Where's the Feet?

Just cruising through some web pages and online sale sites for calves and cows this fall and am noticing that there are a percentage of pics from some of the sales that you can't see the feet???????
Is this the latest sale fashion?
Do they have duck feet?
Do they have chicken feet-- ok now I'm just being goofy.... LOL
I personally don't want to think about a potential replacement animal without seeing the feet and legs. 
Any thoughts?
EF

Totally AGREE!!! I have seen more and more videos with calves walking in tall grass, and with more and more sales moving to online auctions, it makes me wonder if it is hiding a click in the heels or what?!?  ??? Atleast for these sales it was tall grass with every calf.....when the grass is nice and short for all the calves except 1 or 2, those would be the ones that I would expect to have somethin wrong em.  I am so glad I am not the only one that was thinking this!!!!  <beer>

its because only 4 out 100 all point the same way <beer>

Ouch, guilty as charged! I read your post and had to go see if we had feet, seems we are selling 46 lots of feetless cattle.   Our problem is the sale cattle are all on pastures 30 to 110 km from home. Although some places have chutes or panel corals there just isn't a photo area that's mowed and fenced. Actually this year has been so wet getting photos without too much grass was a challenge.(a nice challenge). Anywhere there isn't grass is pretty much mud. We have been getting videos , maybe the feet will show better on them.. (dog)

http://www.diamondshorthorns.com/2013atg.pdf

Really,,,, now we must mow our pastures before taking photos so people don't think the worse, and everyone is a crook and trying to cover something up?  Come on, cattle look the best on green grass. Go look in person then.

frostback said:

Really,,,, now we must mow our pastures before taking photos so people don't think the worse, and everyone is a crook and trying to cover something up?  Come on, cattle look the best on green grass. Go look in person then.

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I didn't mean to come across like I was calling anyone a crook.  I know it is a hassle to mow pastures before taking pictures and videos, especially if someone has 46 lots like Okotoks.  I like to go look in person also, I am just saying it can cover up things, and if you are splitting hairs on which to buy online, it makes it harder, but you are correct....go see them in person, and thats exactly why I do that, I am just sayin

BuckeyeBeef2 said:

frostback said:

Really,,,, now we must mow our pastures before taking photos so people don't think the worse, and everyone is a crook and trying to cover something up?  Come on, cattle look the best on green grass. Go look in person then.

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I didn't mean to come across like I was calling anyone a crook.  I know it is a hassle to mow pastures before taking pictures and videos, especially if someone has 46 lots like Okotoks.  I like to go look in person also, I am just saying it can cover up things, and if you are splitting hairs on which to buy online, it makes it harder, but you are correct....go see them in person, and thats exactly why I do that, I am just sayin

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Don't apologize for even a second!  I noticed it too, and you are not wrong.

There may be some instances in which these videos and pictures are shot out in the pasture, but let's all come back down to reality here.  These videos are shot in picture pens, and anyone with a brain can see that they are.  Every calf walks up the same incline, in front of the same barn, past the same pickup..........  So why can't we see the bottom 4 inches of each wheel on these steer prospects?

These calves aren't cheap.  I don't know about the rest of you, but we don't have the money to throw away on one that we can't keep sound.  I have called two guys already and asked for more pictures.  I am super particular about soundness and movement.  We played babysitter to a couple steers that didn't move very well our first year, and we will never do it again.  It is way too much work, and it takes the fun right out of it. 

Online auctions are an opportunity to open up your market to a potentially limitless number of prospective customers...as long as you show those customers what you have to offer.  If you don't have anything to hide, then DON'T HIDE ANYTHING!
 

Dan, I know that your situation is different.  I am talking about 5 inches of grass in a picture pen, and that is also what BuckeyeBeef2 is talking about.

The Photographer might have something to do with it also ,they know how to cover up ,and you will very seldom give you a picture walking straight at you or straight
away from you ..I try very hard on our video's to not do this and maybe my video's are amateur but you can see what you are buying .....

There definitely differences like for OKOTOKS SALE, they are not trying to hide any thing and most people will go to their sale wanting to see the cattle ...  But for some of these 10-20 head video sales for club calves and there is a  specific spot they have clipped a certain height it is a different deal ....High percentage of these sales are bought with out seeing them if good video's are provided.

