My son has shown a heifer in two shows, last year. We bought her with her mother at her mother's side, the pair for 900 dollars because the dam was half Line One, and the breeder doesn't like Line Ones. Man, it is expensive to show cattle, and we were doing it on a shoestring budget! We purchased the pair to expand our herd from a proven reputable breeder who actually has a low opinion of the show circuit. He still remembers the gutless wonder fad. He also sold a steer for somewhere around market price that took reserve grand at a state fair out of 114 head. I asked him how the steer would have stacked up in quality to the bull that I had purchased from him. He replied, "Well, if he'd been as good, he'd have still been a bull." I guess what I'm saying in all this rambling is, occasionally, you might find a color-blind judge who appreciates thickness that is bred on not fed on, real-world worth, etc., but not very often in my opinion. I think that there should be a class in every show for real-world cattle that are simply washed, not clipped and fitted, with attempts to make their legs look heavier boned than they really are, and let them compete on their own real merits, not on who is better at getting them ready.