Thank you for your input. It's nice to have a second set of eyes.
Yes, SPH, she represents the end of a 3 year project. My daughter got her mom at 5 months old and showed her, showed the cow/calf pair last year, and will show this heifer this year (speaking in school years).
I agree with the fleshiness up front. It somehow takes away some of the feminity of her face, but I'm not sure if we can do anything about it. (Products to try, feed changes, etc.)
She is the product of a cow that needed ALOT of improvements. The mom was a great first cattle project, and winner to us, because she stayed healthy, calved unassisted, and was very maternal. She is now on a farm and has adopted a calf whose cow didn't produce milk, and is also re-AI'd to the same bull as the heifer above. Hopefully there will be another calf in 7 months or so.
They are all registered Simbrah (5/8 Simmental, 3/8 Brahman). We AI'd the cow with semen from Hagan's Ante Up 51S, hoping to drop a good calf and overcome some of the faults of the cow. We needed to add bone, butt and depth, and correct some structural issues. She got all the bone she needs plus some, a little more depth than her mom, a better structure (although still not perfect), and still didn't get quite enough butt. She has a very American butt, which for some reason, the judges don't care for around here. They prefer the wide, square bottom of the Simmental side of the breed.
All-in-all, although there have been no banners, and shiny buckles, they have been successful projects, because my daughter always showed up with well taken care of, healthy projects, and that was her goal from the start. As her mom, I'm hoping for better finishes this year with this calf, just because she has done the best she could with what she had to work with, has worked hard, never gave up and she deserves it. (I'm only a little biased.)
Again, thank you for your input.
