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Livestock Boutique

Hi friend!
In our family, I was usually the one who knew.
When she was bred. What he weighed last time. When we changed feed. What medication we gave and when.
I remembered the shows too. Where we stayed, where we parked, what the barn was like, what worked, and what I wanted to do differently the next time.
Nobody ever sat me down and gave me the job of remembering all of it.
I knew because I was there for all of it.
And I have a feeling a lot of livestock families have someone like that.

The Ones Who Know

Most of that information doesn't feel especially important when you're living it. It's just another weight, another feed change, another show, another decision made in the barn.
Until somebody needs it again.
That's when all those ordinary details become worth being able to find.
Read: The One Who Knows →
Get ready before the babies arrive.
If fall babies are coming, take a few minutes this week to go through your supplies and the space you'll be using. Check what you already have, replace what’s missing or expired, and get things where you can find them quickly when you need them.
• We can't keep these in stock (thank you): We've sold almost 500 of our Livestock Coloring Books, and we're waiting on our next print run now. If you've been looking for one, they're still available on Amazon while we restock.
• Coffee & Livestock: Two things that seem to show up together pretty often around here. Our new Coffee & Livestock Collection is here, with shirts available now and stickers and cups coming soon.
•A shag staple is on sale right now, and it was one of the products we used most in our lamb leg-care routine. If you’re working on shag, it’s also a good time to revisit our Got Shag? postfor the full routine we used.
There are probably a hundred little things you know now that you once had to learn the hard way. Write some of them down. Someday you, your kids, or the next person standing in the barn may be glad you did.
See you next Sunday, Angie & Ally
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Hi friend!
Our family spent a lot of years showing livestock. We came into it knowing almost nothing, became competitive, won things we once never imagined winning, and eventually made the choice to step away from something we genuinely loved.
Now that we've made the choice to step away from showing, something has changed about the way I look back on those years.
The older my kids get, the less I think about what they won.
I'm still proud of the banners we brought home. We wanted to win, badly. But with some distance from those years, I find myself thinking much more about what I hope our kids carried with them when they left the show ring.
And that keeps bringing me back to one question.

What Do We Actually Want This Experience to Produce in Our Kids?

Winning matters. But what should all the years of work, competition, responsibility, disappointment, success, and time spent in the barn ultimately leave our kids with?
Read: What Do We Want Them to Take With Them? →
Restock the show box before you need it.
Replace the little things that disappeared during the last show. Check what is empty, broken, or running low, and put it back now instead of finding out when the trailer is already loaded.
Future you will be glad you did.
• Something just for fun: These shoelaces are an easy little way to add some personality to everyday shoes. Nothing complicated, just fun.
• Something new from Livestock Boutique: Our new Coffee & Livestock Collection is launching this week, built around two things that seem to show up together pretty often around here: livestock and coffee.
• A bigger barn buy: This one is definitely more of an investment, but it has been completely worth it for the barn and wash rack.
• Pretending fall is here: It may still feel like summer here in Texas, but I'm ready for fall food anyway. This Italian sausage tortellini soup is one of our favorites.
The banners, the placings, and the show days all become part of the story. But years later, what stays with me most is the person the experience helped shape.
Have a good week, and we'll meet you back here next Sunday.
See you next Sunday,
Angie & Ally
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Hi friend!
There are things experienced show families do without thinking about them anymore.
They pack the extra thing. They ask about the deadline nobody mentioned. They notice when an animal is just a little off.
Most of that knowledge was not handed to them when they started. They learned it one season, one mistake, and one question at a time.
This week's post covers some of the things experienced show families know now that they probably wish someone had told them sooner.
Read: What Experienced Families Know →

Ask one question you've been carrying around.

If there's something about showing, feeding, fitting, paperwork, or daily care you've been unsure about, ask someone you trust this week. You don't have to figure everything out on your own.
• A better way to organize: A shared digital calendar for keeping the whole family's schedule in one place. Between school, work, livestock chores, show dates, and everything else going on, I like having one place everyone can see what's coming.
• One for the show box: Worth keeping around for animals that aren't interested in unfamiliar water away from home.
• The smaller Barn Bible™: For keeping the information you'll wish you'd written down later, without carrying the full Barn Bible™ everywhere.
• Going on our menu this week: These chicken parmesan meatballs look delicious and are going on our menu this week.
• Something we're growing: Our wholesale collection now includes livestock coloring books, and the Barn Bible™ Mini Planner Collection. We have quite a few plans to grow this side of Livestock Boutique, so stay tuned!
As fall show season gets busier, take a few minutes to look over the rules for the shows ahead. Entry deadlines, health requirements, check-in times, weigh-back rules, and paperwork can change from one show or year to the next. Even the things you've done a dozen times are worth double-checking.
Have a good week, and we'll meet you back here next Sunday.
See you next Sunday, Angie & Ally
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Hi friend!
The trailer's unloaded. The tack is put away, or sitting in a pile waiting to be. Somebody already asked "what are we doing next year?" before the dust settled on this one.
That's exactly how it's supposed to go.
This week, I wrote about closing out a show season the right way, before all of it turns into a blur.
There's relief in finishing, pride in how far the animal and the exhibitor came, and for a lot of families, a goodbye that's harder than any of it. The details that feel impossible to forget right now won't stay that sharp for long.
Read: How to Close Out a Livestock Show Season the Right Way →
Before You Close the Show Season

Next season starts with what you write down this week.

