Colorado Diné ends 4-H term with Grand Champion Steer

WINDOW ROCK – After 11 years of showing mostly lambs, 19-year-old Jace Begay has reached the end of the road of 4-H competition.

After this year, Begay will age out. Nevertheless, he’s still going to take part in the rich tradition he has grown to love by mentoring his 3-year-old sister, Adalyn Henderson.

“I’ll still be out here helping out,” Begay said on Thursday during last week’s Navajo Nation Fair 4-H and FFA Livestock Show.

“My little sister is going to start in booster, and she got interested in 4-H by watching me,” the Colorado Diné said. “She asked if she could take one of my lambs and she’s really enjoying it.”

Begay, who is a member of the Wyatt 4-H Club, also has a niece, Tessa Henderson, who is going to start showing in two years when she turns 8 years old.

Members of any 4-H program pledge their “head, heart, hands and health.” They apply those four values through fun and engaging projects throughout the year.

“Through 4-H, I’ve learned personal responsibility along with time management and finances,” Begay said. “It’s all about being accountable for all your actions and being dedicated.

“4-H is just more than animals,” he added. “You can do gardening; you can also put together a demonstration to where you show and present things that you know to teach other people. They also have public speaking.”
Through public speaking, Begay has learned to be more candid with other people.

“It’s helped me to get out there in front of a crowd to where I’m not so nervous,” he said. “I used to be quiet and shy, and now I’m able to go out there and talk to people.”

Early in his 4-H career, Begay conducted demonstrations and public speaking. He’s also done a talent show.

“I would totally encourage other kids to do this,” he said. “It’s a good thing to be a part of 4-H. It will help you do good in your community, and it also helps get your name out there for college. Some colleges will ask about extracurricular involvement and being in 4-H is really good for resumes.”

Begay, who grew up in Shiprock before moving to Pierce, Colorado his senior year in high school, showed two lambs and one steer in his final showing at the Navajo Nation Fair.

The Ames Community College freshman earned the Senior Lamb Showmanship award for his age division. He was later named the supreme showmanship in lamb as he beat out two other competitors from the other age divisions.

In his first showing in steers, Begay’s prized steer, Kia, was named the Grand Champion. He purchased Kia last November for $6,000 from a Colorado dealer when the bovine weighed roughly 500 pounds. Within those 10 months, his steer ballooned to a hefty weight of 1,250 pounds.

“Honestly, it’s not really that hard to raise steers,” Begay said. “It just takes a lot of time and effort. You have to put aside other things in order to raise steers. It’s just takes a lot of dedication.

“It’s something that requires a lot of attention,” he added. “It’s attention to details, attention to everything.”

Begay, who is studying diesel technology with a minor in agriculture sciences at the Colorado community college, says he was surprised that Kia won the fair’s top award in steers as it was sold for $10,000 from buyers Cholla Livestock and K4 Ranches, which is owned by Rick Kieckhefer.

“I’ve shown plenty of times, and it’s my first year showing steers so this means so much,” Begay said. “I put so much time and effort into him. It’s nice to see my efforts come to a success. It brings a lot of joy to me.

“It’s something I strived for, you know, to be the Grand Champion,” he added. “It means, I was able to show out.”

With Kia’s sale price, Begay came out ahead as most of the 4-Hers did during last Friday’s sales. Of the 53 animals up for sale, all of them sold between 16 buyers.

“I think they all got a fair market price,” said K Dennison, one of the co-coordinators of this year’s Navajo Nation Fair Junior 4-H Livestock Show.

“It was a good sale; it was decent and nothing over-the-to,” said Kristy Dennison, who is the assistant 4-H extension agent for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. “Everyone walked away happy and I’m very thankful of the buyers who came up to support the kids. Overall, it turned out good.”

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