For Uecker’s 4-H Has Played a Role
Written by Cyd Hoefle
Photography by Stu Hoefle and Kayla Walker
Our daughters all love the horses and have spent millions of hours riding and showing them. But they each have their own interests, too. And that makes for a lot of animals!
- Penny Uecker
In a serene setting just outside of Lewistown, with an artist’s view of the Little Snowy Mountains, sits a little sliver of paradise. Twenty-six years ago, when Penny and John Uecker found this chunk of land, there were no other houses in the area. Over the years, neighbors have come closer and closer, but for the Ueckers it’s been a perfect location to raise their six kids and all kinds of animals.
“It’s been a perfect spot,” Penny said. “Our kids have thrived here.”
As each child became old enough, they were offered the opportunity to do 4-H, and each of them did. Animal projects became a way of life and today, with only the youngest, Bailey and Allie, left at home, close to 100 animals still share the property with the family. Penny just shakes her head.
“Our daughters all love the horses and have spent millions of hours riding and showing them,” she said. “But they each have their own interests, too. And that makes for a lot of animals!”
In a well-designed barn yard, complete with a five-stall barn, a chicken coop, rabbit hutches and a goat barn, can be found exotic ducks and chickens, goats, rabbits, horses, a couple of hogs and a burro. Barn cats patrol the area, and four dogs add to the mix.
“The kids take care of their own livestock,” Penny added. “If they aren’t going to be here, they have to leave instructions because I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Bailey, 18, who just finished high school and will be heading to Rocky Mountain College in the fall, is an outstanding horsewoman. She has won numerous awards around the state and region showing and riding horses. She also raises exotic chickens and ducks.
As the current president of the Lewistown FFA chapter and vice-president of her 4-H club, Bailey keeps busy. She loves her poultry and says her first project was when she came home with three baby chicks, at age 10. Her interest and research grew over the years. Among the assortment of birds are a miniature Applewood, Mandarin, and Call ducks. She raises them for show and for sale and there is obvious pride in her projects.
“The kids take care of their own livestock. If they aren’t going to be here, they have to leave instructions because I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“They’re adorable!” she exclaimed. “Just look at the colors!” Whites, copper, black, reds and green adorn the birds.
To score high in show poultry, judges look at color, plumage, weight and overall health. Bailey’s black rooster has highlights of green throughout his feathers.
“He does really well in shows,” Bailey continued. “He’s a very proud bird.”
In addition to the chickens, Bailey raises market hogs for the county fair and shows horses. Her horsemanship skills in both English and Western attracted the attention of multiple universities and she was offered riding scholarships at several before deciding to study environmental science at Rocky where she hopes to go into wildlife biology.
Younger sister Allie, 15, has just finished her freshman year in high school. She is also an avid horsewoman, and as a 10-year-old, she was in the top 10 of her class at the World Pinto Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She’s taken multiple state championships with the horses and plans to attend the World Pinto Show again this summer. Her interests also include rabbits, and she currently is the proud owner of almost a dozen of them.
“I got my first bunny at the Chokecherry Festival,” she said with a laugh. “Mom gave me $10 to buy something to eat and I couldn’t resist the bunnies someone was selling. So, I bought one. Mom wasn’t too pleased at first.” Thumper, the first bunny, became the introduction to Allie’s interest in rabbits.
In the four years since, she has added dozens to her bunny population and done some breeding with her bucks and does.
“The gestation of a bunny is 27 to 30 days,” Allie explained. “The does usually have between two and four babies at a time.”
Allie breeds and trains some of her bunnies for agility. Similar to showing dogs, the bunnies are put through a course that includes jumps, tunnels, ramps and around poles.
“They are fairly easy to train,” she said. “I just start pushing them toward what they need to do, and they pick it up pretty quickly.”
4H and FFA have kept the girls busy through the years. Care of the animals, horse shows and training clinics have taken the place of school extracurricular activities. The experience they and their older siblings received has helped them to decide what education and career paths to pursue and given them an impressive work ethic.
