General Eligibility Requirements
1. Contest is open to currently enrolled and active 4-H and FFA members as of December 31st and must be residents of San Miguel or the West End Montrose County.
2. Applicants must be no younger than 8-years-old and no older than 17-years-old as of December 31.
3. The San Miguel Basin Fair board will not be responsible for injury or accidents.
4. Not more than two heifers may be caught during a participant’s career participation of the San Miguel Basin Fair Catch-A-Heifer contests.
Application Process
1. Applicants must complete an application to enter the Catch-A-Heifer contest.
2. Applications must be received by the fair board by July 20th, 2024 at the end of Round Robin.
3. The Fair Board Catch-A-Heifer Committee will screen the applications to select the participants. The intent of the screening process is to ensure participants are qualified to care for a heifer.
4. The Fair Board will notify applicants who may move on to become participants in the Catch-A-Heifer Contest.
5. Participants and their parents must agree to the Catch-A-Heifer Contest Requirements, sign a contract, liability release waiver and pay the $50 participation fee.
Event Execution
1. There will be three age divisions and one heifer will be awarded in each age group.
a. Junior (8 -10)
b. Intermediate (11-14)
c. Senior (15-18)
2. There will be a maximum of 10 participants per age group allowed to compete. If there are more than 10 qualified applicants, participants will be selected by drawing.
3. The committee will appoint a Catch-A-Heifer referee who will be in charge of insuring contest rules are followed.
4. Participants will be furnished a halter to take into the arena to catch, and safely tie the calf to the fence. The halter or rope cannot be used as a lariat. The halter must be placed on the head of the animal in the proper way.
5. The fair board reserves the right to adjust the contest execution rules to help insure participant and animal safety. For instance the cattle used may be pre-haltered for the younger kids.
6. The participant catching the calf must halter and tie the calf to the fence without aid. The first participant to tie the calf to the fence will be deemed the winner.
7. If a participant has a hold of a calf, no other member will be allowed to touch or scare the calf until it breaks away. If two or more members catch the same calf, the calf will be turned loose. If a calf breaks away from a member after the halter has been placed on the calf, and some other member catches the calf, the second member will be required to remove the first halter /and put on his/her own halter. A calf must not be caught with the aid of the halter and rope attached to the calf. If a calf breaks loose from a participant, the participant may re-grab the lead rope.
8. The Referee will announce the winner of each class.
Contest Prize
1. Participants who catch a calf, will be awarded a weaned heifer calf donated by a local producer no later than November 1st.
2. Heifers will be matched to winning participants by random.
3. Winning participants will not receive full ownership of the heifer until the contest requirements are met.
4. Winning participants must show the heifer at the following next year’s San Miguel Basin Fair in the breeding heifer class, after which the heifer will be fully transferred to the winning participant.