A little red head

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Been hitting some County fairs. Our little fall red head has been doing great - SV Sexy Lady (nickname Frosty). Here she is at last show, winning Supreme Over All Breeds of all Heifers & Cow/calf pairs. Our C/C pair was Reserve Supreme and our bull calf out of Java took his 3rd Supreme Bull. We were kinda "piggy".

This is picture of Frosty after just getting a haircut. At the show, she was in heat. Didn't eat or drink well, so wasn't as full as we would have liked. She had other things on her mind. At least she was PERKY in the ring!!!


In NY, most all the shows are enrolled in the NY Supreme program. If a female wins Supreme, they are invited to a one day show at NY State Fair of ALL NY SUPREME winners. Our Cow/calf pair and Frosty will we in the Supreme show Aug 27. Then we go back to NYSF for our Simmental Show over the Labor Day weekend.

 

[TCRanch]

Congrats!

 

[farmerjan]

Congratulations.

 

[Warren Allison]

So glad to see a magnificent example of what an actual, working, productive beef cow should be. Kudos to your judging community up there, for tying cattle that are functional...that represent what a working animal of that breed should be. That was supposed to be the goal of ":showing" across al breeds of animals. IN the 40;s and 50sl with many of the great AQHA cutting and racing foundation sires, a lot of them were shown, and won, halter classes. Today, AQHA halter horses are 17 hds giants with tea-cup sized hooves and straight legs that are hardly rideable, and not at all representative of what a working QH should be. And in the working and hunting dog classes of AKC shows, you see dogs that could not hunt or herd an animal if their life depended on it.

I like that heifer! Anyone would do very well to have a pasture full just like her.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I failed to list her age - she is a Sept 13, 2023. She is another Mack AF sired female. Most reds that we show have been Mack's daughters.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Wow! Not even a year old.

Shes gorgeous!

 

[coachg]

Love redheads ! Beautiful heifer

 

[coachg]

Love redheads ! Beautiful heifer

Got to remember I'm an old Shorthorn man . Said I'd never own a black angus ; never say never !

 

[Mark Reynolds]

So glad to see a magnificent example of what an actual, working, productive beef cow should be. Kudos to your judging community up there, for tying cattle that are functional...that represent what a working animal of that breed should be. That was supposed to be the goal of ":showing" across al breeds of animals. IN the 40;s and 50sl with many of the great AQHA cutting and racing foundation sires, a lot of them were shown, and won, halter classes. Today, AQHA halter horses are 17 hds giants with tea-cup sized hooves and straight legs that are hardly rideable, and not at all representative of what a working QH should be. And in the working and hunting dog classes of AKC shows, you see dogs that could not hunt or herd an animal if their life depended on it.

I like that heifer! Anyone would do very well to have a pasture full just like her.

@Warren Allison, you need to see the whole herd at once. This heifer is absolutely exceptional, but I don't think there is a single animals in @Jeanne - Simme Valley's herd that is even close to 'average'.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Mack AF really stamps them. How does your personal experience with his daughters compare to his EPDs? I love their look.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

His EPD's are horrible. He does put some weight on their BW for sure. I have to say, we have never assisted any of his calves. We castrate ALL his bull calves - and most are deserving to be castrated (over 100#). We automatically castrate all because if ONE person had a calving problem, my reputation would be mud for keeping a bull calf out of him.
I try to breed him to cows with really high CE - which I don't really have many because I don't breed for CE.
He really stamps his calves. Great feet & legs, bold rib - just square boxes!
Here's an old video of him:

A really great friend saw him and called me and told me I should be breeding to him. I buy his semen from the owner out in Colorado. I can give you contact information if you want. Cattle Vision picks it up and ships with the rest of my order to me.

 

[Warren Allison]

@Warren Allison, you need to see the whole herd at once. This heifer is absolutely exceptional, but I don't think there is a single animals in @Jeanne - Simme Valley's herd that is even close to 'average'.

I have never seen a pic of anything she had, that wasn't exceptional. She knows what she is doing, and she takes pride in producing the quality animals that she does. I would buy any cow, any bull, of hers I wanted, sight unseen with the utmost confidence, and know it would be all she said it was.

