Usually, judges handle the animals. Kind of depends on the show you're at and the judge themselves. It'd be interesting to have some of the market show animals untrasounded, but not real likely to happen.aussie_cowgirl":3pk3a0mb said:Cowboy 2.0":3pk3a0mb said:With the tricks I've got up my sleeves I bet you I could.
Our cattle are raised for beef. Our show steers, not so much. Used to they were, but now its a game of looks.
Our judges touch and feel our animals. And can tell the difference between hair and flesh. And are ultrasounded for fat measurement.
It's hard work breeding and raising an animal that has to look good and have eye appeal as well as have desirable carcass attributes. Instead of just one or the other.
It sucks that the show calf industry here has leaned more and more towards looks and less on carcass, but if you want to show and do well here, you kind of have to follow the pack. Looks also depends on region. When I was 4-H age, a lot of kids' parents owned big feedlots, so their cattle were pulled-from the-lot feedlot steers and heifers. Those kids almost always won the heavyweight divisions (in county, state, other jr. shows around the country), without their cattle being "prettied and fluffed" up. They didn't win overall, usually because they didn't have the eye appeal, but it made some of the show-bred animals look weak muscled (even with all the hair) and gave a lot of the show-bred calves a run for their money, literally- we have a family that spent $30,000 on a steer once and that calf just squeaked by with a win against a home grown feedlot animal.