This is a little different approach, but it may help you...I don't know.
We went to a Purebred producer in our area, and walked his heifer pen before his heifer sale. This was not a club calf deal, although the producer does raise a few and sells them off to traders. We told him which ones we liked, and told him that we wanted a heifer to show. We guaranteed him 3 prospect shows, a County Fair, and State Fair Open Class and 4-H. So 6 shows that we guaranteed we would pull her to.
We td him that we didn't have much money to spend, but didn't want to pull our show steers during the heat of summer while we were trying to grow hair.
This is what HE came up with. He put a floor on the heifer he felt was the best show prospect. He felt the advertising was worth a lot of money to him. She ran through the sale, didn't hit his number (whatever it was ??), we picked her up, paid the feed bill and all expenses from showing her, and we paid nothing for the heifer. She will sell as a bred heifer on his sale this year, with a successful show ring record, and the kids get half of what she brings.
Now their hard work has earned them some money to put with this same deal next year.
He said its way cheaper for him to do this than mess around showing himself or paying to put her in a show string somewhere.
Who knows...it may be worth trying.
