First Show

[show steer up]

yes, he still has two shows to go, our county round up in aug and our fair in sept. we are aiming for 1325-1350 for those shows. hes not the best steer, we know that. (its not the best picture either) we had two steers for him to pick from he wanted the red one, so we let him have the red one, the black one (which we wanted him to show) was sold and more then likely will be a contenter. But, We didnt want to force a animal on to him so we let him have the red one. its Not always about winning. (even though it is nice)

we have a smaller show stick for him but he cant reach the back legs.

he had fun, and wants to do it again.
thats all that matters right now.

Congratulations to your son! I'm glad to see you have that kind of attitude as far as winning. My daughter is on her third year in 4-H and we let her pick her own steer out of twins. It isn't the best of the two, but we couldn't go back on our word. She had two good years of winning shows. She trained him by herself this year and did alot of the work herself this year without me asking her too.

:cboy: that's what it's all about right there folks :cboy: Tell your daughter "Great Job" from me

 

[ND Angus]

Who cares what the steer looks like. Just be glad the youngster is out there doing it. My kids spend countless hours in the washbay , washing and training hair. I'd rather have them doing that than watching TV. I'm 38 years old I went into the show ring for the first time this winter ! I had to follow a 10 year old in the open show cause I didn't know where to go! it was quite comical .

 

[Keren]

chris, your grandson is going to have to get use to a long show stick. He has to be able to reach the back leggs with no problem. Have him walk around the house with it in walking show position, about an hour a day. I did this with my kids then had them lead there steers with show stick in hand. It needs to be like second nature to them.
About two months before our fair my kids need to have a show stick in their hand at all times while working their animals. when they wash their animals and the steer moves out of show stance, they set them back up. This traines the steer and the child at the same time. We have two sets of show sticks. One for fair and one for every day use. In the beginning my kids were not to happy, now that they have been showing for a few years, you almost never see them without them Give it a try and see if it helps.

Doesnt happen very often, but I'm going to disagree with you here ;-)

If he cant handle a long cane, dont worry about it.

Teach him to set the back feet by 'rocking' the animal - using pressure on the halter and shifting his body weight back or forward. He can use his cane for the front feet and to scratch the animal.

I am only 1.5 metres and I cut the end of my show canes to make them my size. When I am showing large animals (bulls, cows, older heifers) I cant reach the back legs, so I rock them (most of the young animals I rock as well) then use the cane or my feet to set the front feet.

Tell your son congratulations! Having fun is the priority at this stage!

I can see what your talking about Karen, but what do you do for the profile view :???: You have to set off side forward.
I'm gunna have my daughter try the rocking tonight. That would be great if she could teach them how to do that :shock: Thanks so much

SS - once you get the hang of it you can get their feet anywhere you like, so if you want to offset the back feet you can do that.

Be warned it does take some practice and also you need a little room in the show ring sometimes you need them to go back a step to set up properly. But you should always leave lots of room around your animal anyway.

Depending on how responsive the animal is, your daughter can also push on the shoulder of the animal to encourage it to go back.

I have found by teaching them to rock they set up quicker and calmer. Its also good for those kicky ones that dont like the cane.

As far as the rude judge goes . . . I dont know how many judges I have been in front of or I have put kids in front of. I have seen some judges who put a person up because they didnt carry a show cane into the ring. I have also seen some put a person down in the show ring because they didnt carry a show cane. But consistently, in the higher ends of the showmanship competitions, the people who can set their animals feet without heavy use of the cane have an advantage. In many champion classes, the judge takes the canes off the paraders and has them handle the animals that way.

Incidently - just wondering in your showmanship classes does the judge swap animals and handlers around?

 

[t&d farms]

Incidently - just wondering in your showmanship classes does the judge swap animals and handlers around?

not at this show it wasnt done, but normally at our round up and fair, the judge normal does do this. Maybe not with the beginners but the senior class and intermediate class they do. In the championship round, depending on how good the junior is he will make them switch animals as well
. jmo, i really like when judges do this. you can really get a feel if the kid knows what he/she is doing and can they handle other animals.

 

[farmwife]

Incidently - just wondering in your showmanship classes does the judge swap animals and handlers around?

not at this show it wasnt done, but normally at our round up and fair, the judge normal does do this. Maybe not with the beginners but the senior class and intermediate class they do. In the championship round, depending on how good the junior is he will make them switch animals as well
. jmo, i really like when judges do this. you can really get a feel if the kid knows what he/she is doing and can they handle other animals.

Switching is a two-fold deal. It can show how well an individual can handle any animal, however it doesn't take into account the amount of work done at home with one's own animal. I recall a time when I didn't win showmanship (the person that got my heifer did). My heifer was dead broke. You could lead her with hay string around her neck and she would set her feet when all you did is point at the foot with the stick. She was truly automatic; a 3 year old could have shown her.

 

[Keren]

Incidently - just wondering in your showmanship classes does the judge swap animals and handlers around?

not at this show it wasnt done, but normally at our round up and fair, the judge normal does do this. Maybe not with the beginners but the senior class and intermediate class they do. In the championship round, depending on how good the junior is he will make them switch animals as well
. jmo, i really like when judges do this. you can really get a feel if the kid knows what he/she is doing and can they handle other animals.

Switching is a two-fold deal. It can show how well an individual can handle any animal, however it doesn't take into account the amount of work done at home with one's own animal. I recall a time when I didn't win showmanship (the person that got my heifer did). My heifer was dead broke. You could lead her with hay string around her neck and she would set her feet when all you did is point at the foot with the stick. She was truly automatic; a 3 year old could have shown her.

I agree 100% with you t&d, not so much farmwife (sorry). In our shows (I'm assuming it is completely different in your country) handlers classes should not require the handler to have done any work 'at home'. Because the majority of kids are leading animals that do not belong to them, they are from a stud and the owner has helped them out by lending them a heifer/bull for the morning. When I am judging handlers classes and someone comes out with a push button heifer, I deliberately make them swap to a more difficult animal. Being able to parade a push button does not show your skill as a handler; as you said, a 3 year old could have led your heifer; but it takes a true showman to parade an animal that doesnt know them, a non-automatic (manual? lol) heifer.

Of course, I have had that backfire on me a couple of times when I was actually competing, not judging. There is a well known cattle family who teaches their heifers to be push button for their kids, but to be un-leadable for anyone else. That sucks when you get swapped onto one of them!

 

[farmwife]

It is in fact different here. The kid has their own heifer that they keep at home.

So, if someone got my heifer, they look better because they could set her up without hardly using a stick -- I don't think so -- it was a matter of I spent at least 3 hours every day working with her. I can see where one showman may do better than others, but if you luck into an "automatic" heifer -- can you show or can you?

I have seen heifers that were not even showable regardless of who was on the end of the lead.

I disagree with you -- sorry.