Are You as Courageous as this 8-Year-Old Girl?

If you feel like your limitations are stopping you from reaching your goals, I invite you to meet Alexis Bingham of Colorado, also known as “Lexi.”

I met her at this year’s Mesa County Fair in Grand Junction. I was there to cheer on the 4-H students who had bought goats from my mom’s Boer goat farm. The kids buy the goats when they’re only a few months old, and then raise them and care for them until fair time. There, they show them for recognition, and then sell them at the auction at the end of the week.

How the kids do in the various classes depends on a lot of things. In some classes, the judge focuses on the goat—how it looks, whether it lives up to the standards of the breed, and how well it’s been conditioned (fed). In other words, in these classes, it’s all about how well the student did when choosing and caring for the animal.

In some classes—mainly, the “showmanship” ones—the judge focuses only on the person showing the goat. The judge watches each exhibitor, and asks himself or herself:

• Does the student (or “exhibitor”) present the animal in the best light?
• Does she have good control of the animal?
• Do she and the animal work together as a team?
• Does she keep the goat between her and the judge at all times?
• Is the goat well groomed?
• Does the exhibitor look neat and appropriate for showing?
• Does the exhibitor keep her eyes on the judge, and follow instructions?

I’ve watched enough shows that I can pick out the exhibitors who know what they’re doing. This year, I was impressed to see one particular exhibitor displaying all the skills of an experienced show person, despite what some may call her limitations, although Lexi would never call them that.

I watched her compete in class after class, and thought to myself, “Self, there’s no way you can complain about anything holding you back, because just look at that little girl.”

With Practice, Anyone Can Become an Expert

Lexi had never shown goats before. She’s eight years old, and this was her first year in the show ring, yet she acted like she’d had at least a couple years’ experience. The fact that she’s in a wheelchair does get your attention. I’ve never seen a student in a wheelchair show a goat before. But that’s not what keeps you watching. What holds your attention is Lexi’s focus on what she’s doing—and her obvious camaraderie with her animals.

I did a double take when Lexi rolled into the ring. She has a chair she can control electronically, so she was maneuvering it with one hand while leading her goat with the other. What was impressive was how that goat moved right along with her, following calmly at her side and turning this way and that as needed to adjust to the various positions required while showing. The goat stopped when Lexi stopped, turned when Lexi turned, and walked when Lexi rolled, all without any hesitation or struggle.

Some of the other exhibitors had trouble with their goats. Their animals reared up, pulled against their collars, and blatted for their friends left back in the pens. Lexi’s goat walked along like an old pro, although she was only about six months old. That’s a sign of a goat that’s been well trained.

Determination Can Take You Far in Life

When I asked Lexi why she decided to show goats, she said, “Because my dad said goats were worth the money!”

Indeed, the students do earn money off their projects, as most of the goats are sold at the end of fair week. But that was clearly not the only motivation behind Lexi’s endeavor. As I talked to her, I learned she’d spent a lot of time with her goats so they would feel comfortable in the ring, not only with her, but with her chair.

“I spent time with them every day and every night,” she said, explaining that she would go into the barn with the goats and play with them for hours, before she started practicing showing them. When I asked her why she spent all that time, she said, “I wanted to train them to be good!”

As to how she figured out how to excel as a show person, she told me she learned that from her devoted mom, Mandy, who used to show sheep, and through Internet research.

“I looked up videos on my tablet,” she said. I checked online and sure enough—there are several videos demonstrating proper showing technique. Lexi obviously studied these carefully, as she did such a good job that she was chosen as one of only five in her large showmanship class to go on and compete in the final junior showmanship class at the end of the day.

This Extraordinary Kid Inspires People Every Day

Lexi also loves horses. In fact, she probably loves them even more than goats, as she rides them frequently. Her favorite is a Paint by the name of “Shadow,” whom she says is half hers and half her mom’s.

Unfortunately, Lexi got into a freak accident just three weeks before the show. She was riding Shadow with her mom, who was riding another horse, when the two bumped into each other. While they were squeezed together for that short moment, Lexi’s leg got twisted and trapped between them. Her bones are so fragile that she broke her leg.

That didn’t stop her from showing. She powered through it, wrapped the leg, and performed as expected in the ring. Why are her bones so fragile? She told me she has muscular dystrophy, a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. Though there are various types that vary from person to person, Lexi’s has obviously affected her muscles and joints.

Anyone else may have decided that the disease was too limiting to allow participation in something like a goat show. Not Lexi. She doesn’t let it stop her.

“If I want to say something, I say it!” she told me. And obviously if she wants to do something, she does it.

What does she want to do when she grows up? She told me she wants to train horses. When I asked her why, she said simply it would allow her to “see all the different kinds of horses.”

The more I talked to Lexi, the more I realized that she’s just a normal kid. But she’s also extraordinary, and because of that, she inspired me, and a lot of other people at the fair. I share her story with you because I have a feeling she’ll inspire you, too.

Next time you think you have limitations? Think of Lexi, and then realize—if you put your mind to it, you can do it, no matter what.