 

[kenny thomas]

His EPD's are horrible. He does put some weight on their BW for sure. I have to say, we have never assisted any of his calves. We castrate ALL his bull calves - and most are deserving to be castrated (over 100#). We automatically castrate all because if ONE person had a calving problem, my reputation would be mud for keeping a bull calf out of him.
I try to breed him to cows with really high CE - which I don't really have many because I don't breed for CE.
He really stamps his calves. Great feet & legs, bold rib - just square boxes!
Here's an old video of him:

A really great friend saw him and called me and told me I should be breeding to him. I buy his semen from the owner out in Colorado. I can give you contact information if you want. Cattle Vision picks it up and ships with the rest of my order to me.

Jeanne, are you breeding for strictly show calves? If his EPD's are terrible and the bull calves are all too big i wouldn't want the heifers to make cows with.
I know you are way ahead of me on knowledge of the Simmental but this doesn't seem like the avenue you used to follow.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Kenny - the bull was NEVER used - he was displayed at Denver and he was collected, then a "partner" took him to promote him and he broke his penis. If he had been used, his EPD's would have been better. "MY" cows have more to do with the BW. I have many males over 100# and are automatically castrated. I castrate ALL his sons strictly because of the sires EPD's and the "image" created in the minds of a buyer if something goes wrong.
Just my being cautious for reputation - and never used to have a big market for red bulls.
His daughters make great COWS. Everyone has been both a great show animal and great mommas. I generally only have 1-2 a year, because of my trying to "blend" some EPD's with the dams. And, red is my hot item and have sold many daughters. I have sold 5 top dollar red heifers and no blacks yet this year. And I have top black heifers also. Not the quality difference - it's the color they want.

 

[Little Joe]

So glad to see a magnificent example of what an actual, working, productive beef cow should be. Kudos to your judging community up there, for tying cattle that are functional...that represent what a working animal of that breed should be. That was supposed to be the goal of ":showing" across al breeds of animals. IN the 40;s and 50sl with many of the great AQHA cutting and racing foundation sires, a lot of them were shown, and won, halter classes. Today, AQHA halter horses are 17 hds giants with tea-cup sized hooves and straight legs that are hardly rideable, and not at all representative of what a working QH should be. And in the working and hunting dog classes of AKC shows, you see dogs that could not hunt or herd an animal if their life depended on it.

I like that heifer! Anyone would do very well to have a pasture full just like her.

I agree, most of the show world doesn't align with the real world. My son showed cattle for a few years when he was pretty young, first year he showed a nice black baldy simmental cross heifer. All the older cattlemen really bragged on her and how good looking she was, if I remember right she didn't even place although she would've brought more than any of the others competing against her in the sale barn. I think whatever would bring top dollar at the sale barn should be what wins in the show ring. Lots of folks around here drop big money fr show steers, I lke the idea of at least having a class for home raised stock.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I agree, most of the show world doesn't align with the real world. My son showed cattle for a few years when he was pretty young, first year he showed a nice black baldy simmental cross heifer. All the older cattlemen really bragged on her and how good looking she was, if I remember right she didn't even place although she would've brought more than any of the others competing against her in the sale barn. I think whatever would bring top dollar at the sale barn should be what wins in the show ring. Lots of folks around here drop big money fr show steers, I lke the idea of at least having a class for home raised stock.

I can't agree with that statement. I would change that to whatever makes a GREAT COW should be winners. Weight is the only aspect of the sale barn. I show to advertise my BREEDING stock. Winning helps, but I have been to shows that I have not done well at because there was a pizz poor judge that didn't have a clue what he is doing - or has a lot of favors to take care of.

 

[Little Joe]

I can't agree with that statement. I would change that to whatever makes a GREAT COW should be winners. Weight is the only aspect of the sale barn. I show to advertise my BREEDING stock. Winning helps, but I have been to shows that I have not done well at because there was a pizz poor judge that didn't have a clue what he is doing - or has a lot of favors to take care of.

From what I've seen around here, what wins in the show ring would not make a practical brood cow. Most would only be in the herd a few years in a practical application around here. Some of the people around here are going up north to buy their show cattle because they want cattle that grow good hair and they keep them in a "cooler", (air conditioned room). That's the type that win in the show ring around here. That baldy heifer belongs to my neighbor now and is still in the herd 12 years later. When I said all the older cattlemen were bragging on her, it's because she was the kind they wanted in the herd. She had great confirmation and was filled out appropriately for her frame for a future brood cow.
Weight is not the only aspect of the sale barn, if that was the case Longhorn calves would bring as much per pound as an Angus. There are lots of things considered when determining the price per pound in the sale ring. I guess I should've said the one that would bring highest price per pound in the sale ring based on frame and conformation. My point is a kid shouldn't have to buy a $10,000 steer and keep it in a cooler to win the market steer class or a $10,000 heifer to when the commercial class. There should be classes for slick haired homegrown type cattle. Our fair season is mid summer through mid fall, those cattle are having to gain weight and look their best in 100 degree weather and high humidity, the ones that can do that being raised just like any other one you were saving for a replacement or to butcher should be competitive in the ring. Even if it means having a different class for such animals. We got away from showing because raising a winner wasn't creating a practical replacement heifer, it was creating a pampered animal that wasn't going to hold up in our environment.

 

[Little Joe]

So glad to see a magnificent example of what an actual, working, productive beef cow should be. Kudos to your judging community up there, for tying cattle that are functional...that represent what a working animal of that breed should be. That was supposed to be the goal of ":showing" across al breeds of animals. IN the 40;s and 50sl with many of the great AQHA cutting and racing foundation sires, a lot of them were shown, and won, halter classes. Today, AQHA halter horses are 17 hds giants with tea-cup sized hooves and straight legs that are hardly rideable, and not at all representative of what a working QH should be. And in the working and hunting dog classes of AKC shows, you see dogs that could not hunt or herd an animal if their life depended on it.

I like that heifer! Anyone would do very well to have a pasture full just like her.

I have a neighbor that used to raise cow bred type QH, he had around 100 brood mares at one time that came from Waggoner, 6666, and Brown ranches, his brood mares ran in rough rocky pastures with rocky creek bottoms and rocky bluffs and whatever type of grass came up. They were all pasture bred. At one time he had an own son of shining spark and later an own son of high brow cat. I believe he had a peptoboonsmal stud and a paddy's Irish whiskey as well somewhere along the way. I believe Shawn Flarida was showing his high brow cat stud at one time. Back to my point, he let those colts run on that rough ground unhandled until they were a long 2 year old or short 3 before he'd gather them to break and sale. He'd hire a crew of cowboys out of Texas to ride the buck out of them then his trainer took over. I was told they could buck harder than any colt around but once broke, they handled real well and would hold up forever because they had great feet and were well conditioned from running in that rough terrain. Wood Ranch is the name of their outfit. I believe they only have a few personal riding horses now. They said some of those colts threw cowboys so hard it knocked their buckaroo boots plumb off of them. He provided the remuda for road to the horse several years ago.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I agree, most of the show world doesn't align with the real world. My son showed cattle for a few years when he was pretty young, first year he showed a nice black baldy simmental cross heifer. All the older cattlemen really bragged on her and how good looking she was, if I remember right she didn't even place although she would've brought more than any of the others competing against her in the sale barn. I think whatever would bring top dollar at the sale barn should be what wins in the show ring. Lots of folks around here drop big money fr show steers, I lke the idea of at least having a class for home raised stock.

You posted about showing a HEIFER - but if you are thinking about steers, judges "generally" pick the most balanced, well muscled steers that are finished. Granted, they don't really care how well they can walk, which in an actual feedlot can have a huge affect on their ability to finish.

 

[M.Magis]

I don't know squat about the show world, other than my kids showing at the county fair. A small county fair. But even at our fair, the judging for the breeding classes vs market steers are worlds apart. "Show cattle" doesn't automatically mean hairy gimpy cattle that can't function in the real cattle world. The vast majority of cattle shown in the breeding classes here are functional cattle. And to be fair, the last several judges we've had for the market steers have stressed funtionality and really stressed good feet and legs. Both of our steers were rightfully dinged for it this year, and my oldest sons steer last year took second in his class because of poor feet and gait. I think the judge this year even mentioned how important feet and legs were in a feedlot environment.
I'm sure a lot of the show world critisism is justified, but I also suspect a lot of people have either never attended one, or at least not recently. There's a pretty wide variety in the show world from what I've seen.