Barnyard Beginners, Part 2

In this installment of our series, the children in the LEP navigate challenges and look towards the fast-approaching Red River Valley Fair.

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – 12-year-old Frankie Gendron has been with Pumpkin the lamb for a couple of months now, and Frankie is used to Pumpkin having a certain, shall we say, ease of movement.

So when she turned up to the barn one day and found that movement restricted – she knew something was off.

“I let her play in the rain and she started limping. Nothing looked really wrong, so we trimmed her hooves, and then the next day I was walking her again and she was limping again,” Gendron explained.

It turned out Pumpkin had something of a muscle strain and had to be put on ice – literally – for a decent chunk of time.

“It was like a week of cold soaking her leg, so she was put on pen rest for a while,” said Gendron.

This is just one example of a curveball the Livestock Enrichment Program, or LEP, can throw at children learning to take care of farm animals on the fly.

13-year-old Corinna Hagen continues to learn throughout her journey – specifically more about the personality of Petunia, her pig.

And that knowledge only seems to bring them closer together as the summer weeks sail on by.

“Whenever I go out there, she always comes to the gate, and then when I was gone, when she saw me, she was running in circles. I think she was really excited,” Hagen laughed.

Frankie is feeling a similar bond with Pumpkin.

“Like, at the beginning, she absolutely hated me, she was afraid of me and everything, but now she’s gotten close to me, she’s good with me being with her, and she loves me,” she said.

With the fair just a little over two weeks away, anticipation is building for the grand finale of this year’s LEP, and the girls remain confident the work they’ve put in with their animals will show up when it’s showtime.

“I feel I’m pretty, like, locked in. And I know what I’m doing now,” said Hagen.