Questions asked during shownmanship

What are some questions that have been asked during showmanship at county fairs so I can get more practice?... Travis Hoffman is our judge.

I've been asked what i liked best about my calf, and what i would change about him. What i feed him, how much he weighs, and I've been asked to point out a place on the steer. (hock, quarter, flank)

I've been asked how many ribs a cow has, where the pins and hooks are, and how would you change the calf behind you...

I've been asked the birth date, weight, sire, dam, who's she bred to, when is she due, breed, what would you change, what you like best, how did you get her/him ready, what is your feeding routine, why did you clip certain hair, why did you leave certain hair and why did you fit the way you did. Also been asked long the gestation period of a cow is. It all depends on the judge. I personally don't like when they turn it into a quiz bowl, just my opinion. Good Luck!

first of all how old are you, that determines what the judges ask, if they ask at all. once you start competing beyond just county, judges don't really ask questions anymore except for younger kids.
overall this is what i tell the judges:
birthdate, dam, sire, bred to, date bred, things id change, and things i like, feeding, weight for steers or market animals. sometimes jugde will talk about a scenario and he wants your opinions or what you know about it, he may also ask you to point our parts, sometimes they like their trick questions. how many steers are born in the us annually. or how often does a pregnant heifer or cow come in heat.
on steers ive been asked what does your steer grade, how big is your steers ribeye, and other carcass questions such as that. a good person to ask on here would be twistedshowstock as to what he often asks for a certain age group.
obviously the older you are the harder the questions are, the less they often ask, and be sure to tell them as much as you can in as little time, i usually leave out daily care, fitting, feed and that stuff unless they ask for it.

What are the three main ingredients in your feed?
At what age do you breed heifers?
How can you tell when your steer or heifer is finished?
One that stumped my daughter; what is BANGS in heifers. She knew we vaccinate the heifers for Brucellosis, but never heard it called BANGS 

along the bangs line, it is called a bangs vaccination in wisconsin anyway. and ive been asked 1.also about the orange tag if its mandatory to have wen the animal has a bangs,2. if steers need bangs, 3.why a steer would get a bangs vaccine, 4.and at what age are bangs given
answers would be: 1. no the orange tag is optional however the bangs tattoo in the ear is mandatory, which the vets do. 2. no steers do not need to be bangs vaccinated. 3. if the steer was originally gonna be kept as a bull he might have been bangs vaccinated before the cattleman decided to steer him. 4. between 4 and 12 months, it used to be 3 months.

The first year at my county fair i won junior showmanship and all the judge said was tell me about your heifer. I was 10 and just told everything i knew and had been told to say! I was still talking when he walked away! (lol)

i was once asked what the most important nutrient is for cattle
answer is water

My favorite to ask is what are the strengths and weaknesses of your calf.  A good showman will point out everything above average and briefly mention the most obvious flaws, downplaying them os course

mick rems said:

first of all how old are you, that determines what the judges ask, if they ask at all. once you start competing beyond just county, judges don't really ask questions anymore except for younger kids.
overall this is what i tell the judges:
birthdate, dam, sire, bred to, date bred, things id change, and things i like, feeding, weight for steers or market animals. sometimes jugde will talk about a scenario and he wants your opinions or what you know about it, he may also ask you to point our parts, sometimes they like their trick questions. how many steers are born in the us annually. or how often does a pregnant heifer or cow come in heat.
on steers ive been asked what does your steer grade, how big is your steers ribeye, and other carcass questions such as that. a good person to ask on here would be twistedshowstock as to what he often asks for a certain age group.
obviously the older you are the harder the questions are, the less they often ask, and be sure to tell them as much as you can in as little time, i usually leave out daily care, fitting, feed and that stuff unless they ask for it.

