Disease no barrier for two brothers at stock show
Boys show livestock, support each other
Vincent T. Davis Feb. 26, 2016 Updated: Feb. 26, 2016 10:45 p.m.
1of7Assistant Clayton Pfeiffer helps as Pierce Dutton (right) shows his steer, "Hornet" at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on February 26, 2016.Photo: TOM REEL, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
2of7Assistant Clayton Pfeiffer helps as Pierce Dutton (left) shows his steer, "Hornet" at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on February 26, 2016.Photo: TOM REEL, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
4of7David Dutton helps son Pierce Dutton out of his special wheelchair. Pierce and his brother Cole showed steers at this year's stock show. They also have experience showing goats.Photo: TOM REEL / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
5of7Brothers Pierce (left) and Cole Dutton relax at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Father David Dutton said the boys' love of animals played a big part in their decision to show livestock.Photo: Photos by Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News
6of7Pierce Dutton chats with his mother Kera Dutton after showing his steer at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on February 26, 2016.Photo: TOM REEL, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
7of7Cole Dutton takes a good position and waits for his brother to show his steer at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on February 26, 2016.Photo: TOM REEL, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Friday morning, Pierce Dutton made his way through the jumble of young exhibitors to show his steer, Hornet, at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
The tanklike treads of Pierce's wheelchair ground through the coarse mix of dirt and shavings on the arena floor as he followed his friend Clayton Pfeiffer, 17, who helps him show his animal at livestock shows.
"I think I'm going to do pretty good," said a smiling Pierce, 12, before the competition.
Not far away, Cole Dutton, 14, who, like his brother, has muscular dystrophy, sat at the front rails surrounding the arena and scanned the line of entrants for a sign of his younger brother. Cole showed his shorthorn steer at the Junior Market Steer Show on Wednesday and placed fourth. His goal next year is to get into the top three.
Both are competitive, but that drive doesn't outweigh their support for each other. They take turns using the camouflage-colored action-track wheelchair when they show their animals, with help from friends like Clayton.
"It's pretty exciting," Cole said of livestock shows. "It feels good after all of the work you put into it and finally get to show them. I still get pumped up and a little bit nervous."
It was Cole's kindergarten teacher who first noticed that he couldn't physically keep up with his classmates and that the brothers seemed to fall more often than other children. In January 2007, the boys were both diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder marked by progressive muscle degeneration. It rarely affects girls. Those who have it can live into their 30s, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
But the boys don't let the disease affect their passion for life.
Their family says Cole, an eighth-grader, is serious and "an old soul." Pierce, a sixth-grader, is laid back and fun-loving, and often his biggest concern is where they're going to eat lunch. Both boys attend the Geneva School of Boerne. They have their own website, which explains their situation and touts frequent fundraisers for finding a cure.
They have strong support from their parents, David and Kera Dutton. David Dutton, an equine surgeon, said the boys' love of animals played a big part in their decision to show livestock.
Five years ago, they became interested in showing livestock through their parents' friends Teri and John Mark Matkin in Boerne. Their children were in 4-H. The Duttons, active 4-H'ers themselves when they were children, knew the long hours and dedication it takes to raise animals. They were worried about barriers and explanations that might lay ahead.
The boys were undaunted, as were their friends.
"We know the kids are in chairs, but we're going to show goats with them this year," Kera Dutton recalled the Matkins telling her.
On the day of the boys' first show, the Duttons stood ringside at the Kendall County Junior Livestock Show, wondering how the crowd would receive their sons. As they looked on, the boys proudly showed their goats with the aid of a friend. They needn't have worried; the applause was enthusiastic.
And the boys sold their goats next day at the Boerne auction.
Their mother thought, "One barrier crossed."
The next year, Pierce decided he'd raise a steer, and Cole decided to do it, too.
Kera Dutton said her boys have shown that "if you set your mind to it, you can do it, no matter what you or other people may see as barriers."
There are times when things have been challenging, family members agree, but there's little that hinders the brothers' ability to pursue their desires, such as their love of hunting.
Cole has hunted in New Zealand, and his goal this year is to hunt a bear in Wyoming. Pierce has gotten a 12-point white-tail deer and a Sitka deer.
When they grow up, they're considering careers linked to the outdoor living they've known all their lives: Cole wants to be a hunting guide, and Pierce wants to be a farmer.
Friday morning, the brothers' paternal grandparents, Diane and Mike Dutton, from La Union, New Mexico, sat in the stands beside maternal grandmother Donna Heite to support Pierce, just as they did for Cole on Wednesday.
"It's been great for them," Diane Dutton said. "They get to have camaraderie with friends, and they've learned a lot. It's a family affair with them every single time."
vtdavis@express-news.net
Vincent T. Davis
Vincent T. Davis started at the San Antonio Express-News in 1999 as a part-time City Desk Editorial Assistant working nights and weekends while attending San Antonio College and working on the staff of the campus newspaper, The Ranger. He completed a 3-month fellowship from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in 2003 and earned his bachelors degree in communication design from Texas State University in 2006.
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