Please make no mistake, when showing livestock…showmanship matters. We’ve all seen it happen and in many cases, we’ve been there. A good calf stands in the make-up area, all ready to go and looking like a million bucks.
As his class heads into the show ring, everyone who has a vested interest is watching from the sidelines. Parents and siblings, fitters and breeders watch to see the outcome. Then disaster hits…the showman completely falls apart.
Here’s the thing…showmanship matters.
The calf would have shown himself better if the showman had just let go and let him strut around the ring.
He’s led too fast or too slow, his feet are wrong every time the judge gets an eye on him and he is continuously jammed up against the steer in front of him. The showman is frustrated, and the anxiety on the sidelines is high.
At this point, people are pointing and signing in an attempt to help the showman figure out all of the things that are going wrong. If the showman has a mom who is more compassionate than me, she’ll probably tell him it’s okay but this whole situation could have gone so much differently.
All because in this case, showmanship was not a priority before the moment he walked into the show ring.
We’ve Been There
Listen, we’ve all had days that we just couldn’t get one stuck. I’ve always fancied myself a pretty good showman. In fact, Frank and I have regular debates about who can out-show the other.
That being said, one year at State Fair, I had a pretty good bull in the Calf Champion division that wasn’t setting weight on his show side hind leg. Jimmy Williams was judging and as he talked the division, he said: “Let’s see if this young lady can set his foot right.”
He paused for a millisecond and slapped another one champion. If you haven’t messed one up in the show ring, then you haven’t been showing very long. But holy smokes, that should be the exception, not the rule.
There’s too much money and sweat invested in this project to have the wheels fall off when it matters most. Frank always tells kids that from a judge’s perspective, you have a very small amount of time to show your calf off.
Don’t waste those precious moments trying to teach the calf to show in the show ring.
One of my favorite sayings is “The show is not won on show day.” You need to prepare yourself and your calf to the point that it is just a habit of going out there and doing everything correctly.
Know Your Calf
Build your confidence to know where his feet should always be from every angle. Work with someone to determine the best speed to walk your steer or heifer. Practice consistency. Spend the time at home teaching him to show and go out there and crush it.
It doesn’t matter if its a showmanship class or not. Once you have that confidence and comfort level in the ring, don’t search for people on the sidelines to tell you how to show.
There’s nothing wrong with a spot-check every now and then but you shouldn’t need signals from the outside of the ring during the whole class.
You shouldn’t need to have a number assigned to each foot in order to show your calf. You should know him well enough to know where his feet should be placed.
Make This Year Your Best Yet
As a showman, the best compliment you can get is for someone to ask you to show their cattle for them. Make a commitment to yourself that you will nail it this year in the show ring.
It will thrill the people who are in your cheering section from family to breeders. Most importantly, you can be proud of a job well done.
We have created a showmanship guide for you grab it here
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