It’s the most common mistake made by really good showmen across the country. The more the heat turns on, the more likely we are to pick at them.
You want to win so badly that your mind starts to play tricks on you. If practicing at home and you stick the calf well, you’d likely stay there.
However, when all eyes are on you, there goes your mind chatter. It’s really just a release of nerves, you think that if you move that one front foot forward a quarter of an inch or the show side back foot back 1/8 inch, you’ll win. Not the case.
Have the confidence in the show ring to know he’s set
Truly great showmen know when it’s okay to just stand there and scratch their calf. It’s an art and requires a high degree of confidence in the show ring.
Much like the staring contest or the uncomfortable silence in a conversation, someone always breaks. It’s important to know when you need to just wait.
Unless you are in the final showmanship drive, your judge isn’t sitting there waiting for you to mess up when you have your calf stuck…he’s thinking.
When he is making a decision between you and the other gal, you want to present the prettiest picture. That’s typically not walking in a little tiny circle to get back in line.
Show the Calf You’ve Got
Green broke cattle present a challenge for even the best showmen. Great horse trainers preach “show the horse you’ve got”, meaning don’t expect a better run than what you are capable of doing. The same is true with cattle.
When in the ring for the first time, there are a bunch of things for a calf to process. Think about it from his perspective. There are sounds and people, movement, other cattle, kids and strollers.
He’s not entirely convinced that one of those things isn’t going to jump out and kill him at any moment.
Quite frankly, we expect too much out of the cattle and the showmen for the first time out together.
As showmen, we expect the calf to behave like the big bred heifer we have been showing all year. As breeders and parents, we expect the calf to look like he did when we snapped the picture of him in the clipping chute.
Most often with green cattle, we need to give ourselves and the cattle a little grace throughout the process.
Go with “close enough” because to your judge it’s far better than “not even close.”
Build your confidence in the show ring.
Check out more showing tips:
5 Things Every Showman Should Know
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