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Photo by Ray Pettengell Nikolai Skudlarek tempts his 4-H lamb, MJ, with a maple leaf as he prepares the animal for the annual Spring Fair Saturday. MJ gets rewarded with maple leaves -- his favorite treat -- when he makes progress in his training. Lamb and boy learn a few lessons 4-H youth readies animal for weekend Spring Fair at Expo By KELLY STEWART For the Mail Tribune TALENT -- Breathing heavily, Nikolai Skudlarek prods his black and white lamb out of the pen for a washing. The animal has other plans; he belts out a "baa" and bolts back into the pen. "Come on!" Skudlarek says, grappling with the lamb's 117-pound frame. "He knows he's bigger than me." The 4-year-old lamb, named MJ, has a stubborn streak. But that doesn't stop Skudlarek from trying to train him. He draws MJ out of the pen and carefully "sets" his legs -- lining them up in a perfect rectangle -- only to have the lamb break out of formation a few seconds later. "I just got those front legs. You are not going to take off," Skudlarek lectures. Skudlarek, 10, hopes MJ behaves more gentlemanly this weekend for the 4-H and Future Farmers of America Spring Fair at the Jackson County Exposition Park. More than 200 youngsters will exhibit their sheep, rabbits and cavies (guinea pigs) at the fair. Since April, Skudlarek has been spending hours each week exercising, shearing, washing and training MJ for competition. In just hours, he will prance MJ around a ring for judges and might win a prize ribbon for his work. As a first-year junior member of the 4-H group Looney Livestock, Skudlarek will show an animal for the first time this weekend. He's still learning the ropes. He fumbles with the clasp of the blue halter on the lamb's head. "Ouch, that hurt," he says. "Good thing that wasn't his teeth." When Skudlarek clasps a lead line to the halter, he pulls MJ to a nearby tree to obtain his daily treat -- a maple leaf. The lamb munches on the greenery, then sticks out his black tongue to utter a resounding shout. "He loves maple leaves," Skudlarek says. "You would think he's a goat." The fourth-grader says he's learned a lot from his work with MJ. "It's tough to own an animal, especially a farm animal," he says. "Sheep are really stubborn. And I've learned how dirty they get." He readies MJ for a scrubdown by soaking water into his wool. Then he applies soap and lathers up. Looney Livestock's leader, Lori Stenberg, advises him on the best way to wash the lamb. "This is fun," he says, rubbing MJ's back with his hands. At least until Stenberg tells him he needs to wash every part of the lamb. "Even his butt?" he asks, smiling. But he doesn't complain. MJ's dirt and oil vanish as Skudlarek rinses and towels him off. Then Skudlarek leads MJ back into a pen full of other sheep, where he immediately starts galloping in the dirt. He'll need another washing before his big day in the ring. On Sunday, when the animals are auctioned, Skudlarek will say goodbye to MJ. Skudlarek says he'll be sad when he gives up his lamb. "I've kind of made a bond with him," he says. Even though he's learned that sheep are stubborn, he wants more. He plans to use whatever money he earns from MJ's sale toward owning more animals. "I want my own herd of sheep," he says. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA