A record-setting lamb sold for $1 million at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

HOUSTON — Somewhere in Seagraves, Texas, there is one very famous lamb.

On Friday, the Grand Champion Market Lamb sold for a record $1 million at the Junior Market Lamb Auction at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, marking the highest price ever paid for a lamb at the event. The history-making animal was exhibited by Reagan Miller of Seagraves, and the winning bid came from the Hildebrand family, in memory of Brittany Ann Hildebrand, longtime supporters of the Rodeo.

“We are sowing seeds,” said Jeffery Hildebrand. “This is a wonderful place, and kids like this are getting the chance to move on, advance and grow. These are the kids who are going to save America.”

Inside NRG Arena, donors packed in to raise their paddles — and the stakes — for Texas youth and their educational futures during the Junior Market Lamb and Goat Auction. Rodeo Vice President David Stone welcomed guests and donors, and Glenn Beckendorff of Glenn Auction Services LLC kept the bids flying as auctioneer.

Scott Townsend, chairman of the Lamb and Goat Auction Committee, said the heart of the event is simple: “The ‘why’ of this committee is the incredible kids and their projects and how we hope to shape their futures.”

The lamb wasn’t the only one rewriting the record book. Paizlee Akins of Whitesboro, Texas, raised the Grand Champion Market Goat, which sold for $450,000, setting another Rodeo record. The donor group behind the winning bid included Tea and Bill Pinkley; Anne and Chris Richardson; Skip Avara; and Fire Safe Protection Services LP, represented by Lizzy and Stephen McKinney.

“I am very proud to be part of this, and I wish all these kids the best of luck,” Chris Richardson said.

By the end of the day, the big winners were the students whose hard work in the show ring turned into life-changing support for their education — proof that in Houston, even a lamb and a goat can bring the house down.

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