McKayla Herrell brought her dog to the Cloverbud Pet Parade, but man's best friend was not her first choice.

"When we asked her what she was going to take she said, 'a steer of course'," the 6-year-old's grandmother, Linda Herrell, said.

No steer made it into the parade of approximately 50 5- to 8-year-olds showing off their pets.

Kaitlyn Payne brought the closest animal to a steer, her 5-week-old miniature pony, Daisy. Payne has been a Cloverbud for two years and previously brought goats.

Her reason for the change is simple though.

"I've never brought a pony before," Payne said.

Who can argue with that?

The Cloverbuds are not full 4-H members. They are children who are too young to really learn the ropes but are old enough to be introduced to farm life.

Laura Jane Murphy,

Ohio State University Extension educator, said they do cooperative learning with the children introducing them to the skills they will begin to develop in 4-H such as people skills.

"Developmentally, they're not quite ready for competition," Murphy said.

However, some of them are already thinking ahead.

Herrell said she wants to be fair queen like her sister Jessi Herrell was last year.

While she has her eye on the crown, Curtis Lybrand has his eyes on the money.

The 8-year-old brought his rooster Steve because he said roosters are his favorite animal, but he knows where the money is.

"Pigs," Lybrand said are the animals he will bring when he joins 4-H because he can sell them.