Barn gossip

[knabe]

way to corral mr. smith is the organize the classes so that there is no overall champion, just category champions.  make prizes bigger for bred, owned and shown.  kinda like nba basketball, set the bar lower so people can win something.  have fair board make rule cattle in a certain category are at home of exhibitor.  how about a rule open champion has to be shown by owner.  i guess owner could pay board at mr. smith, but again you could make rule that overall champion has to live at home.  that way mr. smith could still win, he just can't have overall champion so that he is motivated to compete where he has competition like at naile, national shows etc.  people just need some guts.  does mr. smith's kids show the livestock, or are they other kids.  change the rules to demphasize hair and that if mr. smith types don't do a wet class, they can't win the open.

how does a kid get blackballedd?  i say forget it.  get on the board that chooses the judges, if you can't because you are blackballed, get people together and come up with solutions.  if your fair is small enough like ours, hire the hi pointer on the national college judging team from your state.  try hiring someone different to judge.  it sounds like this whole thing could use some competition.  our fair is so small, none of this matters, but it would seem awful lonely to compete against yourself.

all that said, some of the comments don't square with what has been said in the past.  someone mentioned before that some breeders take their best stock no matter the judge.  you just can't please all the people all the time.  if it isn't fun, change it.  bottom line is that fairs are supposed to be fun. 

at the college level in CA, there used to be best display awards.  if we didn't win every year, we had our tail between our legs.  our program had room for newbies and old hands alike.  there was always complaining, dissing the other school's cattle, their clothes, who didn't wear wranglers, justins and how silly they looked.  but we all worked as a team.  perhaps that's what's missing at some of these shows.  the more people volunteer to make the team, the less impact mr. smith should have. 

at the other extreme, if everyone got a ribbon, it would be like little league not keeping score.  the kids know whose winning and are not fooled by their parents.

i am sure there are better suggestions to rein in mr. smith

 

[shortyjock89]

amen cattlenuts

it makes me so mad!. we hardly go to our own county fair anymore due to this. mr.smith (name changed) is a breeder and pays big bucks on his animals. well he keeps them in the barn all year long except for certain fairs. the kids that show for mr.smith never even see their animals untill that night. and of course these animals are cared for 24/7 in a personal barn with a 'team' so to speak working on their show quality. of course no ones going to beat them! now i know this goes on all the time but i just dont think it's fair. i mean there are kids giving all they have in their own barn, when you have other kids come up.. pick an animal off a trailor, show it, put it back, and walk away with the blue ribbon that they dont deserve.... you cant tell me thats fair.

I know that no one likes to get beat, but hard work is hard work. I keep some of my calves in the barn except for a couple shows.  I work for hours and hours on my calves, and winning is my reward.  I have been accused of never seeing my calves until the fair, and those accusations are absurd.  I know that there are some people that do that, but to take away from the kids that do alot of hard work is just as wrong.  Cattle shows are competitions, and a ribbon for everyone would take away the fun that the competitive kids have.  I know some kids that just pick the calves out of a cooler, and they don't have near the fun that kids that put in the hard work do.  Just keep your head up and keep on working and you will get to the top. Champions aren't born, they're made. 

 

[cattlenuts]

Its not the getting beat that bothers me.  It is the arogance of the people that are winning the wrong way.  Some do it quitely, while others are stupid enough  to tell you about it in detail!  The fake hair is illegal at our fair, but no one enforced it that day even though it was brought to the attention of the person in charge.  Don't worry there is a letter going out on that subject.  I do not believe in blue ribbons for all.  I do not mind when a better calf beats us.  I can tell who is going to win in the make up area.  I usually tell my kid before he/she goes in where I think they will place and not to be disappointed. I like the idea about the high points kid just out of college that may not be corrupted by the system yet.  At our fair you try to pick the judge you think might have the least connection to the big guns.  Unfortunately, were we are they are all connected not just on a local level, but a national level.  These breeders are also bringing mediocre cattle that have been beat at open shows with respectable judges.  Keep sending your ideas because we may have an uprising in our area.

