When the Morris family brought livestock to the Northwest Montana Fair on Monday morning, it was under a cloud of worry — not that they let it stop them.

The patriarch of the family, Dave Morris, was putting his horses away on Thursday when one of them kicked him squarely in the gut. He doubled over and a second kick connected with his skull.

He was rushed to Kalispell Regional Medical Center and then quickly flown to Seattle.

For his daughter, Casey Morris, it was a hectic week.

The Morris family has been a longtime fair family, and with Dave in the hospital the same week as the fair, she thought she might not have been able to show off her daughter’s animals.

At least, not without plenty of help from 4-H members.

“I’m the primary one helping with the animals,” Morris said. “[Dave] is usually here helping. I’ve been very busy. I didn’t plan on bringing the cows, but the help has been huge.”

The Trail Blazers 4-H Club of Whitefish was founded by Casey’s grandmother. It languished for a time before Casey’s mother, Wendy, brought it back to life for her daughter.

Wendy Morris still runs the Trail Blazers and has a role in 4-H around the state. She’s spending this fair week with Dave, helping him recover.

And the Morris family isn’t one to miss a fair.

With five living generations in the Flathead (from 96-year old Helen Morris to Casey’s own toddler), raising animals is as much in their blood as farming was in Steinbeck’s Joad family.

“I’ve been doing it since I

was... her age,” Casey Morris said, patting her middle child’s head. “It’s what we do.”

Casey, 30, and her three daughters Isabell, 10, Alexis, 6, and Addyson, 2, have brought three sheep and four cows to be judged at the fair. The 4-H club has been helping them transport, wash and shear all the animals (which are not on the auction block).

Dave returned to the Morris Ranch in Columbia Falls on Saturday night. When “Queenie” struck him, the damage was significant. The hoof caused a fractured skull, blood on the brain, crushed his left orbital bone, broke his nose and smashed his cheek bones. There were doubts as to his recovery.

Isabell, an articulate 10-year old, said it was a tough week for her grandfather.

“His doctor said he had a very low chance of getting sight back in his left eye,” she said. “It was a scary week. He has perfect vision in both his eyes now but his memory is off and on.”

Casey said her father was lucid but sometimes would forget things.

But the 50-year old former bullfighter is tough, she said, and will get it all back in time. This is a man who had his sternum ripped apart by a bull and bounced back. It will take more than an errant kick from a horse to take him away from what he loves.

But while he recovers, the younger members of the Morris family are excited to show off their animals.

Alexis, an at-turns bold and shy redheaded scamp, has two animals. One, a beauty of a miniature Hereford cow, is named Princess. The other animal is a sheep named Sparkle. Addyson, the toddler, has a sheep named Big.

Isabell has cows Tiny and Pearl and a sheep with the imaginative name of Pig.

With all the critters at the fairgrounds, the help from the Trail Blazers 4-H club is part of the togetherness the young people feel.

Jared Dyck, a 17-year old Whitefish High School student, was wrangling the livestock for washing and shearing. He had been helping the Morris women all week.

“Between getting the animals here and taking care of them, it’s been busy,” he said. “One thing I love about 4-H is the camaraderie. We’re all glad to help.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.