Royalty walks the halls of Fossil Ridge High School, but you would not realize that sophomore Lauren Schneider is a princess. She is not a typical princess; her royal subjects are bovines and the kids who raise them.
Schneider is the Larimer County Dairy Princess, who reigns alongside Queen Rachel Wildman of Windsor. Being royalty is more work than it sounds; the two ladies represent the dairy program for the county, promote the industry, give presentations to the community regarding their program, tour with cows, and hand out awards at the Larimer County Fair.
“I’ve gone to O’Dell’s brewery with cows because our dairyman has a beer named after him there,” Schneider said.
A new queen and princess are chosen each year and must fill out an application and have been a member of the dairy program for two years to be eligible.
This is Schneider’s third year in the dairy program as well as 4-H, “a national youth organization that prepares young people to step up to the challenges in their community and the world” through completing projects in a variety of fields including agriculture, science, health and citizenship, according to the 4-H website. The princess has three Jerseys, one Holstein heifer, and a Lowline Jersey cross.
Princess Schneider is a prime example of agriculture in the 21st century; she does not live on a farm but instead on a golf course. She is able to show cattle through the Lease-A-Dairy program, where she houses her cows on a dairy in the area. Dairy is not her only project either; Schneider shows dogs, goats, rabbits, and chickens as well as participates in the scrapbooking program and cooking program. In the future, Schneider aspires to be a veterinarian.
Schneider is very busy this summer between the Colorado Dairy Youth Extravaganza, Larimer County Fair, and representing the dairy program within the county. “I love doing this stuff.”
