first non county show...advice?

[katie_k]

My first non county fair show is in two weeks and I'm a little nervous. My county fair isn't very competitive so I don't have much experience ive also only shown two other steers before this. One time each.  Any advice on what I should be doing these last two weeks? Its a smaller show not big for fitting just clipped up nice and shown well.  I'm grasping at straws because my fair is pretty much come as you are. I like to clip and fluff them up and fluff them up before we go into the ring but that's about it. Any advice on pre show day would be amazing. I'm also looking for someone to help me get some pica on the website but they are on my phone and I cant put them on from there. If someone would be willing to upload them for me that would be awesome. Just put them on the computer and email them i's all

 

[wonderchic]

Well I will give it a shot since no one else has offered any advise up...like your fair show, you will want your steer to be full looking.  To achieve this, we, in our experience, give the calves all the hay the want.  This will help with the full look without it costing you a ton of money or requiring any special feed, like winning fill or beet pulp, which are also great things to help with this.  I would hope that you have his hair trained, as in, rinsed and blown frequently as you can so it will look better on show day when you are done clipping.
As for your pics...pm me and I will give you my number and you can text me the pics and I will then email them to you.  I can do that much for ya

My last piece of advise for show day...take a pop up tent to put over your grooming chute so the June sun is beating down on your calf and don't forget a fan and generator.  And if you are worried about them not drinking strange water on show day...might want to take some from home.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[AAOK]

Congratulations on stepping out to step up. My advice always is to get out of the County shows, hit all the jackpots possible, and advance to your State show and on to the National Shows.  It's only when you get to the point of competing with the best that you know you have done it right

 

[Apple Ranch]

Congratulations on taking that step to a bigger show.  We started doing the same a few years ago and the first show was a little bit of a shock 

The previous posts are right on.  Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the show.  Verifying how long the judge seems to be taking on each class so you are ready to go.  We have always followed the rule of 2 minutes per calf in each class. 

Our calves never seem to want to drink the strange water even if it is filtered so we fill up buckets the minutes we get to the show and then cover them.  The impurities will settle to the bottom and then they will drink.  Having them drink as much as possible before they go into the ring is goo because it will also give them the full look you want. 

 

[obie105]

What are your big concerns? I know when we started going to jackpots it was a much different world. I was told when I was younger to watch some of the show. Watch what the champions did if you can. If you know who some of the big names are go watch them fit and watch them show. There is something that can always be learned. Like many of the people above said give yourself plenty of time to get ready and don't change what your normal routine is at home the day before. Let them eat as much fill the day before and the morning of the show. Try to do your clipping at home so that is a stressor that is out of the way. Be prepared as much as you can helps on your stress and keep your goals and expectations reasonable so your not disappointed with any of the outcomes. Make it something you can learn from and be that much better the next time you go out.  (clapping)