As breeders, we’ve focused so much on breeding cattle that are great haired that we have accidentally created a monster in some young showmen. What monster? The “we can get by with minimal brushing and blowing” monster. Here’s the thing, even if cattle are great haired, you still need to actually break their hair. You need to brush it. Even if they are not great haired, or it’s the dead of summer…same story…break the hair.
There Are Two Really Good Reasons To Do This:
1) You can actually fit it
2) The hair and hide will be right…Broke and without dandruff.
Have you ever knelt down to fit a front leg, looked at the hair and thought…yeah right!
What You Want vs What You Get
Honestly, some cattle look better if you don’t even bother to fit their legs. Particularly when the hair is short, coarse, flat and completely un-broke. So you go about spraying glue in the hair with hopes that you can get it to come to life and look like the legs you admire in the backdrop pictures.
But, you end up with a white, gummy mess of hair going all directions. After all, if a little glue is working okay, a bunch of glue would have to be better, right? Say it all together now…”NO!”
If you go to town on a leg with terrible leg hair, too much glue, and bad technique, you can make a pretty clean jointed calf look somewhere between coarse jointed and unsound.
Please don’t take this as permission to not fit…it’s a call to action. Do your homework.
Break the hair so it looks as good as it can…for the kind of hair you have. Plus, the process of breaking the hair will help to grow hair as well. Bonus!
Brush and Comb!!
This is where your rice root brush, roto brush, wash brush or whatever brush you prefer comes into play. If they are dirty, wash or rinse and dip them with conditioner and then brush the hair in the direction you want to break it.
How To Brush
Particularly in the summer…start by parting the hair on the tail head and down their back. On a Hereford or one that tends to want to curl and cowlick, bush everything down first. Then brush everything forward. If the hair starts to cowlick at any point, go back to brushing it down, then go back to work it forward.
You need to brush the hair from their tail head to their poll and all the way down to their feet if you are going to actually break their hair.
On the bottom of their bellies, the hair grows in different directions. We usually like to use a comb to get the hair on the main part of the belly (between you and the calf’s sheath or navel) straight toward you. Then comb and brush toward his head.
The most broke part on 90% of cattle in a barn at a show will be their rib. It’s a big surface area that’s easy to get to.
Therefore, most people spend the majority of their brushing time on that area. We’ve had many discussions in our show barn on this topic. The hair on the lower third of their body is just as important as the rest of the hair.
The Blower
Another critical step is blowing. While brushing is incredibly necessary, it needs to be paired with using your blower. Like peanut butter and jelly! Blowing the hair allows you to lift it hair off of the hide. It is part of the hair breaking process regardless of the time of year. The easiest way to prevent dandruff…other than getting all of the soap out of them…is to get the hair lifted off of the hide and to keep the hide conditioned.
How Do You Know if The Hair Is Broke?
You should be able to brush the hair and have it go smoothly in the direction you’ve asked it to go. Even if your calf has flat hair, if it’s broke, it will comb forward and allow you to fit it. Joints…knees, hocks, and ankles should get extra attention. Think about it…every time you turn your calf loose, he’s lying on that hair and potentially undoing your work. So keep at it!
Condition The Leg Hair
Much like the rib area being the most broke, it’s also the most conditioned. People tend to spray conditioners etc in that area more than anywhere else. The consistent exception is showmen who are obsessed with fitting a great hind leg…those people always have the legs in tip-top condition. People have a tendency to overlook the importance of all of the parts.
Know the Limitations of the Hair You Have
Don’t expect a carcass bred Angus heifer’s hair to work the same as a Monopoly’s hair. Meaning, some cattle are not genetically going to have as much or as good hair as others. Sometimes the most you will be able to get out of the hair is to have it simply pull forward so you can make a fin on the front leg. That’s fine. It will still allow you to fit a silhouette in their legs. If you try to get too much out of it, you’ll have a mess. That doesn’t mean you don’t break that hair though.
In summary, in order do a great job of presenting your cattle to show, you have to actually break the hair. Working hair is unquestionably one of the most important components in doing your homework. Use your brush, blower and hair products to accomplish your goal. Lastly, do the best you can with what you have. Recognize that some cattle are not as good-haired as others but always plan to maximize what you can get out of that hair.
Join us next week to learn the advantages and drawbacks of buying livestock both online and in person.
Want more info on hair care?
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How to grow hair without a cooler
