4-H projects take center stage for Post Falls girl

For two weeks leading up to the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, Aimee Mossburgh will be chasing her sheep around their pen.

The exercise makes them more firm and marketable, said the Post Falls 4-H member.

Mossburgh will compete in numerous categories at the fair this year, including market lamb, market hog, breeding cow, market rabbit, breeding rabbit, teen leadership, veterinary science, photography and sewing.

This year's fair will be Mossburgh's last. A 10-year 4-H veteran, the 18-year-old will not meet the age requirement next year. Her 4-H involvement started when her family purchased "bummer" lambs - animals whose mothers are unable to care for them - for $25 each.

"We decided to enter them in the fair," Mossburgh said. "It all went crazy from there."

Mossburgh has taken lambs and rabbits every year since. She is the rabbit leader and club president for the Pine Tree 4-H Club, and is the Kootenai/Shoshone 4-H hostess, which is similar to a fair queen.

"She has taken a lot of the load off me," said Gene Smith, organizational leader for the Pine Tree 4-H Club. "Aimee has helped out a lot at the fair. If I ask her to help me, she bends over backward to do it."

At the 1999 fair, Mossburgh won grand champion in the market rabbit category. She credits body type, including uniform weight and size.

"When you think of a rabbit, you think a rabbit is a rabbit, but not really," she said.

Mossburgh raises two types of rabbits: Californians, which are all white with brown noses, ears, tails and feet; and New Zealands, which are black, red or white.

Mossburgh, who has six rabbits of her own, said taking care of them is simple. Keep them in a cage, don't feed them too much grass and give them a good pellet food. She never gives her rabbits unnatural sugar because it could kill them, but she does occasionally give them lettuce, carrots and even yogurt.

Her sheep collection includes one ewe and three lambs.

"They are the hardest animal project because you can't use a halter to show them. You have to put your hands on their head to move them," she said. "And once in a while you get a hare-brained sheep."

One trick she has learned is the importance of giving her sheep a bath before the fair.

"Every time I wash my lambs, it washes the wildness out of them," she said.

She entered the hog category at last year's fair and plans to take her pig, Hammeretia, to this year's fair.

"I'm very sorry I waited until last year to enter the pig category," she said. "I thought, 'I don't like pigs because they stink.' Actually, they are the cutest, smartest, friendliest animal."

Mossburgh finished high school in the spring and isn't sure what she will do next. In addition to working on the family farm, she works full time at Payless Shoe Store in Post Falls.

"I could do anything from being a veterinarian, photographer, lawyer, missionary or joining the Air Force," Mossburgh said. "A lot of my friends are married and having children. I'm thankful I'm where I am."

Although her future is uncertain, she does intend to be involved in 4-H leadership next year if she still lives in the area.

"I'm happy to be moving on, but I know I am going to miss 4-H next year," she said. "Being in 4-H keeps you busy and the busyness keeps you out of trouble."

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