Slick Shearing vs haired shows

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vc

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Jul 24, 2007
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Our fair kicked around the idea of going to a slick show 3 years ago, at the time there were probably 4 or 5 families bringing cooler calves to the fair. Their cattle were always winning and people complained that they won because of the hair, hair was not the reason better calves where the reason, we were always ending up 2nd in our class because, we would be behind one of these better calves. Our calves where good just not as good. In our area if the family is going to spend the money on a cooler they are also going to spend the time and money to buy quality cattle. This last year there where only 2 families who had coolers, they finished 1 and 2 was it the hair no just good cattle. The grand was destined for state but for some reason they did not get paperwork or something turned in so county they we come.  The calf that one was so good it would you would have had to work hard to ruin him.  The other 3 did not do as well because it is not only they money spent on the cattle, you need to know how to feed, hold and keep them fresh, plus if you buy cool looking calves with structural faults they do not get better with time and weight. The 2nd family, with a cooler, knows how to feed and get the calves to reach their potential. They where reserve this year (they only brought 1 head)with a calf that was not the best doing calf but they worked hard and did everything right to get him there at his best. Last year they brought 2 head = grand and reserve.
The people who where complaining about hair only wins would still be complaining had we gone to a slick show, inferior cattle are still inferior with or with out hair, and by inferior I mean cattle that are not even good commercial cattle, poor doing cattle that would be discounted by the packers. We have not had a calf receive a red ribbon in the last 5 years, red ribbons do not make the sell. Half of these calves need 2 to 3 months more feed before slaughter.
 

HAFarm

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Dec 31, 2008
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North Carolina
Hair probably only matters with the close placing steers or heifers. It would  be better to have slick sheer shows across the board if we are judging the animal and not ones ability to fit an animal.  Are we striving for the perfect feedlot/fat steer? Hair in the middle of the summer is not a desireable trait in any bovine so why judge them that way?  Isn't this about real world cattle?  Judging was also mentioned, IMO many judges are fooled somewhat by hair on close placing but the bigger problem is the inability for judges to tell the difference between white and red muscle in breeding classes particularly. 
I showed many places when I was a junior and have enjoyed getting back into it with the nieces and nephews but I think real world cattle are lost a lot of times in the show ring.  Hair on steers and heifers and fat on heifers is just a couple reasons.
 

drl

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May 14, 2007
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This is one of those issues that is hard to say what is right or wrong. Everyone has a different idea of what a fair or show is supposed to be about. If it is supposed to be real world experience, why do we halter break wild animals, take them into town, parade them around a show ring and let one person decide which one is the best. If you want real world, the shows would be at sale barns, not halterbroke cattle, thrown on a scale, and bid off at an auction and then loaded on a truck.
The big thing with hair is that those kids who get after it will get rewarded. It takes a big work ethic to get one with well trained long hair. Yes sometimes cattle are not housed at home and the kids have them brought in. Most of the time, you can tell what kids have worked on the steers and who hasn't. Those who haven't will usually will dragged around the ring by their calf and won't be able to fit their calf if their life depended on it. I have been to the farms of many of those who have won our state fair and the kids are in the cool room working on their steers.
One more note, I don't know if it is true or not but I heard why Houston went to slick is for electrical problem issues in the barn versus making the playing field level.
 

farmboy

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south webster ohio
a good judge can see through hair.


this calf didn't have a lick of hair but we won reserve county bred and the judges comments were "this calf ain't the prettiest but i tell you what, if you had a feed lot full of calves like this, a fella would be set to make an awful lot of money." My brother can confirm that this was said. now in the final drive we were picked over the hairiest calf there a friend of mine showed who was toooooooo fat. he was a snow white shorthorn. man he was pretty and honestly i thought he should have won but he was tooooooo fat. like he had big fat humps around his tail. he won his class but got buried in the final drive.

in class. we got second too the grand champion steer who was a big hairball but we got put in the biggest class and still beat some hairy calves.

