HOT Fair and Rodeo staff expect nearly 4,600 animals to be shown in livestock events by 3,394 students this year.
Taylor Clark is a junior at China Spring High School and has been involved with Future Farmers of America since her freshman year. She's been hard at work all year preparing her animals for the fair.
Clark spends every day with her two lambs, Starsky and Hutch. She checks in with them twice daily and even more during fair season.
"You have to maintain two living animals, so you have to be down here a lot, working a lot," said Clark.
She invests all of her spare time and money into her animals, all in the hopes of winning bragging rights and scholarships.
She plans to show Starsky and Hutch at the HOT Fair and Rodeo on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12. Until then, she'll be busy grooming and training them to make sure they're ready for the show.
"I'm like shaking and then when I go in the ring I'm very serious. I like to lock eyes with the judges, it's kind of like a deadly look, but that's okay," joked Clark.
The next few months will be busy for Clark since she has a number of fairs to attend.
"It just gets you ready for life honestly because you're taught so many new things," said Clark. "It's a lot of fun. It's a great experience."
Clark's end goal is to study agribusiness after graduation and she's grateful to the animals who are paving the way to her future.
To view the full list of competitive livestock events happening at the HOT Fair and Rodeo, click here: http://www.hotfair.com/events/2017/livestock-show.
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