How about some real discussion on showing and fitting?

[skcatlman]

There have been only a few questions on hair. And not much on fitting i personally think there are a lot of wannabes who post pics of cattle that someone else gets ready for them. You never stop learning about fitting, so it is a good topic to discuss. You know trends like the shark fin tail head. Whether peeling any thing other than the face and tail is is a good idea.How to build bone? how to clip legs to increase or decrease bone. What a rip off some prospect steers or hfrs can be. What to look for in a fit to tell you what the flaws of an animal are?

 

[iowahawkeyes]

Good topic
How much do you work with your calves? 20 minutes a day? more,less? does it depend on the weather, (it does here)
Do you rinse every day? We do in the late spring, summer.
We are clipping heads today for a show on the 17th.
We hadn't washed for a good week b/c of the weather but we are going to push hard this week. Hopefully the weather cooperates, it stinks right now.

To build hair...use a rotobrush on the legs to get the hair to pop. You still need to trim it down though.

 

[stephE]

How do you clip the neck and head area on heifers? Is there hair left on the poll and what abouth the brisket area? What would be the best clipper/blade for this?

 

[skcatlman]

Right now too cold the cattle will only be fed it is -40F outside, and with wind chill -60f. So yes it does depend on the weather. It is supposed to be this cold all week and i am calving. so i won't be working on the sale bulls. They have been clipped and pictured, hair work isn't a major thing as we try to present them as natural as possible. but if more people knew the work that was done they would be amazed.
I had to trim some of the hair off the legs of my Gv bulls for sale, on some it was up 2 inches long, i personally prefer to pop leg hair by using a blower and training it,then it will pop with a bit of combing. Using a roto brush on all my bulls not really and option it would take most of the day. As far as building bone i usally just use touch up if allowed at a show. There should be a pic taking short course some on here are pretty bad. someone should explain how and what makes a good picture.

 

[showkid1200]

Building Bone i normally start with my prime time and set all my legs, after they dry I usually use some ultra white to spray my lines and highlight the areas i wanna clip down(helps especially in low lighted areas) after i clip them down some i usually come back with some tail adhesive after that sets i usually alternate between auburn and ultra white and then finish the clip job on the legs. Finally spray it all down with some black finisher.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

As for not many discussions - do a search you've only been here a month :roll:
We try to work every day during show season: bathe-comb-blow-brush-kleen sheen

We clip about once every 10 days to 2 weeks during show season (2/3 days before each show)

Peel the head and sometimes the neck depends on calf - usually blend neck. Shave the brisket and part the way up the dewlap with #10 esp. on an animal w/ too much skin.

I agree sk there should be a picture taking course on here, but we all know that sometimes cows just don't want to have their picture taken.

 

[skcatlman]

SK1200 similar to what i do but the inital adhesive depends on the type of hair and i don't have to use a tail adhesive at the end usally enough finisher will hold hair.
Stev E how is the heifer built you want to clip? Usally clean up the brisket and the poll depends on the animals head, if it needs some length of skull, or has a masculine skull then leave a poll and size varies. Clippers - use what you are most comfortable with and same with blades if you are experienced use as fine a clipper and blades as possible , that will give the best finished job.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

The nice thing about showing herefords is that it's a lot cheaper. We just use primetime on the legs and don't have to use all the ultra white, black finishers etc. You can't hide too much on a herf on the legs. We are lucky that our calves have really good leg hair that pops this year. Last year our steer was terrible.

We use a flathead on the head, leave a little hair on the poll. A sheephead to get a good start on the body and use an Andes for the detail work on the top especially and hind end.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We also use flatheads on face & tail, leaving a very small poll hair. Shave front of face up & sides back & down so there is no lines. Shave the very front of the brisket up, with the rest of neck & brisket down, blocking into the shoulder so there are no lines & shoulder is as flat as we can get it.
Use Andes to block rest of body. Like tail head FLAT, in line with hips & back. Flatten the hips to make them appear wider.
We do not bone legs at shows, although I brush up leg hair & block out like they were boned. I make sure I keep the sides of the hocks as tight as possible.
Pet peave is when people clip the tail bald, but don't BLEND the bottom into the bushy part of the tail. I bald the section needed, then clip DOWN into the bushy area to blend it. Hate a provile that the hair sticks straight out 6 inches or so below tailhead. Makes rump line look awful.
We blow & show.

 

[Richburg]

i wash, brush, comb, blow, walk ,and work with showstick on my animals every day....

but i go to shows and see kids fitting and they never clip down a hock on the back legs.....so when they walk into the ring they have this big huge softball of a hock and it makes them look so structurally incorrect ....also kids dont clip down the ankle on their animals making them look like they have a big swollen foot which is not good at all

 

[kim]

Peel the head and sometimes the neck depends on calf - usually blend neck. Shave the brisket and part the way up the dewlap with #10 esp. on an animal w/ too much skin.

