A steer named Moby is tops

Winning can be bittersweet, even for a three-time grand champion steer raiser like Joie Raybourn, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Escalante Middle School.

Raybourn’s 1,247-pound steer, Moby, made a splash at the La Plata County Fair on Saturday, winning the grand prize for market beef and selling for $6.25 a pound, or $7,793.75, at auction.

As of 8 p.m., it was the top seller, but the auction continued past press time.

Her father, Scott Raybourn, said the proceeds will go toward Joie’s college tuition, but Joie said she never likes to goodbye to her steers.

“I cry every time,” Joie said.

For the last year and a half, Joie Raybourn fed, bathed and groomed her steer at her grandparents’ ranch in Bondad.

“He knows her,” said her mother, Dana Raybourn, an administrative assistant at Sunnyside Elementary School. Joie’s father is a cabinet maker.

To ease the transition, the Raybourns offer to keep the steer for 30 days after sale. This gives the steer time to relax.

“Stress can affect the quality of the meat,” Dana Raybourn said.

Keely Harper, 14, a freshman at Bayfield High School, took the reserve prize for a 1,058 pound heifer named Taylor Swift after the pop singer. It was the first time in memory that a heifer finished as high as reserve or second place.

Harper, the daughter of Shawn and Cheryl Harper, did not sell the heifer at auction, saying she wanted to breed it in the spring.

Emotions ran the gamut on a county fair day that began with blue skies and got hit with a storm that knocked out power in the afternoon.

Brian Hill, 29, said he looked forward to driving in the demolition derby to get “rid of his road rage for the year.”

The fair had its lighter moments, too, with three chickens dressed in capes winning the top prize for the poultry costume competition, beating other chickens dressed up as Pippi Longstocking, a spider and a cotton candy chicken with a spotted blue coat.

Chickens named Ravinar, Veritas and Sayna were masquerading as the Three Musketeers.

“They’re show chickens,” said their owner, Cara Kallaher, 15, of Durango.

La Plata County Fair Schedule

The La Plata County Fair will take place at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. For more information, visit http://co.laplata.co.us/departments_officials/general_services/fairgrounds/county_fair.

Today

8:30 a.m. Cowboy Church on the pavilion.

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Exhibits open to the public.

1:30 p.m. 4-H/FFA Catch-it contest.