I mentioned that last Sunday the Boy and I attended the Iowa Hereford Preview Show. The Boy and I both grew up showing cattle, him Herefords and me Simmentals. The shows weren't just about bringing home champion ribbons, but our junior breed associations also focused on leadership, stockmanship, and life skills.
I snapped a few pictures to walk you through walk show day looks like. Max Cherry is a good friend of the Boy's. There family's have worked together for many years so it was fun to watch and help Max.
Here Max is working on preparing his heifer for the showring. The metal thing she is standing in is called a blocking chute. This prevents the animal from moving back and forth, and keeps the people around her safe as well. Show cattle are given baths, their hair is blow dried and clipped (just like a hair cut) and we use products similar to hairspray to hold the hair in place. All of this grooming is called fitting.
These are just a few of the tools of the trade used for preparing cattle for the showring.
Max giving his heifer at last minute drink of water before they head on up to the showring. It is unbelievable how fast a heifer can suck down a bucket of water!
Last minute preparations going on. On the left is Jon (aka the Boy) and the girl in the yellow is Max's sister Jenna. For most people showing cattle is a family project.
Jon gives her one last brush with the comb and it is time to enter the showring. I am not sure who was more nervous Max or Jon.
Max showing his heifer in the showring. During this time the judge is evaluating each animal. Since this is a heifer and her purpose is for breeding the judge is looking for things like structural soundness (can she walk properly), femininity (does she look like a girl) and body type (we want long bodied cattle, that are deep sided, and have lots of muscle expression).
Max had an awesome day. He ended up winning the whole show. Max will next travel to Kansas City with his heifer to show her at the Junior National Hereford Expo the middle of July.
Jon also had a great day with some of his JJB Cattle Co. genetics. A heifer that he sold a couple years ago was shown as a cow/calf pair and they won Champion Cow/Calf Pair and that cow's bull calf was Bull Calf Champion. Also, there was a daughter out of another heifer Jon had sold and she won her class. To see a few more of my pictures from the weekend check out my facebook page.
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