This is something that drives me crazy! Most of these calves are videoed in a picture pen and it would be nice if it was mowed so we can see their feet. I can understand if your taking videos and pictures in a big open pasture but a small area does not take much to mow. Yes the best thing is to go see the calves in person but for some of us that's not an option so we rely on pictures and videos. We only have so much to spend and the cost to travel all over the country to look at calves is not in our budget. We live in South Florida and we do not have a lot of breeders to buy from so we all most always buy out of state. I am sure a lot of the online calves that sell the buyer has not seen the calf in person. We did an online sale this year and all but one calf sold to people who did not come see the calves in person. So a lot of people do rely on videos and it would help make our decisions as buyers a lot easier if we could see the whole calf. Some of the people we have bought from were able to get us extra pictures and a cell phone video of the calves feet when we called and asked. It would be real nice to see the whole package before we buy. 

Good post! It seems like a trend the last couple of years. To me it's pretty obvious that a lot of the grass is bein photshopped into the picture. They do this to give the perception of extra volume of rib and depth. I agree, it's better to see more. Some pictures don't even show the curvature of the legs or pastern flex! The sad thing is that people still spend lot's of money on them without even seeing them in person. Not saying anything is being hidden but it's not being shown either...

Freddy said:

The Photographer might have something to do with it also ,they know how to cover up ,and you will very seldom give you a picture walking straight at you or straight
away from you ..I try very hard on our video's to not do this and maybe my video's are amateur but you can see what you are buying .....

There definitely differences like for OKOTOKS SALE, they are not trying to hide any thing and most people will go to their sale wanting to see the cattle ...  But for some of these 10-20 head video sales for club calves and there is a  specific spot they have clipped a certain height it is a different deal ....High percentage of these sales are bought with out seeing them if good video's are provided.

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I have looked at your videos in the past. I didn't know that you were shooting it yourself. 

Your picture pen is my idea of PERFECT. The surface that you present your show prospects on COINCIDENTALLY happens to be about the same surface that a show ring is made up of. DIRT!

We aren't looking at the landscape anyway...we are focused on the calves.

Tallcool1 said:

Freddy said:

The Photographer might have something to do with it also ,they know how to cover up ,and you will very seldom give you a picture walking straight at you or straight
away from you ..I try very hard on our video's to not do this and maybe my video's are amateur but you can see what you are buying .....

There definitely differences like for OKOTOKS SALE, they are not trying to hide any thing and most people will go to their sale wanting to see the cattle ...  But for some of these 10-20 head video sales for club calves and there is a  specific spot they have clipped a certain height it is a different deal ....High percentage of these sales are bought with out seeing them if good video's are provided.

Click to expand...

I have looked at your videos in the past. I didn't know that you were shooting it yourself. 

Your picture pen is my idea of PERFECT. The surface that you present your show prospects on COINCIDENTALLY happens to be about the same surface that a show ring is made up of. DIRT!

We aren't looking at the landscape anyway...we are focused on the calves.

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A surface without grass is actually the best for showing the feet. Even checking some photos of mowed areas it really is hard to see the feet. Something to keep in mind when setting up a photo area.

I have a feeling I watched the same steer sale videos some of you did.  I too found myself wanting to see a couple of the steers on short grass as their stride gave me enough concern that I wouldn't have bid without seeing them in person or at least good video of how they actually tracked out.  I didn't really notice it in the earlier heifer sale as the couple I looked at were good free moving calves but the previously mowed tall grass really stuck out in the steer videos.

I learned my lesson about video sales. A couple years ago a breeder had an online sale. My travel schedule was miserable. I blame myself I should have went to see the female in person. The picture pen was beautiful and it was a dry year for us. When I went back and looked after my surprising purchase I noticed everything else around the pen was mowed short. The grass was tall. The calves were hairy and looked good. So, when I went to pick up the heifer, I thought I made a mistake and it was a heifer from 1984. There was so much leg she looked almost purebred Chianina. I made up my mind that would be the LAST time I buy based on video only. Served me right as I was too stupid to make time to go and just look. I guess I trusted this breeder because they had sold so many and had been around a long time. My advice go see the calves in person. OR send someone you trust.

On a completely different note, I have noticed some videos have mowed the grass and made great looking picture pens. You can see the calves track very well. There are some good video's out there.

A good art dealer will bring the painting to your house and show you the view where you want to hang it.  If you ask him!

Shouldn't the seller send you a picture/video of the feet if requested?

Caveat emptor

shorthorns4us - You are correct in your suspicions. If someone is taking the time and money to create a sale, then they certainly can manipulate the surrounding for the photos or videos.  Certainly in most cases, the calves are clipped, so it would be easy to get the pictures while in the lot.
I can not recall the animal, but I saw a photo of a cow that had grass about 5 inches from her belly. My instant thought was "Must have horrible feet and legs". 

For those that are photographers of cattle, you might keep everyone's comments in mind. Sometimes it is best to show the minor imperfection rather than let the prospective buyers imagination go wild. And if it is not a minor imperfection, then maybe that animal should not be offered for sale.