From Calf to Show Ring
Makayla Comer is a junior at Catoctin High School and a member of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). She is serving as the 2025-2026 Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show Ambassador and currently serves as Social Media Coordinator. In this monthly series, Comer will take readers behind the scenes of what it takes to raise both market and breeding cattle, sharing her journey as she prepares to show at the Carroll County Fair and the Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show in 2026. Comer and her family own and operate a cattle farm in Rocky Ridge, Maryland. Readers are invited to follow along as she shares the dedication, responsibility, and hard work involved in raising cattle.
For my 2026 Market and Breeding projects, all animals were born and bred on my farm. The steer I plan to take to the Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show in September is a Maintainer named Fort Worth. Fort Worth was born on March 25, 2025, and was the last calf born on my farm in 2025. I also plan to bring two heifers to the community show. My Maintainer heifer, Montana, and my Shorthorn Plus heifer, Daytona.
The Carroll County Fair is just around the corner, and if you know anything about fair season, it can get stressful—from finishing up your crafts to setting up the fair, and even making sure all your paperwork is correct. But the one thing we can’t forget is that if you are hot, your animals are hot. Rinsing them off with water at least once a day will make them feel so much better. This may also help with eating, as my animals will sometimes stop eating for a day because it is too hot out.
This month, I’m going to talk about all the stuff we bring to shows. In the tack box, we have everything we need. Show halters, neck ties, conditioners, sheer spray, brushes, show stick, hose, soap, and sometimes snacks. That’s just some of the things we bring.
We also bring a stall divider, which is a form of identifying your space and keeping it nice; it simply goes around the cows. The stall divider also can hold a fan when it is hot outside. After we get done washing our animals, we will need to dry them off before letting them lie down, so we bring a blower. The blower is like a super hairdryer. Some shows require us to bring a generator to run our supplies. And, importantly, we must bring feed and hay.
One thing that is required from each show is health papers; this makes sure that the animal that is going onto the fairground property is healthy and won’t spread diseases to other animals. This is everything we bring to a show. It may seem a lot, but everything is necessary to make the show run smoothly. And when you get to work with your friends and family, it makes everything more fun and time efficient.
This is a short article this month, but once the Carroll County fair is over and I get done with the state fair and community show, there will be much to talk about.
There is only about one more month with Fort Worth, and I can’t wait to see how he does at his last few shows. I hope to see you all at the Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show on September 11-13!
Show box somewhat packed.
Neatly packed trailer before getting to the show.