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I'm 18... ive been asked all those questions but i just didn't know if there was some really tough ones that judges asked when they are having a hard time deciding their champion showman

Cowgirl94 said:

mick rems said:

first of all how old are you, that determines what the judges ask, if they ask at all. once you start competing beyond just county, judges don't really ask questions anymore except for younger kids.
overall this is what i tell the judges:
birthdate, dam, sire, bred to, date bred, things id change, and things i like, feeding, weight for steers or market animals. sometimes jugde will talk about a scenario and he wants your opinions or what you know about it, he may also ask you to point our parts, sometimes they like their trick questions. how many steers are born in the us annually. or how often does a pregnant heifer or cow come in heat.
on steers ive been asked what does your steer grade, how big is your steers ribeye, and other carcass questions such as that. a good person to ask on here would be twistedshowstock as to what he often asks for a certain age group.
obviously the older you are the harder the questions are, the less they often ask, and be sure to tell them as much as you can in as little time, i usually leave out daily care, fitting, feed and that stuff unless they ask for it.

Click to expand...

I'm 18... ive been asked all those questions but i just didn't know if there was some really tough ones that judges asked when they are having a hard time deciding their champion showman

Click to expand...

sometimes judges in the older and senior age classes will have you switch animals at county fairs, sometimes a judge will get there before the steer show and watch what kids are doing the fitting themselves. if it's close like that theyll probably go more the scenario route or ask general beef questions about some of current issues, so i'd stay in tune. it proves which kids are really devoted to their project and really care about the beef industry. last yr at county fair was the first time i had to do the switch and i ended up with one of my frends really stubborn hereford calves. my other frend ended up with my other frends stubborn hereford. and the two frends got our super tame trained to walk into the set up big black cattle. it was interesting. my favorites for showmanship are the switch and the trick questions.
besides questions heres a few pointers:
dont get overconfident
dont have too much bling. the simpler the better, contrary to what most girls are doing, dont get the huge earings, huge chunky necklaces, huge bling on the showstick, belt, harness, halter, and boots. it detracts more than anything. one thing of bling or a couple with simple bling but not extravagant. also have a solid color showstick. and a long sleeve button shirt. or a polo shirt. even if its unbearably hot. don't have too many buttons undone either, top 2 or 3 max. i always wear a tank top. and i put my shirt on 5 minutes before i go in and it comes off as soon as my cattle get back to the bed pack.  dark jeans, no holes, and minimal pocket bling. also the jeans should be bootcut or slight flare and fit over your boots, and they shouldn't be too tight. guys don't wear baggy or chick type looking pants. stick with the wranglers or levi's for the showring please. wear boots, they shouldn't be funky colors, or full of cow poop, they don't have to be steel toe. and again minimal bling. simple necklace stud earings. no bling in your hair either. and keep your hair out of your eyes.
take your own animal in the ring always, if possible take a big heifer or steer, not the calves or the cows. take your best behaved animal in showmanship
keep your comb in your RIGHT pocket, with the teeth pointed towards YOU. and USE IT. if the judge touches your animal or your animal gets rubbed, comb his hair. don't make it obvious to the judge, do it when he's " not looking", he'll watch out of the corner of his eye, believe me he's always watching.
keep your eyes on the judge, don't stare him done, its freaky, just make sure you know where he is at all times and that he knows you know where he is.
use minimal time setting your cattle up. if they move circle em. don't circle em too much tho.
don't be a ring hog, champion drive maybe, but not showmanship. even champion drive judges stand where they stand so they can see all of the animals they don't want to be crowded.
smile but don't fake smile. guy don't try unless you can pull of a smile, without it looking fake. even girls dont smile if its fake. just be happy to be in the ring.
if the judge is a jokester, joke around a little, laugh, they won't hold it against you. don't be so serious, they may dock you for being to serious. relax but not to much, be comfortable, but not slouched. still stand up straight.
for young kids the longer the showstick the better. if you gotta short showstick u hav to step to far to move the back feet. take a half step at the most if you cant reach or you need to stretch way out, your showstick is not long enough.
cut your leads, don't bunch them or hold them in your other hand. if  you don't want to and your at a show with me i will happily do it for you
wrap your leads with BLACK vet wrap, never where gloves in the ring ever, again if your at a show with me ill help ye if ye need it.
know your stuff.
NEVER answer I DONT KNOW, if you don't know guess reasonably.

ps ive had judges ask me parts like where does this cut of meat come from, and then suddenly ask where is the ear. it may not seem like a trick question but when youre used to harder questions and he asks you a super easy one IT WILL make you think TWICE. so really listen to the judge.