Grapeland Girl Wins Top Prize for Sheep

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – 18-year-old Kenzie Brown took home Supreme Champion for her sheep Jewels at the recent Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Kenzie and Jewels took the reserve Champion spot last year.

Kenzie, who was born and raised in Grapeland, has been showing sheep since she was nine and even left school to be homeschooled in order to continue to dedicate her time to her passion. Mother Terra Wade said this has been Kenzie’s dream and the family has adjusted their lives to accommodate Kenzie’s talented touch with the wooly sheep in her care.

With a large herd to look after and tests and homework to tend to as well, Kenzie admits she sometimes misses the normal life of your average student. Although now 18, she still has a year to go to officially finish high school since showing took more of a toll on her time than she realized.

Kenzie and three-year-old Jules have been to a lot of shows – all over Texas, Nebraska, Louisville, Oklahoma and countless points in between – and Kenzie was open about how hard this can be.

“It’s frustrating, most of the time,” Kenzie sighed. “Just things go wrong so often, she gets sick, or doesn’t look good. It’s can be very overwhelming.”

Asked who is more stubborn, people or sheep, Kenzie immediately answered, “Sheep! It’s kind of like working with a dog but she’s like three hundred or so pounds so she could easily take me down. But I just force her,” Kenzie explained.

With 50 or so sheep and ewes to look after, there’s never a dull moment. The plan, Kenzie, said, is to continue to win sheep shows next year. She said she hasn’t really given too much thought to plans further in the future.

“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it but I haven’t fully decided yet,” Kenzie said. “I will probably try to go to college.”

Jewels has made some of those sacrifices worth it, winning a lot of money in competitions around the country. Kenzie herself seems both hardy and frail at the same time, with the tough hands of a nine-year veteran taking care of sheep but, at the same time, shy around strangers and not ready to tell her story.

In spite of her uncommon routine, the results do speak for themselves. Like most teenagers, Kenzie has both a lot of living and a lot of deciding to do regarding her future. She will soon face the task of choosing the next steps in her life and continue to excel in whatever she chooses to do.

Kenzie has taken home an impressive list of prizes:

Houston Livestock Show 2021, Reserve Supreme Champion
Anderson County Livestock Show, Champion Breeding Ewe 2021
Nebraska State Fair 2021, Champion Suffolk Ewe
Texas State Fair 2021, Champion Suffolk Ewe
Naile 2021, Class Champion
Near Year National 2022, Champion Suffolk Ewe
North Texas State Fair 2022, Reserve Champion Suffolk Ewe
Chisolm Trail Junior Show, Reserve Supreme Champion, Champion Suffolk Ewe, Open Champion Suffolk Ewe
Fort Worth Jr. Livestock Show 2022, Reserve Supreme Champion, Champion Suffolk Ewe Jr Open
Nebraska State Fair 2022, Reserve Supreme Champion, Champion Suffolk Ewe
Fort Worth Livestock Show 2023, Supreme Champion Ewe, Champion Suffolk Jr Open Show
San Angelo Livestock Show 2023, Champion Ewe open
Houston Livestock Show 2023, Jr Champion Suffolk Ewe