Just Curious

[I luv herfrds]

Watching the beef showmanship at our county fair yesterday I saw something I have never seen done before.

1 girl in the open show class kept hitting her animal on the nose with the handle of her show stick. Now the heifer was not standing still or behavng really well, but is that a normal thing at the Big Shows?

She placed first before last in that class by the Judge. :clap:

 

[showing71]

I've never done it in showmanship - you're supposed to be on your best behavior, as is the calf. I'm glad the judge placed her the way he did. I've been to far too many shows where kids who have calves who act up continuously get Champion, because the judge says 'they tried really hard while their calf was acting up.' Granted, the showman would keep their cool, but there would be another kid doing just as well and his calf would be on perfect behavior and he'd end up in the middle of the pack. Ok, end of rant.

In other classes like the age/breed class, yes I have popped them on the nose with the showstick if they are pushing me around, etc. But it's usually only a pop on the nose once, not continuously. And my calves know what that means, because I do it at home when we lead and set up when they aren't behaving, so they know to knock it off when they get a pop.

 

[Keren]

Its an accepted practice here, even in handlers classes, that if your animal wants to rush then you bring the show stick in front of its nose, that will usually slow them down and if not a LITTLE tap on the nose will. Sounds like that girl was getting carried away though and just taking out her frustration on the calf, which will never help the situation. Regarding showmanship choices, in my experience here there are two types of judges. One likes to see a push button animal which doesn't put a foot wrong. The other will place a handler up who has a fractious animal PROVIDED THEY GET THE ANIMAL SETTLED AND SHOW IT PROPERLY. For example, I was given champion one year with a little steer who took off running four or five times during the class - every time the loudspeaker crackled. I did not let him go, I just pulled him back into place and got him standing quietly with feet in the correct place. Now, its a very different story if the handler never gets the animal under control, but to my mind if I handler can take a towey animal out there and settle it enough to show it off to the best of its ability, that shows more skill than the handler with the push button animal. One thing judges do here (not sure if its done over there also) is to swap handlers. So the handler with the push button calf gets the difficult animal for a few laps and vice versa. It shows your ability to handle an unfamiliar animal.

 

[I luv herfrds]

This was the novice open class show.
One boy had a steer that would not set up either, but this boy was NOT popping his steer on the nose. He was placed last, which I thought was wrong.
Now this girl has been showing for quite awhile, so you would think she could handle her animal better. We could all see she was getting fustrated and was also getting madder and madder at her heifer. You could tell that the heifer sensed this and was eager to get away from her.

These were some new Judges this year.
The Showmanship Judge surprised everyone by having the kids switch animals and walk them around the ring. He only did this for the Seniors and Junior Showman. I thought that was a great idea. It shook the kids up a bit, but they all handled it very well.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Just about everyone around here taps them on the nose to slow them down with there stick. I some times have to tap a little more than a love tap on the ones that walk fast or the old cows. The switch animals thing gets done a lot now a days and your going to see it a lot more.

 

[Keren]

Curious now about the way your showmanship classes go often our judges will take the show sticks off the handlers for a couple of laps. I have also seen judges ask handlers to parade with the left hand, and to walk the animals around the ring in the opposite direction. I have seen judges ask handlers to identify parts of the animal eg. Pastern Or ask the faults and good points of their animal. Our judges routinely ask date of birth/age, sometimes also tattoo and sire and dam, if its a bull or steer how heavy it is, if its a female whether she is in calf if so how long. A few judges have required the handlers to change from a leather halter to rope halter and back, in the ring. One I saw asked the handlers to remove the nose clip/lead and put back in, while in the ring. Oh and reversing their animal is always a popular one. What do your judges do?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

The bulk of it showmenship around here is questions with a few tricks thrown in. Like showing without a stick and switching animals. The ones that when are the ones that show the best not just during that class but threw out the whole show.

 

[CPL]

For what its worth....

I was once given a show stick by an older friend that was completely bent all out of shape, she said that was the stick they trained with. I think we still have it somewhere.

 

[I luv herfrds]

sim don't you think there is a difference in doing one smack on the nose for walking fast or shoving you and another when the handler keeps hitting the animal on the nose for side stepping?

 

[VCC]

I know, as heifers get a little older they can have their good days and bad days, a princess one day a diva the next. Most the time if you have worked with your animal just placing the stick in front of the nose will slow them down, if that does not work, a slight tap usually does the trick. I have seen some where whacking them in the nose appears to be how they lead their animal, in my opinion they should place down in the class. If it is occasional and a tap, thin it is not a big deal.
I think most judges can distinguish between an animal that is acting up and an animal that has not been worked with. They are also judging the youth on the ring awareness, and how they present the animal, if every time they look at you, you are out of position, not paying attention it does not matter how your animal is behaving you will move down in your class. If the exhibitor is having difficulty with the animal but appears to be doing the other aspects of showing, they will place higher.