Fitting Steers for show

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blranch

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This topic has probably already been talked about on here but I'm looking for more specific answers.
I'm showing at a county fair where adhesives are allowed.
I have two all black steers and a couple heifers that are black with white bellies.
The one steer has curly hair and has a very light grey tint to him.
What type of fitting stuff should I get, I know I need a blower and a clipper(any one need to get rid of one), but have no idea about anything else. Also what should I do for hair care on a daily basis?
Any info is appreciated.
 
i am by no means an expert, but for daily care i have heard blowing the calf every day helps, combing every day, and washing every 2 days. but if you wash, you have to use conditoner. hopefully someone with a little more experience than me responds..
 
A blower is a must. Rinse every day and the blow them out. Make sure all the hair is going forward and when you blow dry start at the backend blowing the hair forward. Try not let the hair go all over the place. As far as products theres a lot of stuff you can use and the best thing is try to find someone in your area who has a lot of fitting experience and watch them Do not use adhesive if you do not know what your doing because you will end up with a mess. You can go to sullivans show supplies website and they have some great DVD's for sale on grooming. Good Luck!
 
Well, since you have nothing, I assume this is your first year. If thats the case, don't embarass yourself. Hire a fitter. Then just watch them work and start practicing at home.
 
I used to show, when i was a little kid. So its not my first year.
I know how to use adhesives, I was just wondering which ones you guys like the best.
And which hair care stuff you use daily.

Also, should i wash them in the winter, I live in northern wisconsin. Or would i have to worry about them getting sick, becuase I don't have a heated wash rack.
 
I
SKF Show Cattle said:
Make sure all the hair is going forward and when you blow dry start at the backend blowing the hair forward. quote]
I disagree. Start with the top of the head and face, then ears, then brisket, between front legs, then blow the hair forward and up always angled towards the head, then go up and down from the top of the neck to below the shoulders and repeat all the way to the tail. IF YOU START AT THE BUTT AND DRY GOING FORWARD IT WILL LOOK LIKE CRAP ONCE YOU GET DONE. As for clipping and fitting i would hire a pro to bring back the art to you. The clipping and grooming aspect of show steers has changed since you were a kid... After watching the Fitter it should return to you. Good luck and dont worry yourself to death, its one mans opinion
 
blranch":1rf8m12t said:
Also, should i wash them in the winter, I live in northern wisconsin. Or would i have to worry about them getting sick, becuase I don't have a heated wash rack.
You can if you have a towel and a blower i would say... But that is just my opinion.
 
Iowa-angus":40396zsz said:
blranch":40396zsz said:
Also, should i wash them in the winter, I live in northern wisconsin. Or would i have to worry about them getting sick, becuase I don't have a heated wash rack.
You can if you have a towel and a blower i would say... But that is just my opinion.

What would the towel be for?

Wash em and dry them out of the wind and they will be fine.
 
i have used towels before and they work great in the winter if you wipe off the calf before you use the blower on it. and cowboy is right, be sure to do it out of the wind.
 
Daily care: rinse at least once a day if your fair is in the hot part of the year you will want to rinse 2 to 3 a day for the last 90 days. We pour cream rinse on the 2 times a week: take a 5 gallon bucket put a quarter sized dollop of cream rinse in the bottom fill with water. We dip the tail in the bucket and the pour the rest over the animal from tail head to the poll. (we use Main and Tail) do not rinse out of the animal comp the hair forward then blow the animal out.
The days we do not pour on cream rinse, we spray the hair with a cream rinse vinegar mix. After the animal is blow out we spray the hair with the mixture, comb it in the blow it in and work the hair. As far as from front to back or back to front there are several thoughts on this: If you go from front to back it does look better as you do it but you are blowing water on to where you gave already blown the animal out. If you go from back to front you tend to get lines in the animal, if you keep working the hair though with a comb as you go you can get rid of this.
Wash with soap once a week, this help rid the hair of all the product that has been building up in the hair over the last week.
We also will spray in Show sheen everyday; you spray it on comb and blow it in just before we kick them out for the night.
We will also spray Pink hair oil) on them when we are rinsing them in the morning and keeping them covered for the day, and then we will use the Sheen in the evening. Do not put the calves out in the sun with either product; it will speed up the fading process.
Some people blow the hair forward others blow it in forward at a 45% angle. I think it some times depends on the animal and its hair, just remember to blow it forward either way. If your calf has cowlicks, you need to work each one out to get the hair to go the right way. You may need to comb it down then forward, back then forward or even back, down and then forward, each animal and cowlick can be different.
We use a rice root brush on the leg hair and work it daily brushing the leg hair up.