What is "peel"ing?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Peeling is when you clip them going AGAINST the hair. "peels" ALL the hair off. We peel the front of the face, but not the sides. So that there isn't a line.
Now, sometimes we PEEL the whole animal to get rid of all their old winter hair. But, we never peel the tail head, poll, all tail or all bellie. Leave hair in front & behind center of bellie, so you have something to work with to give them that "level" bottom line. Also, never peel where the neck meets the shoulder - or you will have a "dip" on their topline.
And, yes, I clip down on the "ankles" also. Otherwise, they look like they have real small feet. Front knees also, and always, always, flatten the hocks.

 

[Moocow11]

I have a question we have a pair of sheep shears and two sets of subbeam hair heads and a A2 small animal clipper. I was wondering what blades i should for my shears and then could i use my a2's to clip the tail head and the head or should i get a new set of clippers to do it thanks a lot

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I have a question we have a pair of sheep shears and two sets of subbeam hair heads and a A2 small animal clipper. I was wondering what blades i should for my shears and then could i use my a2's to clip the tail head and the head or should i get a new set of clippers to do it thanks a lot

We use Oster P7112, a 20-tooth blocking comb with a P2311 4 point cutter on our sheapshear head for face of body peeling.
Not sure what you mean by A2 - maybe Andis 2-speed which is what we use with the wide Pro Groom Master Blocking blades. Use these for all our blocking & finishing.
We also use standard Oster Clipmaster (flatheads) for the edge of the tail & front of face.

 

[Cheyenne]

Ok, so we only show 4-H once a year and this will be my son's first time in market steer. My son is 10. He has a AngusxHereford, all black not a baldy. This calf has what I would consider to be alot of hair. I am thinking that even though the calf isn't perfect that I am going to have my son slick sheer him even though it isn't required for our fair.

After reading this thread I have learned what peeling is, so my question is when you slick sheer should we go with the hair or against the hair?

We are new to all this and our club doesn't have many livestock entries. Us and one other family. So I don't really have anyone to consult locally. I don't want to hire a "jock" as that will teach my son nothing. I guess I will have to order a couple of videos.

I guess I would welcome opinions also as to wether or not we should slick sheer. I feel that this will give my son the experience of clipping a calf without having to learn to block etc right now. We can learn this as we go and gain experience. I noticed alot of other livestock being shown at our fair this way so I don't think he will be at too much of a disadvantage for not having a "box" looking calf.

Thanks for your help.

Cheyenne

 

[iowahawkeyes]

Don't slick sheer your calf. It's not necessary. Your son can learn how to train and take care of the hair and then clip it come fair time. Go to a few shows in your area and just watch how people prepare their calf. No one in Iowa slick sheers, I find a judge will give the benefit of the doubt if a calf has hair. It shows the kid at least tried to grow it, even if it's not fit to perfection. http://www.showcattlepages has a list of IJBBA shows in Iowa, check it out and try to go watch some.

 

[Cheyenne]

Thanks Iowahawkeyes, I will check that out. Fortunately I don't think we are going to have to worry about trying to grow hair on this steer, but will see what happens come spring and summer.

Our fair is the last week of July. IF we were going to maybe do a practice clip should we maybe try it in May so he has enough time to grow out? I really wish we had some better/more leadership in this area.

Thanks again.

 

[Moocow11]

I have a question we have a pair of sheep shears and two sets of subbeam hair heads and a A2 small animal clipper. I was wondering what blades i should for my shears and then could i use my a2's to clip the tail head and the head or should i get a new set of clippers to do it thanks a lot

We use Oster P7112, a 20-tooth blocking comb with a P2311 4 point cutter on our sheapshear head for face of body peeling.
Not sure what you mean by A2 - maybe Andis 2-speed which is what we use with the wide Pro Groom Master Blocking blades. Use these for all our blocking & finishing.
We also use standard Oster Clipmaster (flatheads) for the edge of the tail & front of face.

A2 osters they are the older clippers that the a5s replaced

 

[Moocow11]

here are a few sites to find some info on how to clip cattle
dallas.tamu.edu/fitandshow/index.html
http://www.feedrite.com/new/product%20p ... 0guide.htm
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/extension/beef/beefu7.pdf
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/animal/az1277/
http://showrite.com/cattle/clipping2.html

 

[skcatlman]

You can watch all the videos and read all you want clipping and fitting cattle articles you want but learning is best done by trial and error. That is the quickest way to get better at it.