Sit down together and answer this: what would you do differently next year? Write down the answer, not just the feeling behind it. Final weights, feed changes, health notes, and what you'd change all belong in the same place.
A few months from now, this will be harder to recall than you think.

You Kept These Selling Out 🤩

The Livestock Coloring Books just went into their third printing, and wholesalers are stocking them too! Thank you for your support.
SHOP COLORING BOOKS

Keep This Stocked 🤒

School's back and cold season is here. Keep this on hand and start it at the first sign of a cold.
GET IT HERE
Your show season might be over, but the story it left behind isn't going anywhere as long as somebody writes it down. Take the time this week.
See you next Sunday, Angie & Ally
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An image added to the post.
For the kids who would rather have their livestock sitting beside them in class. Available in steer, heifer, pig, sheep, wether goat, and doe designs.
Buy now

School Would Be Better Livestock Sticker

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Buy now

School Would Be Better Goat Doe - Youth T-Shirt

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School Would Be Better Sheep - Adult Crew Neck

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School Would Be Better Sheep - Adult Shirts

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Hi friend!
Most livestock families have said, “I’ll remember that.”
A treatment date. A weight. A feed change. An upcoming deadline.
Each detail feels easy to remember until the season gets busy and those details begin living in texts, receipts, photos, and several different people’s memories.
This week, we are looking at which livestock details are worth recording and how to keep them without creating more work.
Here is what is inside this week’s Sunday in the Barn:
Why Livestock Records Matter
Good records help you look back at what happened, compare changes, and make a more informed decision about what to do next.
The new blog covers what livestock families should record and how to begin with a simple system.
Read: Why Livestock Records Matter →

On your way home from your next show

Take five minutes to record:
  • The placing and judge’s feedback
  • How the animal behaved
  • What worked well
  • What could be done better
  • What you want to change next time
The details will be clearest before the trailer leaves the grounds.

School Would Be Better Collection

It has a taken a few weeks to get everything printed and tested but the entire collection is here!
Shop the Collection

Overthinking Trend Continues...

Livestock life gives us plenty to replay: a judge’s decision, a mistake in the ring, a difficult conversation, or a season that did not go as planned.
GET YOUR COPY
Friend, here’s to fewer “I know we wrote that down somewhere” moments this week.
See you next Sunday, Angie & Ally
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This post was published
Hi friend!
This week’s email is a little different.
We want Livestock Boutique emails to be something you are glad to find in your inbox.
Would you take a minute to answer two quick questions? Your answers will help us decide what to share and what the Sunday email should look like in the future.
TAKE THE ONE-MINUTE SURVEY
We know your time and inbox matter. Thank you for helping us make our emails more useful to you.
Angie & Ally Livestock Boutique
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Shop the Coloring Books
Hi friend!
These have been a long time coming. 🤎
The Little Stock Show Life Coloring Books are officially here, and they have been an especially special project for Ally.
We kept coming back to one idea while making them:
Livestock kids should be able to open a coloring book and recognize their own world.
Not just farm animals.
The animals they know. The equipment they see every day. Show-day details. The places they go. And all the little things that make livestock life feel familiar.

Made for kids who know the difference.

Their animals. The equipment in the barn. The shows they go to. Activities built around livestock life.

Four books. Four species. Each one filled with original illustrations created specifically for livestock kids.

Shop the Coloring Books
Shopping outside the U.S. or prefer Amazon?
Shop Amazon
Own a livestock supply trailer or boutique?
Shop Wholesale
This post was published
Shop the Coloring Books
Hi friend!
These have been a long time coming. 🤎
The Little Stock Show Life Coloring Books are officially here, and they have been an especially special project for Ally.
We kept coming back to one idea while making them:
Livestock kids should be able to open a coloring book and recognize their own world.
Not just farm animals.
The animals they know. The equipment they see every day. Show-day details. The places they go. And all the little things that make livestock life feel familiar.

Made for kids who know the difference.

Their animals. The equipment in the barn. The shows they go to. Activities built around livestock life.

Four books. Four species. Each one filled with original illustrations created specifically for livestock kids.

Shop the Coloring Books
Shopping outside the U.S. or prefer Amazon?
Shop Amazon
Own a livestock supply trailer or boutique?
Shop Wholesale
This post was published
Hi friend!
Some families are putting away show boxes and settling back into the school routine. Others still have more show season ahead of them.
Either way, there is often one animal that begins to stand apart. 🤩
Not necessarily the one that won the most. The one with the stories. The one that tested your child, taught them something or became part of the family in a way nobody expected.
This week, I wrote about why those animals stay with us and what our children carry forward after the season changes.
Read: The Animal They’ll Always Remember →

Ask your child this question:

What is one thing about this animal you never want to forget?

Write down their answer. It may be a habit, a nickname, a difficult moment or something that would mean very little to anyone outside your family.
Those are often the details that disappear first.

A Memory Worth Keeping

Some animals become part of childhood. Personalized keepsakes preserve the one your family will always remember.
SHOP KEEPSAKES

For the Overthinkers✋

Some animals become part of childhood. Personalized keepsakes preserve the one your family will always remember.
GET YOUR COPY
Friend, while backpacks are being packed and schedules are filling again, I hope you make room for the story of the season you are leaving behind.
The quirks, hard days and small breakthroughs may be the parts your family talks about longest.
See you next Sunday, Angie & Ally
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