 

[farmboy]

nice and opinionated, just how we like em  (welcome)

 

[Show Heifer]

OK, I have been accused of being blunt, and this will just be another example. BUT....
There ARE ways to make mr.smith and co to leave. You just have to make them uncomfortable enough to make them WANT to leave. How? I am glad you ask.  First all the parents of hard working kids such as shortjocky needs to hover around mr.smith and co and calves. Watch and photograph EVERYTHING. You can photo anything as long as it is a public place and is not a minor. Then when the calf is in the make up area, gather round. Huddle, make comments "Wow, how DID that leg hair grow 3 inches over night??"  When their calf wins a class, DO NOT CLAP. Turn the other way. Leave until the class in dismissed. If the calf wins a championship title, simply turn your back (I mean literally turn your back!). When the reserve is picked, applaud, hoop and hollar. MAKE IT VERY CLEAR THAT YOU SUPPORT THAT PERSON.  Trust me, you are not going to offend the halter holder for mr. smith. They don't have any morals or ethics or they wouldn't the halter holder for mr. smith to begin with.
It may take a year or two, but trust me, it works. You just have to be more persistant than they are. You can not be weak or non-committed to "not take a back seat". Stand up for what is right. The only way for wrong to prevail is to LET IT HAPPEN. DO NOT DO THIS.   Get mad for heavens sake.

I never minded losing either. I hated losing to a cheater. And I usually found a way to remedy the problem. Nuff said about that.  :

And I hate to say this (but I have been on a roll lately) but the only way to get blackballed is to ALLOW it happen. I think they tried with me a time or two....hmmmmmm.....don't think it worked!! The secret: Hold your head high, be true to yourself, work hard, and never back down!!

Good luck. Stand tall. And simply don't let it happen. 

 

[Clubcalfshowgirl]

I sat at a prospect show and kept walking around and there was a fitter grooming up a calf it was soo crazy they took wood chips and took there clippers and cut it up VERRY fine and they would put glue down and put more and more of the wood chips down, and then once they got the legs soo big they had to also put it on the belly, and they ended up not evening wining the class and then watching them take it all out was funny!!

 

[farmboy]

I sat at a prospect show and kept walking around and there was a fitter grooming up a calf it was soo crazy they took wood chips and took there clippers and cut it up VERRY fine and they would put glue down and put more and more of the wood chips down, and then once they got the legs soo big they had to also put it on the belly, and they ended up not evening wining the class and then watching them take it all out was funny!!

can you clarify  ???

 

[shortyjock89]

I believe she means that these folks built the legs with ground up wood chips (sawdust), which is illegal at many shows, and then they lost.  It's always hilarious to watch the people do that and then lose.  I laugh and laugh when people bust out the graphite and baby powder...

 

[Clubcalfshowgirl]

ya they ended up 3-4 in the class, its not illlegal at our prospect shows, ya i thought it was funny as when they were taking it all out it was all driping off the belly and it took them forever to get it all out.

I believe she means that these folks built the legs with ground up wood chips (sawdust), which is illegal at many shows, and then they lost.  It's always hilarious to watch the people do that and then lose.  I laugh and laugh when people bust out the graphite and baby powder...

 

[cattlenuts]

Thanks Show Heifer.  I like your thinking.  We will have to see if that will work next year.  I maybe the only one that does it, but that will be a start.

 

[justme]

WIth my allergies this year, maybe one of those girls could loan me a kleenex! (clapping)[

quote author=red link=topic=1377.msg15586#msg15586 date=1185801401]
(lol) Elbee!

I've even heard of girls stuffing their bras before a show! Honest, they think it will get them a couple places higher!
[/quote]

 

[cowz]

Saw a "know it all" build up the FRONT LEGS of a heifer.....all the way to the shoulder...must have wanted to hide knock knees.  Hideous!!

 

[DL]

The hot gossip at our fair: Would the bulls show up that were in the running to be at the PBR national finals in Vegas? And what would they look like?    Well, yes they did, and they looked amazenly small, but frisky (not mean).
The other hot topic was why bull owners collect young bulls so young that the conception rate their first year sucks. Bull in question will not be named, but I have thought the same many times when someone uses the "big up and coming" bull that has trouble collecting and when they finally do collect, it isn't worth a darn!!

