This question shouldn't be why show steers it should be why show anything. It's all a money trap. Do you realize the time and money that goes into a pig or broilers? The return is way less than the cattle for sure. We show because our kids love it as much as we do and when they are outside under the barn caring for their animals we know where they are and what they are doing. Staying busy and learning something is the goal, purples(or blues, reds, whites, pinks, greens)are the bonus.
Why show steers
- Thread starter EastTnShower
- Start date
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The difference between exhibiting livestock and competing in events that are decided by a score or clock is the fact that they are judged by one or more people who evaluate [judge] and anytime a person or persons have the final whether it is boxing,gymnastics,or showing the outcome can be questioned and sometimes is.
Happy12345
New member
- Joined
- May 2, 2012
- Messages
- 3
You guys are forgetting that a huge part of baseball or any sport is the mental aspect. If you go out to try to be competitive, you have already lost before you have stepped on the the field. Doing your best is what matters and the preparations are key. In this case showing an animal should be the same regardless of the value. Having the confidence in yourself sets people apart before the game or show has started. "Winning" in the show ring is based on the animal you have and doing your best with that animal. Expectations may vary to many but meeting those expectations is winning to everyone.
DLD
Well-known member
Some great posts here from everyone. Kinda funny how it started out about money and ended up about attitude. Just because some of us go into this unwilling to spend five figures on a show steer does not mean we don't want to win. It means we're determined to do it on our terms. Don't think for a second that my kids or Chambero's kids (just for example) aren't in the barn as many hours or are walking into that ring not planning on winning just because we didn't spend more money - and I don't care if you spent $50K on your steer and we raised ours, you've still got us to get around. Maybe we don't win grand every time out, but we do win a few, and whether we're winning a class in a "minor" breed or standing 4th in class in "the heat", we beat higher dollar steers regularly - and frankly, it's pretty sweet.
I do appreciate what Chambero said about there being a point at which that extra skill and knowledge has some value. It's hard to beat the people that live and breathe nothing but showing cattle 24/7/365. And I'm not going to say that there might not be a point that we might make the decision to buy in too. But I'm still saying it doesn't mean that you have to spend that kind of money to get some good out of showing.
If you want to talk about attitude, I'll share this little story with you - it has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with attitude. At our local show last spring, there was one senior and three seventh graders showing cattle. So it meant there would only be one person in senior showmanship. It's not an unusual thing at our local, so we always say that younger kids can move up and show in older divisions if they want. So my seventh grade daughter decided she'd show with this senior boy. Now my daughter's good, she's won her share of showmanship contests before, but so has the boy. His family raises registered Angus, and he's shown at several junior nationals, Kansas City, Louisville, Denver - and he's always in the top end of showmanship everywhere he goes. No one else expected her to beat him, but she expected to beat him. The judge worked them hard, for quite awhile. When he got on the mic he talked a lot about all the good things they both did, but in the end one of 'em made a fatal mistake. The boy was pretty confident - which is good - but when the judge started talking to him he quit scratching his heifer and leaned on his show stick while he answered. My daughter won. The boy took it pretty hard at the time, but he learned from it. One of his goals had been to win beef showmanship at OYE, and he did it a month after he got beat by a seventh grader at his local show.
I said all that to say this - I don't care how much you spend, you better not lean on your show stick, 'cause somebody a little hungrier might be good enough to beat you.
I do appreciate what Chambero said about there being a point at which that extra skill and knowledge has some value. It's hard to beat the people that live and breathe nothing but showing cattle 24/7/365. And I'm not going to say that there might not be a point that we might make the decision to buy in too. But I'm still saying it doesn't mean that you have to spend that kind of money to get some good out of showing.
If you want to talk about attitude, I'll share this little story with you - it has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with attitude. At our local show last spring, there was one senior and three seventh graders showing cattle. So it meant there would only be one person in senior showmanship. It's not an unusual thing at our local, so we always say that younger kids can move up and show in older divisions if they want. So my seventh grade daughter decided she'd show with this senior boy. Now my daughter's good, she's won her share of showmanship contests before, but so has the boy. His family raises registered Angus, and he's shown at several junior nationals, Kansas City, Louisville, Denver - and he's always in the top end of showmanship everywhere he goes. No one else expected her to beat him, but she expected to beat him. The judge worked them hard, for quite awhile. When he got on the mic he talked a lot about all the good things they both did, but in the end one of 'em made a fatal mistake. The boy was pretty confident - which is good - but when the judge started talking to him he quit scratching his heifer and leaned on his show stick while he answered. My daughter won. The boy took it pretty hard at the time, but he learned from it. One of his goals had been to win beef showmanship at OYE, and he did it a month after he got beat by a seventh grader at his local show.
I said all that to say this - I don't care how much you spend, you better not lean on your show stick, 'cause somebody a little hungrier might be good enough to beat you.
DLD
Well-known member
Tallcool1 said:
I wanted to agree with this, too. Wanting to win is important, but so is being realistic. I've seen a lot of kids soured on showing by barn blind parents and/or leaders who had them convinced they were gonna win the whole show every time and they'd end up in the middle of their class.