Not only are you getting the animals to look its best you will definitely notice that they become quite a bit calmer and easier to manage, with all the time you are spending working on them.

I am sure there are 10 other ways to do daily care, this is the way we do it.
 
When you blow in kleen sheen/vinigar, do you just spray it on with a spray bottle? Or how should that be done?
 
blranch":q74xiz92 said:
When you blow in kleen sheen/vinigar, do you just spray it on with a spray bottle? Or how should that be done?

With a fogger or take the blower and hold the bottle at the tip of the hose and spray with the blower on low.
 
you can do what cowboy said but it would work just about the same to use a spray bottle. i have worked my strait kleen sheen down to half way so i just poured in vinegar into the same spray bottle.
 
Iowa-angus":2oywvght said:
you can do what cowboy said but it would work just about the same to use a spray bottle. i have worked my strait kleen sheen down to half way so i just poured in vinegar into the same spray bottle.

But when blown in it doesn't lay the hair down as in spraying and brushing in.
 
Iowa-angus wrote:
you can do what cowboy said but it would work just about the same to use a spray bottle. i have worked my strait kleen sheen down to half way so i just poured in vinegar into the same spray bottle.

But when blown in it doesn't lay the hair down as in spraying and brushing in.

So its best to blow in?
 
blranch":2nfcu5ci said:
Iowa-angus wrote:
you can do what cowboy said but it would work just about the same to use a spray bottle. i have worked my strait kleen sheen down to half way so i just poured in vinegar into the same spray bottle.

But when blown in it doesn't lay the hair down as in spraying and brushing in.

So its best to blow in?

Yes, then it gets to all the hair, not just the top layer.
 
i never said "But when blown in it doesn't lay the hair down as in spraying and brushing in."
 
So tell me if this is a good routine, feel free to tweak anything.
Rinse in the mourning then blow and brush them dry. Do that again in the afternoon.
Then at night rinse up good, blow dry then blow or fog in kleen sheen/viniger.
Or pour on some infusium 23 with viniger and blow that in.

Also should I get a fogger, one of the Eq solutions foamers or Ezall, and is a roto-brush. Do you guys use them a lot and do the work pretty good?
Thanks for all your help.
 
blranch":o2c6d2j4 said:
So tell me if this is a good routine, feel free to tweak anything.
Rinse in the mourning then blow and brush them dry. Do that again in the afternoon.
Then at night rinse up good, blow dry then blow or fog in kleen sheen/viniger.
Or pour on some infusium 23 with viniger and blow that in.

Also should I get a fogger, one of the Eq solutions foamers or Ezall, and is a roto-brush. Do you guys use them a lot and do the work pretty good?
Thanks for all your help.
I will save you some time and trouble....Get a wash brush(plastic with the handle on the top your hand goes in)... rinse them and pull hair up with a comb. Blow it about half dry and start using that wash brush and brush the hair up until your arm is tired and then go through it with a scotch comb then go to the otherside.. No need for supplements and no need for sprays and what not.. after about 3 days the hair will start fuzzing out and start to stand up when you comb it forward. Dont waste your money on whatever sullivans is promoting or the experts say to use. A washbrush is all you need for hair training and growth. Also soap is not a neccesity. Soap tends to strip hair of valuable oils that help with the "pop" of hair. It also messes with your fitting at the show if you use soap that morning. if you are gonna use soap make sure its a day or 2 before you use glue. ALSO! for legs use a rice root brush and brush up until your arm is sore. Some Zoom bloom or sheen is a good thing to use after blowing but it just helps with that hair "pop".
 

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