Hard work, a big heart, and a grand champion lamb

A grand champion animal at the Highland County Fair is an honor, and a reward for months, and sometimes years worth of work. 

For Hailey Rhonemus, it was hard work, a big heart, and some help from her friends and family that helped her raise and show the 2011 grand champion lamb - which sold Friday for a record-setting $38 per pound. 

Hailey, 18, has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, but she is able to show her lambs Jordan and Newson using a metal headpiece that her dad and grandfather, David and Ed Rhonemus, welded to her wheelchair. 

A member of the Premier Showmen 4-H group, Hailey is a senior at Hillsboro High School. She has been in 4-H since she was 9 years old, and has one more year left to compete. 

Hailey's sister, Erin, and fellow 4-H group member Kaylee Achor help her show her lambs, by helping her through the sawdust in the ring and setting the legs on the animals. 

"I was nervous about showing," Hailey said, as she sat in her purple wheelchair with the show headpiece, petting her lamb. "But when I won, I just clapped and waved." 

Hailey said that she liked winning, but the best part about 4-H was her friends. 

"The sky is the limit with her," said Hailey's aunt, Stacie McKee. 

McKee said that the family got the idea for attaching a show headpiece to a Hailey's wheelchair after they saw a similar construct at a show in Denver. The family has also made one for a 4-Her in Allen County to use while showing.