The Fritz Family
Former TJLA Family
The Fritz Family
By Cody Trimble
Growing up in the show barn is a common thing for the children of livestock families. The sight of toddlers running around the barn and outside the ring is a common and happy sight to see. Within a few years those same toddlers are in the show ring winning ribbons. The same holds true for Katie Fritz, who at 15 months went to her first show and has not missed one since.
Katie comes from a livestock family. Her father Kevin grew up showing lambs and steers from his father’s and grandpa’s herd in Fredericksburg. Susan, Katie’s mother, was the daughter of a county agent and showed growing up in Santa Anna, Texas. Katie’s older brother, Kody, and sister, Karin, also both showed.
For the family showing is more than just an activity, it is a lifestyle. That’s why in 1998 they decided to buy a place outside of Fredericksburg, along with eighty Southdown ewes from Pat Everett and Katie’s grandpa’s, Tom Newman, herd. They wanted to start their own club lamb operation. If you have visited the Fritz’ operation, you know that it is distinguished by being on Southdown Lane and Champions Drive. Worthy names considering how well the operation has done.
“We wanted to be able to raise our own sheep that would be competitive for the kids,” Kevin Fritz recalls.
Katie and the Fritz family would become one of the most competitive and successful show families and club lamb operations in the country. It was truly a family endeavor, whether in the barn, truck, or at the show, they were always together working with sheep. For Katie this certainly was no problem.
“That’s where I wanted to be,” she enthusiastically points out.
Hard work and good animals, not surprisingly, lead to tremendous success. Start naming the shows and you will find that the Fritzes have bred a champion Southdown. One of Katie’s favorite memories was her sophomore year at Fort Worth. She brought three lambs and her parents wanted her to show a different one than she did. Katie went with her instinct and showed the one she thought was better and ended up as the breed champion. Katie did note that her parents are great livestock evaluators, but it was nice to get this one right.
Katie was a member of the TJLA from the beginning. In fact, she and her mom were extremely excited about making a run at points in Southdowns. In the 2004-05 TJLA season they would accomplish their goal. Katie excelled in the TJLA, not only in the ring, but she was also a Junior Director and officer from 2005-08.
It certainly meant a little more to achieve so much success with homegrown sheep. “I was in complete control on making my lamb what I wanted it to be,” Katie observes.
Kevin recalls saying many days “Wow this has been a heck of a good day,” for both his daughter’s sheep and also his customers that had purchased lambs from him. For Kevin it is a great feeling to see young people succeed with a Fritz Southdown.
There is no doubt that Fritz Southdowns is a homegrown operation. Today they have over 400 ewes and 80 bucks and have done this expansion within their herd. It takes some amazing record keeping to pull this off, and if you ask Kevin or Katie they will immediately let you know it is Susan whose abilities as a record keeper who has helped the operation. Extensive pedigrees are kept on every ewe that is retained, Susan says.
The Fritz’s have faced some obstacles along the way. Both Susan and Kevin work other jobs. Susan is Veterinarian at Fredericksburg Compassionate Care Animal Hospital. Kevin owns ABC Self Storage. There have been extreme droughts, such as the one last year and having enough land for the sheep can be troublesome. But the ties that showing together has created for the family and undeniable work ethic have kept them going strong.
Great lessons have been learned through the many years of showing and raising sheep. Kevin says it was “a good adventure for the kids” and “they learned a lot in the show ring.” He adds that it taught them how to “get up and work.”
Katie recalls how she learned time management and responsibility being involved with the TJLA. She says the young people in the TJLA “learn how to create a program to do a job right.”
But maybe Susan puts it best when she says, “Katie is a well-rounded adult.” That can certainly be said of all her children. Kody is an auto body collision repair specialist in McKinney, and Karin is unit coordinator for animal health at Texas Tech University.
As for Katie, she is a senior animal science and agricultural economics double major at Texas A&M University due to graduate in December. She is the Saddle and Sirloin sweetheart, social chair for Alpha Zeta, an Aggie Rep for animal science, and was on the wool and meat judging teams. She is also an assistant to Dr. Ramsey. She is pursuing a career in veterinarian pharmaceutical sales, and is well on her way already being successful being part of several internships.
Fritz lambs continue to be extremely successful in the show ring. They are yet another example of what hard work and dedication leads too. Katie says she would like to go back and take over the operation someday. There is no doubt that if she does, she will return to one of the most well-respected club lamb operations in the state.
Katie recalls how she learned time management and responsibility being involved with the TJLA. She says the young people in the TJLA “learn how to create a program to do a job right.”
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