Regardless of breed, start working with the calf as early as possible.
Not everyone can do this, but for all three of our kids, their first year they showed September, October or November heifer calves that we raised. Our show season is April to September. We would get the chosen heifer calves and their dams up to the show barn over Christmas break, and started socializing the baby heifers while they were still nursing. In March we "day-weaned" the calves, nursing them on a rope halter twice a day, but keeping them separate from their dams the rest of the time. It helps them get started on feed, and they get regular human contact, plus the actual weaning is less stressful because it's done gradually. Plus the kids are around them when they are a manageable size, so the kids' fear is much less. By the time the calf is big, they're already buddies.
Was it a lot of work? Yes. Did it work? Every time. Did we always pick the best (as in winning potential) heifer calf at two months of age? No, but that wasn't the point. Honestly, if you could find an old show heifer in a sale with a good, well-bred baby heifer calf at side, that would be the ultimate starter package for a beginner, because you'd have the calf to start working with, and the halter-broke cow that's easy to work with to breed back for next year. And I've seen sweet ones and waspy ones in every breed, but we chose Herefords largely because of disposition. We've turned a few good home-raised ones out that weren't worth fighting, and sent one back that we bought because the seller guaranteed her to be docile, but your odds are better with Herefords than any other breed.
