Montana Ag had the privilege of interviewing Isabelle Lowry for July’s showman spotlight. Isabelle is 14 years old from Helena, Montana and her favorite show is the National Western in Denver. She is a shining example of winning with humility, it has been a pleasure to follow her around the barn throughout the past few years. She is incredibly talented with a bright future ahead of her!
Montana Ag: What species do you show and what is your favorite?
Isabelle: I show cattle, hogs and lambs and out of those three I am not really sure which my favorite is. I enjoy raising and showing all of them and have a lot of fun. I think it just kind of depends on the day and how my animal behaves and what show it is. But I really love working with and showing all three species and find great reward in watching a baby born and later walking in the show ring with an animal that I have raised.
Montana Ag: What’s your most memorable stock show moment?
Isabelle: My most memorable stock show moment should be something like when several years ago I was Grand Champion Swine Showman at the NILE in Billings. Some might think that might be one, if not my most memorable stock show moment. I look at my greatest successes though as helping other showmen achieve their greatest success. Probably my most memorable stock show moment is helping mentor a young pig showman named Justyce practice his swine showmanship and then stand by the ring while he won Grand Champion Swine Showman at the Montana Royal Show in 2018. It was so important to him and I was so happy and so proud watching him achieve success and win his first belt buckle ever after spending time working with him to teach him a few things I had learned over the years. That was really cool and so important to him and something I will remember forever. As a showman it seems like you sometimes learn things the hard way. If I can help share some of what I have learned with other showmen and help them be successful that is memorable.
Montana Ag: What do you consider your biggest showing accomplishment?
Isabelle: I have had some really memorable years with big accomplishments. However as I set bigger goals each year my biggest showing accomplishments are met when I follow my dreams and meet my goals. I had a life-long goal of showing cattle at National Western Stock Show where I have shown both hogs and lambs for years. This year with the help of others I saw my dream of showing cattle in Denver come true. Not only did I show in Denver but had a really cool moment winning a Prospect Steer class at National Western Stock Show with a steer that a month before Denver would not even walk for me with a rope halter on. From there we have formed a strong bond and as a first year senior showman won Grand Champion Senior Showmanship and Reserve Champion Market together at the Spokane Junior Livestock Show and also recently won Grand Champion Steer at the Pacific International Livestock Show together. The incredible bond I have had with this steer and the help from many people so I can accomplish this success and not only reach but exceed my goals makes me super excited for the future. It was a lot of work but I am very happy this happened to me. To me they were such big accomplishments because when I first got this steer he would not cooperate and was very not very trusting but after working with him a lot he has become a great partner. We have come a long way together and so far we have been pretty successful and I am very lucky he ended up in my hands. That is one of my most memorable and biggest showing accomplishment because it is very hard what I have done with him but worth all of the hard work.
Isabelle with her lambs during the 2019 NWSS 
Montana Ag: Outside of showing what other hobbies do you enjoy?
Isabelle: Outside of showing I love to run track and play basketball. My favorite thing in track is to run hurdles and I set a goal to beat the school record this past season. I am pretty good at running hurdles and beat the school record this year not once but twice which was so cool and helped some younger girls who were learning how to run hurdles this year. That was cool to have girls want to learn from me. I also play basketball I love to travel around with my teammates from school and compete by working as a team. I have some great coaches who help me get better at these things and teach me new skills.
Montana Ag: What is one piece of advice you would offer to other kids in the barn?
Isabelle: A piece of advice I would offer other kids in the barn is to work hard and never give up and to set goals that seem way bigger than you so you have something to work toward. When you choose to set bigger goals you need to be willing to learn to do things in a different way than you did before but trust me it is worth opening yourself up to learning and hard work pays off. By doing this you have to give your animals everything they need and take care of the even what seems like the small things like hair care every day. You have to set goals and then reach them by doing things you may think are too hard and do not give up even if they become to stressful. That is a piece of advice I would offer to other kids.
Montana Ag 