris says there is nothing like winning a Texas Major and she had a group of people who helped her bring that banner home. Her ag teacher was very supportive and helpful, and her family, including her younger sister, Payton, helped her before and during the show. Norris’ mom, Janna, would also say her daughter’s luck might be due to her superstition of wearing the same socks during the show, though they did get washed before the Grand drive.

“All those late nights in the barn, you have to have your family to help you do it,” Norris says. “You can’t win and just let it be you and yourself. It’s a group effort. All the hard work pays off in the end. It was a dream come true to win a Texas Major.”