Explaining a judges ruling

[lomac]

  Have you ever had a placing where 90% of the other people there come up to you and ask...."did we actually just see what we thought we saw?". We are a humble people and don't whine and complain about much of anything. I teach my daughter that all the judges decisions are based on his own personal opinion (hopefully). We aren't to go out and talk trash or degrade others if you don't win. Take it with your head held high and bring one bigger and better the next year. Inside yourself though, you know that it probably should have been different.  I want her to take disappointment with a grain of salt and move on with positivity. It's hard though when it looks obvious. How do you all take it and explain to the kids?

 

[knabe]

Both steers suffer phenotypically, but just from the pics, the champ looks more finished.

 

[lomac]

Thanks for your opinion. Grand 1354  Reserve 1390

 

[sj0515]

It happened to us this year. We ended up third overall. Some people said we should have been grand (which i did not agree, it was a nice steer). It was a lot closer for reserve. The judge had an issue with what we weighed in at (1406). That is what he based his decision on for reserve and third. Lots of people said we should have done better and I also heard of politics being involved. But i think that is all BS and try not to get involved in that. What comments did the judge make about the two steers?

 

[CAB]

  Have you ever had a placing where 90% of the other people there come up to you and ask...."did we actually just see what we thought we saw?". We are a humble people and don't whine and complain about much of anything. I teach my daughter that all the judges decisions are based on his own personal opinion (hopefully). We aren't to go out and talk trash or degrade others if you don't win. Take it with your head held high and bring one bigger and better the next year. Inside yourself though, you know that it probably should have been different.  I want her to take disappointment with a grain of salt and move on with positivity. It's hard though when it looks obvious. How do you all take it and explain to the kids?

You don't have to explain it, the judge already did that for you. It's just his opinion for those calves on that day. As far as 90% of the people agreeing with you, sometimes people just don't want to hurt another one's feeling. I get a lot of people to ask me what I think, but after I tell them what I think, they really didn't want my honest thoughts and seem to want to argue. I have not found a perfect animal yet and I start evaluating with what I don't like first. It doesn't mean I don't like your animal, but I know I can find both things that I do like and things that I don't like. Like I said hopefully the judge did the explaining for you and from there you can have a learning conversation about the whole show. It's easy to become barn blind to your own projects. I've did that B4 also. I hope that I haven't offended you in any way. I always told my kids that I don't want to be able to see if you won or if you did not do as well as you may have hoped. BTW, personally I learned way more about life and myself when I stood last than when I did well. It's way easier to win than lose, but I think we can learn way more from how we handle adversity.

 

[OLD WORLD SHORTIE]

It was probably political you must have stepped on someone's toes. Win with honor lose with honor , talk ish on the way home.

 

[Tallcool1]

Back to back years at our County Fair.  Judge is contracted on a 2 year cycle, so this was the same judge.

2014 Monopoly Money steer.  Good steer, good looking, 1375, fat, sound, good handling.  Stands 1st in class for the entire class.  Judge goes to the mic, puts down the mic, and switches the top pair leaving us 2nd in class.  I just couldn't believe it.  When he switched them, there was a "gasp" in the crowd.  Several people approached us and apologized.  I was bummed, my kids were mad, and the breeder that raised our steer was irate.  I loved the steer, and thought about taking him on to State Fair.  Carcass results came back, 10.5" ribeye, Choice -, the judge was right.

2015 Unstoppable steer.  Super sound, big haired, 1285, fat, good handling, and ugly fronted.  Not a bunch of leather, just buffalo fronted.  Several people approached us before the show even started, telling us that they believe we were going to win the show.  I thanked them politely, and shook my head inside.  I didn't like the steer, never did.  We bought him because we know who was judging and what he used the year before.  The steer was too light for my taste, and it was what it was.  Steer goes on to be picked Reserve Champion.  Honestly, the worst steer we had ever shown.  I actually felt bad for some of the families that were left standing...steers that I personally liked better.  Carcass results came back, 16.5" ribeye, a whisker from grading Prime, stands 2nd in the carcass evaluation (behind the champion), the judge was right.

County fair is one tough show to judge.  Most of the time, there isn't a REALLY good steer there.  There are exceptions, but generally speaking that is what I see.  A judge finds themselves picking and placing cattle that don't fit together, and don't really fit their liking.  Often times, their safety net is the carcass results.

It doesn't matter what we think, good or bad.  It is one person't opinion on any given day.  Many times, these judges know much more than I think they know...once the rest of the story is told.

 

[lomac]

          We show at a SMALL county show. 14-15 steers. We don't step on toes or voice opinions openly at show. We aren't bolsterous people. The ONLY difference in us and everybody else is that we bring a show steer. The other steers are club steers picked up off a field somewhere west of here.  I figure......if we are going to have a steer in our possession for 265 days. Feeding and grooming, then he's going to do more than spend 5 mins in a show ring at our county 4-H show. We are the only ones in our club that go out and show 3,4,5 times before our final 4-H terminal show.  Only makes sense to me to do that, hence the reason we buy a clubby calf. My daughter gets  major experience at shows with 250 steers at some to 600 at others. Wealth of information out there if your willing to watch, listen, learn and implement the knowledge  into your routine.  I try and get the other kids to come along, heck, would haul their animals free. Nope..no one wants to get into that action.  I guess if us going and showing is considered stepping on toes then so be it, we're guilty. Most like breaking theirs about a month 1/2 before show time anyhow. I appreciate all yall's feed back. We don't quit.  I'm fortunate my daughter is a very optimistic young lady. Like I said, we learn and try and bring one bigger and better next year.

 

[vc]

I would go better but bigger was not your problem.

 

[lomac]

Haha VC. Thanks

 

[knabe]

          We show at a SMALL county show. 14-15 steers. We don't step on toes or voice opinions openly at show. We aren't bolsterous people. The ONLY difference in us and everybody else is that we bring a show steer. The other steers are club steers picked up off a field somewhere west of here.  I figure......if we are going to have a steer in our possession for 265 days. Feeding and grooming, then he's going to do more than spend 5 mins in a show ring at our county 4-H show. We are the only ones in our club that go out and show 3,4,5 times before our final 4-H terminal show.

You just stated why you may not have won.  Plush the other steer looked done on that day. To me, yours did not.