Unrelated to barn gossip but related to collecting PBR bulls - I was talking to a vet who does mostly ET on rodeo stock (bovine) and we were discussing bucking bull semen - the word on the street (or would it be in the barn) is that is of a lesser quality than non athlete bulls - his comment was that the schedule, travel, etc is incredibly stressful on these ol' boys that if collected when actively competing their semen quality  is not that great - but the same bulls given a little R&R do OK. I don't know if that goes for human male athletes! ;D steer show in a little while - I'll check with the fashion police to see what the deal is...

 

[knabe]

i'd like to see results on floyd landis and lance armstrong and a known negative control cyclist.  the first two could be negative for steroids, but hey, this is about exercise and fertility, not to mention the hazard to the perineum and what fertility is like with one testicle and after cancer treatment.  perhaps the testosterone is focused in other areas besides mating.  hm, male productivity up, fertility down.  fertility up, productivity down. ;D

obviously lots of issues with women and overexercise like delayed puberty, ie gymnasts.  insert moderation and balance comments.

 

[itk]

Red, ours was the sheep show. A young lady, I hope at least 18, was showing in a tank top that must have come direct from Victory's..I still have black & blue marks on my ribs from my wifes elbow. I got to get me some of those dark, reflective shades!

Lee, that will be a good story to tell in 15 years when your daughter asks why she can't wear a tank top to show in. I hope all the guests had a wonderful weekend in NEK. There must be something about shorthorn tours and rain that seems to go together in this area. I am attending my sons first county fair. It is so laid back I can hardly stand it. It seems like I go out of my way to make it stressfull so it feels alittle more normal to me.

 

[Show Heifer]

Hey now, easy on Lance Armstrong....I saw an hour long show about him on Discovery I think...what an absolutely amazing human!!! Also read his book.....that man is incrediable. And I will be DEVASTATED if it is ever proven he took steriods (which I absolutely do not believe).  And he does have children, pre-cancer of course, but during his training.

 

[knabe]

show heifer, i wasn't convicting him.  he is after all, thee most tested athlete in history.  nobody ever trained like he did.  he used to be a sprinter and fanatical mountain climber when greg lemond was winning the tour, and he said the cancer helped him change his body to be a more well rounded cyclist.  a neighbor's mom was a nurse when i was growing up in a fertility clinic.  she used to always tell us about getting a good seat on our bikes.

 

[sawboss]

Thank God I have boys!  When we attend shows my wife complains that some of the parents need to spend as much time fitting their daughters as they do their cattle.  My oldest boy is 14 and really starting to notice the girls, we give him a hard time not to bring one around that needs fitting.  Mama does not like all the exposed skin.  My son and I went with our Ag. Science teacher to judge a county goat/sheep show this year, he went to the county agent an informed him a young lady was not to come back into the ring dressed as she was.  Long story short, she actually spilled out for everybody to see.

 

[DL]

Hey now, easy on Lance Armstrong....I saw an hour long show about him on Discovery I think...what an absolutely amazing human!!! Also read his book.....that man is incrediable. And I will be DEVASTATED if it is ever proven he took steriods (which I absolutely do not believe).  And he does have children, pre-cancer of course, but during his training.

Actually SH - Armstrongs kids were born post cancer but he did freeze his semen - so all you guys out there who want to save the gene pool what can be done for bulls can be done for you too!! ;D ;D

Athletes are becoming so crafty and they are often one step ahead of the testing with "new and improved illegal substances" - I have a hard time believing that he didn't take something - I read his book too, but I am not a big fan....

 

[Tx Black Steer]

And he did admit to useing steriods.  It was for his cancer, but was a form of steriods.  We all know drugs don't just effect the parts of the body you are taking it for so what else did it effect?  Might not took it while actually racing, but did take steriods at some time. Dont get me wronge I think he has done alot of good things, but has took steriods.