Barn Blind

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vc

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What is barn blind?
I know we suffered through it the first couple of years, I knew it was over when we started getting better calves and all we did is find new faults the entire time. There must have been something we liked about them or we would not have purchased them.
It seems when you think their good, there's always better and when you hope they just do OK they rise to the top. You never really know what will be at our county fair, until they are all stalled and then you see what you are up against.

We were looking at calves yesterday for a kid I helped last year, saw some calves with potential, couple I really liked. Now after getting home 300 miles later, I think we should look at them again, harder. Will probably take the kid up there with the trailer next week and spend 2 hours doughting what we liked about them the first time through and start all over.
 

cowman 52

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Barn blind a term from my youth, meant you couldn't see that the ones in your own barn were not quite as good as you thought. Usually the first show corrected that.
 

ruhtram

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I never knew there was a term for this. This always happend to me when we showed up at county fair when I was in my first years of showing.
 

Okotoks

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In severe cases of barn blindness not doing well at the show is solely the fault of the judge! (argue)
 

twistedhshowstock

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^^^^I thought that was the case in any case of barn blindness??? (clapping)

I generally use the term "barn blind" to describe anytime that we dont see the animals in our barns correctly.  Sometimes its thinking they are a lot better than they are, but I think it is just as often the other way around.  I am more likely to nit pic the ones in my barn to pieces and find every little might possibly be an issue some day kinda fault that is possible, when in all actuallity they are probably doing ok.  I think the biggest barn blindness that most people get is in terms of growth.  When you see a calf every day its hard to notice that its growing, but leave for a couple of days and come back and it looks like a new animal in the barn.
 

DLD

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If you look at it that way, I guess we all have some "barn blindness" about our own stock, whether we can't see the bad or we can't see the good.

But the people I'd truly call barn blind aren't the newbies that don't know any better yet (they're just newbies), but the one's that always truly believe that their own animals, or the one's they're helping with, are pretty much unbeatable.  They have the competition picked apart before the show and are always convinced they'll be no problem to beat.  They're also the one's that get their feelings hurt pretty bad whenever they do get beat.  Plenty of them are middle age and older adults that grew up in the showring and have been involved all their lives.  Often when you take them away from their own stock, they're pretty good evaluators, but there's just something in them that gives their own stuff a little too much credit.  For their own part I think it's funny, but it can be tough on the kids that they have believing they're gonna win big every time they walk in the ring.

We all want to win, and we want our kids to be positive about their chances to do well every time they show, but you've gotta be realistic too.  Usually, even if I kind of think we should win, I tell the kids "You've got a really good chance", and I keep the rest to myself.  I never liked the taste of crow, so I mostly try to avoid it... lol
 

tcf

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Saskatchewan, Canada
It is just like the term from around our parts called Pasture Blind. It is great to be proud of what you raise and market them with the same passion. But, every know and then you have to step back and take into consideration the industry, where you sit and how you will get better. Shows are great for doing this but in the pasture having the common sense to call a good one just that and accepting that they might be better than ones you have raised will take you a lot farther.

I am damn proud of what we raise but I do know what subjective analysis can do for us in the long run.
 

Bradenh

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i always used barn blind as a term to describe all the cattle starting to look alike after a while, be it at a show or a salebarn... i feel like the more you look at them less differences you notice from one to the next and they begin to all look the same... thus being barn blind
 

vc

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Barn blind; to me is where you do not see the faults in your animal, and if someone else points them out you still do not see them. Basically you give your animal more credit then it deserves.
There was a guy in our area that always had the best calves (in his mind) they were always decent but not the best, when they would place second, third or make the drive but never contend he could not see why, to me he was barn blind.

 

chiangus

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Mar 27, 2009
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vc said:
Barn blind; to me is where you do not see the faults in your animal, and if someone else points them out you still do not see them. Basically you give your animal more credit then it deserves.
There was a guy in our area that always had the best calves (in his mind) they were always decent but not the best, when they would place second, third or make the drive but never contend he could not see why, to me he was barn blind.

Lotta barn blind around my area also.  (clapping)
 

Glorifying Pastures

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May 1, 2012
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Pine River, WI
vc said:
Barn blind; to me is where you do not see the faults in your animal, and if someone else points them out you still do not see them. Basically you give your animal more credit then it deserves.
There was a guy in our area that always had the best calves (in his mind) they were always decent but not the best, when they would place second, third or make the drive but never contend he could not see why, to me he was barn blind.
Well put!
DLD said:
If you look at it that way, I guess we all have some "barn blindness" about our own stock, whether we can't see the bad or we can't see the good.

But the people I'd truly call barn blind aren't the newbies that don't know any better yet (they're just newbies), but the one's that always truly believe that their own animals, or the one's they're helping with, are pretty much unbeatable.  They have the competition picked apart before the show and are always convinced they'll be no problem to beat.  They're also the one's that get their feelings hurt pretty bad whenever they do get beat.  Plenty of them are middle age and older adults that grew up in the showring and have been involved all their lives.  Often when you take them away from their own stock, they're pretty good evaluators, but there's just something in them that gives their own stuff a little too much credit.  For their own part I think it's funny, but it can be tough on the kids that they have believing they're gonna win big every time they walk in the ring.

We all want to win, and we want our kids to be positive about their chances to do well every time they show, but you've gotta be realistic too.  Usually, even if I kind of think we should win, I tell the kids "You've got a really good chance", and I keep the rest to myself.  I never liked the taste of crow, so I mostly try to avoid it... lol
I do the same. I tell my kids to have fun and we place where the judges says for the day. At least we got to show.
 
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