Swinging that tail!!!

[jaydill]

The more I read about what goes on at the shows, the more convinced I am that I will never attend another one. What you see is definitely not what is really there.

Alice

Don't be chased away just yet! There are some of us who show who have never and don't plan to ever use such unethical/dishonest means of making our animal appear better than it really is. Trust me...look beyond the "jocks" and there is a lot of good to showing. You just have to dig a little to find it. ;-)

Jay

 

[Alice]

The more I read about what goes on at the shows, the more convinced I am that I will never attend another one. What you see is definitely not what is really there.

Alice

Don't be chased away just yet! There are some of us who show who have never and don't plan to ever use such unethical/dishonest means of making our animal appear better than it really is. Trust me...look beyond the "jocks" and there is a lot of good to showing. You just have to dig a little to find it. ;-)

Jay

Thanks, Jay, and because you say so, I'll believe it. I've just been so appalled at what I've read here. It's a bit discouraging.

Alice

 

[Tracy740]

Alice,

I completley agree with you. I honestly can not believe what some of these kids are saying. Unethical is unethical....... I wont do business with unethical people and if more of us were like that it would put them out of business.

Injecting or deadning the tail IS unethical, my daughter miss Colorado 2008, would NOT be doing ANYTHING like that. I honestly also can not believe that more parents are not on here reading what their children are saying. I really question the ethics and moral values of the parents, as well as their off spring. If the one that I have in mind were my child, he/she would not be showing any type of animal, and certainly would not be allowed to use the computer. Just my opinion.

 

[Alice]

Alice,

I completley agree with you. I honestly can not believe what some of these kids are saying. Unethical is unethical....... I wont do business with unethical people and if more of us were like that it would put them out of business.

Injecting or deadning the tail IS unethical, my daughter miss Colorado 2008, would NOT be doing ANYTHING like that. I honestly also can not believe that more parents are not on here reading what their children are saying. I really question the ethics and moral values of the parents, as well as their off spring. If the one that I have in mind were my child, he/she would not be showing any type of animal, and certainly would not be allowed to use the computer. Just my opinion.

Tracy,

What I've bolded in your post is what I think discourages me the most. It's this win at all cost idea that parents seem to have that they then pass on to their children. And, parents that push a child to succeed so hard that the child looses all sense of real pride and accomplishment, or parents that demand absolute perfection of a child that the child is scared to death to lose, or parents that buy their child's way into the show ring, or parents that pay absolutely no attention to what the child is doing...oh man...I don't need to get started on that soap box.

Alice

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

I honestly also can not believe that more parents are not on here reading what their children are saying.

It's usually the parents who are doing it.

 

[Tracy740]

Cowboy 2.0 are you a parent?

 

[Anonymous]

Druggin an animal to stop it swishing its tail... now I've heard everything.
Some people go to ridiculous measures just for a ribbon.

Cattle swish their tails... it's as natural as blinking your eyes or breathing. I say just deal with it. So their hair gets mussed.... if the animal's that good, mussed hair aint gonna affect its chances.

 

[Bez?]

After reading this discussion, I pulled out our bottle of Lidocaine and read the label.

Lidocaine HCI 2%

Warning - Treated animals must not be slaughtered for use in food for at least 5 days after the latest treatment with this drug.

Shows and show animals. I am a big detractor - no longer attend and no longer trust even my friends who are still there to "do the right thing".

Ethics and morality - while they still exist - in the show business they are fast becoming a rarity.

Too many who would do ANYTHING to win. Those animals and their progeny will never be in my fields.

The animal is likely swishing because it is P.O.'d at life. You may / may not be able to do anything about it. Such is life.

Bez?

 

[Colorado2008]

After reading this discussion, I pulled out our bottle of Lidocaine and read the label.

Lidocaine HCI 2%

Warning - Treated animals must not be slaughtered for use in food for at least 5 days after the latest treatment with this drug.

Shows and show animals. I am a big detractor - no longer attend and no longer trust even my friends who are still there to "do the right thing".

Ethics and morality - while they still exist - in the show business they are fast becoming a rarity.

Too many who would do ANYTHING to win. Those animals and their progeny will never be in my fields.

The animal is likely swishing because it is P.O.'d at life. You may / may not be able to do anything about it. Such is life.

Bez?

Thanks Bez?

Like I said before. I had no intentions of using it. Don't belive in 'unethical' procedures just to make a buck or win. No thank you. But thanks for the info on the Lidocaine.

Guess I just put up with it :roll: :roll: :roll:

~Britani~ :cboy:

 

[Cowboy15]

I am just woundering what are tail ties?
Sam

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

I am just woundering what are tail ties?
Sam

Just a long plastic zip tie.

 

[lilfarmgirl]

This is my sons first year showing, and the more I have talked to people the more unbelievable the shows are, with the cheating and all the "supplies" to get the steer to look better then it really is. I thought not only are the shows for experience, but how well the steer's carcass is going to be. I am really happy that this year our county fair is doing a natural show, just wash, dry and show. No adhesives, paint, drug cheats, or anything else. As my cousin keeps saying its turned into a hair show.

 

[joe]

try tying an empty milk jug to their switch. Maybe that will annoy them more than their tail swooshing annoys you and it will stop. just a suggestion. the mrs did it for a kicker calf last year.

 

[AAOK]

Tail swing as you have described here is generally just nerves. The more comfortable they get with you and their surroundings, the less that tail will swing. On the other hand, disposition is most definately a heritable trait. Some calves are never going to be comfortable around people, or the Show Ring.

 

[AAOK]

The more I read about what goes on at the shows, the more convinced I am that I will never attend another one. What you see is definitely not what is really there.

Alice

Don't be chased away just yet! There are some of us who show who have never and don't plan to ever use such unethical/dishonest means of making our animal appear better than it really is. Trust me...look beyond the "jocks" and there is a lot of good to showing. You just have to dig a little to find it. ;-)

Jay

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!
There are way, way more people Showing that don't cheat than those who do. And, more non-cheaters win than cheaters. However, I DO NOT SUPPORT blow and go shows. The only reason for showing animals, as far as I'm concerned, is to show of God's creation. The grooming and fitting will ALWAYS make a calf look better when done correctly. Why would we not want that?

 

[ffamom]

I love blow and go shows. If the hair has been worked daily, it will still look nice at the show. My son on the other hand, loves fitted shows.

As far as fitting, fitting is an art form. You have to have experience with it. Some kids do not have a clue or a mentor to help them. The kids in our ag chapter have to learn it all on their own. Our ag teacher is a handicapped old man. He physically can't help them. Sometimes the animals look pretty horrid for the bad hair cuts. We try to help, but you can't get to all of them and then feelings are hurt. Professional fitter around here charge $100 to $150 to trim and fit a heifer.

So I think, blow and go shows were the ag teachers way of creating a little more time in their lives. That way, they don't have to work the products into the hair before the show or stay on top of the kids that don't wash out the products after the show. Just my opionion.