IMO tom lindsey is one of the best judges out there. bob agle too. and yes in the picture i was asked to smile real big and was being a smart ass lol
 

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LUKE

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zach said:
a good judge can see through hair.


this calf didn't have a lick of hair but we won reserve county bred and the judges comments were "this calf ain't the prettiest but i tell you what, if you had a feed lot full of calves like this, a fella would be set to make an awful lot of money." My brother can confirm that this was said. now in the final drive we were picked over the hairiest calf there a friend of mine showed who was toooooooo fat. he was a snow white shorthorn. man he was pretty and honestly i thought he should have won but he was tooooooo fat. like he had big fat humps around his tail. he won his class but got buried in the final drive.

in class. we got second too the grand champion steer who was a big hairball but we got put in the biggest class and still beat some hairy calves.

IMO tom lindsey is one of the best judges out there. bob agle too. and yes in the picture i was asked to smile real big and was being a smart ass lol
What Zach said here is exactly what the judge said.
 

stangs13

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Dec 10, 2008
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Friendswood,Tx
I know some shows have done both slick and hair shows. Maybe a possibility? It would keep the cry babies that think hair isnt fair quiet!
 

SWMO

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Carthage MO
stangs13 said:
I know some shows have done both slick and hair shows. Maybe a possibility? It would keep the cry babies that think hair isnt fair quiet!

Just to be clear I was not being a "cry baby"  I honestly wanted to know peoples opinions on both sides.  We DO NOT HAVE A COOL ROOM and we have won our county fair two years in a row with calves that we have raised that have adquate hair just by good management and hard work.  Last year we also had the reserve steer in addition to the grand and the year before we had the reserve steer that wouldn't have grown hair in Canada in January. ;D.
 

shorthorn boy

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Jul 6, 2009
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stangs13 said:
I know some shows have done both slick and hair shows. Maybe a possibility? It would keep the cry babies that think hair isnt fair quiet!
Some shows have gone to both, Ive haven't heard of that yet, very interesting. I would just like to say in my earlier post i was reading it again and Im sorry if I came across Like I was accusing every kid of not doing work cuz I know that is not true. I see way  more kids doing work than kids that aren't. I am also not against hair show and to be honest I have now problem with the hair shows and my calves usuallly have plenty of hair on them and do pretty well at shows and am not complaining about the really hairy ones winning because many that win are pretty good. I do have to work a little harder to grow hair cuz I don't have a cooler but i am looking into one. I just think that you can see the true animal better without all the hair but it wouldn't be the same if shows started going slick shear. Like I said i do like to see a well fit animal especially those big white fluffy shorthorn steers. :) I would like to experience a slick shear show too at least once.
 

Jill

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Gardner, KS
FYI we have won numerous county fair shows, was Res. at State Fair and won 2 National Shows WITHOUT a cooler, a cooler doesn't grow hair and doesn't level the playing field ONLY hard work will do that, I'm not sure where the misconception came in that if you have a cooler life is any easier, but it just isn't true!
There will always be people that have someone else that does the work, there will always be people that keep their animals somewhere other than their home (that isn't always a bad thing, not everyone was fortunate enough to be born on a farm), there will always be someone that spends more money than the others, it doesn't matter whether it is a slick show or a hair show these things don't change.  The only thing you can do is worry about yourself and your children, those are the only things you have control over, do your best and don't worry about what everyone else is doing.
 

bart22

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Jun 22, 2009
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Oklahoma
Jill said:
FYI we have won numerous county fair shows, was Res. at State Fair and won 2 National Shows WITHOUT a cooler, a cooler doesn't grow hair and doesn't level the playing field ONLY hard work will do that, I'm not sure where the misconception came in that if you have a cooler life is any easier, but it just isn't true!
There will always be people that have someone else that does the work, there will always be people that keep their animals somewhere other than their home (that isn't always a bad thing, not everyone was fortunate enough to be born on a farm), there will always be someone that spends more money than the others, it doesn't matter whether it is a slick show or a hair show these things don't change.  The only thing you can do is worry about yourself and your children, those are the only things you have control over, do your best and don't worry about what everyone else is doing.

Amen Jill!!
 
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