IJBA Points Show Program: Lyla Mollett

Some little girls dream of little fluffy orange kittens, others want to gallop away on horses like Katy from Flicka. Still, some girls want to be in the show ring with the calf they have spent months breaking and feeding and hair training and loving.

This is the life the Mollett girls of Mulberry Grove became a part of about six years ago. Today, Nathan and Marcey Mollett’s three girls, Megan, Lyla and Claire, are living their dreams in the barn and showring — especially Lyla, who this year won the steer division of the Illinois Junior Beef Association Points Program, accomplishing a year-long goal.

Before they were showing cattle, Megan had spent years visiting her close friend who owned cattle. The Molletts already lived on a grain farm and so Nathan took Megan’s request to buy cattle into serious consideration, eventually reaching out to one of his friends for advice and the family agreed it would be an activity they could all do well together.

“I always thought it was cool, with the friends you make, opportunities you get from it, and the bond with your animals,” Lyla says.

They started with a 4-H fair in 2018, becoming a bit more involved each year since then. About five years ago they were visiting a county fair where Josh Blackford had some show cattle in the ring. Nathan told Josh, “I have not seen one of yours show here today that I don’t like, so we need to come buy from you.” Since then, the Molletts have purchased almost all their cattle from Josh, and they take his advice when it comes to choosing the best animal each year.

Josh sells about 60 to 70 head of show cattle to juniors in a given year, both heifers and steers.

“He [Josh] does a lot for us and he is a very good person,” Nathan says. “He clips them up and gets them looking good and keeps us motivated.”

Setting Goals

With Josh’s help, the Molletts continued to work hard and build their stock show skills and at-home herd. “We just kept trying to grow,” Megan says. Last year, their main goal was to be competitive in the IJBA points program, and this year they hope to succeed at a junior national event.

Lyla was very successful in her pursuit of the steer points, proving effort results in reward. “Lyla is a very motivated kid,” Nathan says.

“I was always checking the list and telling my dad, ‘Dad here is a show, we can go to this one,’” Lyla says. Nathan took his daughters to many shows throughout 2023, any of them they could squeeze into their busy schedule.

Lyla had looked up to past point-show winners like Sophie Trainor and Claire Dorsey, and knew it was something she wanted to pursue. “I set it as my goal to win this year and my dad took me everywhere I wanted to go and it was so fun to show my steer Jimmy everywhere,” she says. “It was a really big goal, so my dad and I really worked towards it.”

This winning points steer “Jimmy” is an In God We Trust smoke steer out of Blackford Show Cattle’s Sunshine donor. Josh’s own daughter showed that female as a heifer — she’s a Relentless X Broker/Whiskey.

Jimmy was successful at quite a few shows, each of which led to her overall IJBA steer points win: Reserve Grand Champion Steer at the Showdown in Georgetown, Reserve Supreme Champion Steer at Showing for the Memories Jackpot Show, Third Overall Steer at the Macon County Fair Jackpot Show, Grand Champion Steer at Montgomery County Fair, Grand Champion Steer at Jersey County Fair and Grand Champion Steer at Clinton County Fair.

Trials and Triumph

Along the way there were a few bumps in the road like being too busy to make it to a show, or a day of poor temperament for Jimmy, but where there was hard work, success came with it. “We went to some shows that were tough to get to or where it was hot, but we felt like we were close enough and doing well enough that she wanted to continue on,” Nathan says.

And there is no doubt about her perseverance, as Lyla’s own experiences have made her tough enough to handle difficulties. At the age of six, Lyla suffered from a rare form of E. coli that put her in the hospital for 30 days. She expects trials will be awaiting her in the future and the effects of the E. coli weigh heavy on Lyla, but her drive to accomplish goals has made strong in her trials.

In addition, her time in the hospital made her value medicine and want to be in either pharmaceutical or veterinary work when she grows up. Naturally, both medicine and cattle will be in Lyla’s future. “Maybe I can be in medicine for cows,” she says.

The lessons learned in the barn are precious to Lyla too. “There are always bumps but you just have to keep working and keep going,” she says. She wants people who are new to showing to know that everyone starts as a beginner. Lyla is a testament to hard work resulting in met goals.

She became worried during the final months leading up to the final points standings, checking for updates often, until one day her friend texted her to tell her of her accomplishment. “Are you serious?” she exclaimed, sending the results to her dad with “We did it.”

Working Together

Lyla attributes much of this success to the people that support her, leaning especially on her dad’s support. “It means so much that he wants to help and support us with everything we want to do,” she says. You can tell he is the kind of dad who would do anything for his daughters.

Megan and Claire also pursued points alongside their sister, with Megan placing ninth in the heifer division. “We encouraged each other,” Megan says. “It was pretty exciting knowing that being gone every weekend and showing everywhere got something out of it.”

Megan’s heifer was an April 2022 Maintainer heifer, that received IJBA Jackpot Show Reserve Champion Overall Heifer and the Illinois State Fair Open Maintainer Show Overall Heifer. “Try and be open minded; if it is freezing cold outside and you really do not want to work on your calf, just get up and do it because the end result is so much greater,” Megan advises her show peers.

Josh, who is always showing his support, likes working with kids as driven and success oriented as the Molletts.

“With Lyla, she just cracks me up, just that cute little smile and she is sweet as can be, but ultimately that girl wants to win all the time,” he says. “I like the competitiveness in showing cattle and if you work hard, the hard work always pays off.”

Josh loves the competitiveness of Illinois cattle. “It keeps us all working harder,” he says. “If it were easy, everybody would do it. It makes you want to work harder to be the best.”

Nathan says he enjoys being around good and motivated people too, “The same people win a lot and that can be disappointing, but the kids show up and keep trying. You still want to go try and beat them,” he says. But Nathan believes the competition in the show ring are the same people who would help out at the drop of a hat. “There are a lot of good people around cows,” he adds.

The Mollett girls are most thankful for the family aspect of it all. Lyla appreciates the memories she is making in the barn with her sisters and setting goals with them, and Megan adds that she enjoys being with her whole family.

It is evident Lyla had a steady amount of support in 2023 as she pursued her goal of winning the steer division of the Illinois Junior Beef Association Points Program, accomplishing a year-long goal, which she did handily, surpassing the secondplace finish by 85 points. Congratulations, Lyla!