The pot bellies prance around a lot and stop and smell the roses, says Zach Johnson, owner and 'Swine Master' of Swifty Swine Racing And Swimming Pigs. The Yorkshires are probably the fastest, but they're the We have Durocs, Hampshires, Yorkshires and pot bellies. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Swifty Swine Productions uses several breeds of swine. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. INSKEEP: This could only be MORNING EDITION from NPR News. All right, give your cheerleaders one more big round of applause! Unidentified Man #4: (Unintelligible) three, but I think your pig might have pulled a hamstring. The pigs are bedded down in their air-conditioned trailer, and another fair is waiting for its first race. When the last race is over and the last fans have gone home, Johnson and his family prepare to move on. Fans are divided into cheering sections, and those who back the winning pig are rewarded with a pound of bacon from a local supermarket. And once you find that and some Oreo cookies, you've got a good racing pig on your hands. So you want a good beefy rear end for explosion out of he gates, and a good slender front end for the, you know, coming on those corners. JOHNSON: What you're looking for is you're looking for a thoroughbred horse in a pig. Zach Johnson says there's no need to mistreat the pigs since they're smart and easy to train. The local authorities found no basis for the complaint, and the resulting publicity just made the race crowds even bigger. A few years ago, one of the rival outfits drew protest from animal rights activist in Massachusetts. HORSLEY: Johnson's company, Swifty Swine Productions, is one of several competing for the pig racing dollar. NANCY MARTINOSKY (Pig Racing Fan): We need Zach and his wife when they just got married. The fair pays Johnson and his company just over $1,000 a day for the entertainment, and fans, like Nancy Martinosky(ph), come back year after year. He also snaps Polaroid of race fans holding Swifty, one of the cutest pigs. After each show, he sells T-shirts and plastic pig key chains. HORSLEY: Johnson has a degree in marketing and public relations. And I see them all day long, so I wouldn't trade that for anything. JOHNSON: It's worth it to be with my kids and my wife all the time.

Six times a day, six days a week, eight months out of the year. Their life is a mix of animal husbandry and live theater. He and his wife, and two young daughters, live in one trailer - the pigs live in another. HORSLEY: Johnson's been living his dream since he bought the pig racing business nine years ago. This is America, so sometimes you've just got to go do what's your dream. ZACH JOHNSON (Pig Race Caller): It's been my lifelong dream to race pigs, so when my boat came I just said, let's go for it, you know? Bring the wife and the kids and let's go race some pigs nationwide. Zach Johnson acts as master of ceremonies and racetrack announcer. The racers are named after famous pigs, like Wilbur, from Charlotte's Web, or famous humans, like Mia Hamm or Kevin Bacon. HORSLEY: Four young pigs, in racing silks, dash around an oval track towards an Oreo cookie at the finish line. Unidentified Man #3: So, is everyone ready for some pig races? HORSLEY: For many visitors, the biggest draw is not the games of chance on the Midway, or the bargains in the commercial hall, but rather a miniature racetrack called Pork Chop Downs. Unidentified Man #2: You can chop your chicken, your beef, pork chops or fajitas with that knife… Unidentified Man #1: Every time we play we give one of the big prizes… It's an early summer festival of funnel cakes, 4-H Exhibits, and a sky-high Ferris wheel.

The San Diego County Fair wrapped up a three-week run yesterday. NPR's Scott Horsley visits a fair where pigs are off to the races - five times a day. If you can learn something for your job from the pit crew's at racetracks, imagine what you might learn at the place we're going next.

Robinsons racing pigs and swifty swine