# Grooming Hereford for show



## MooThis (Jul 22, 2010)

My daughter is getting ready to show her 9 month old Hereford and 13 month red angus cross for the first time.  Suggestions please on triming and clipping.....


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## goodhors (Jul 23, 2010)

Can she get any help from the local 4-H folks?  My daughter is taking a Prospect Beef calf to Fair.  He is a dairy breed though, so they do things differently!  We are not allowed by the Fair, to apply things to his hair for showing like paint.  Trimming is not the same for each kind of calf.  Dairy has way different hair than beef who look pretty fluffy.

I would check with the Extension Office, see who the Beef leaders are and call for help.  Sometimes the older kids will help too, part of the Service side of club work.  We are doing beef meetings now, learning how to lead, stand them up, use a stick, get out of the Judge's way, spacing.  Daughter's calf is being very good, she works with him a lot.  Still, she needs to improve certain things to be smoother, make calf look even better.

Daily walking should help muscle calf up, improve leading skills too!  LOTS of walking, at least 1/2 mile daily, best in cool morning temps.  Practice often, get it good in standing when posed.

Do your cattle stand well when tied?  Accepts handling on all body parts?  That is a big thing.  Judges often touch the animal.  Leading easily, getting calf standing squarely quickly for handler is pretty important too, so the good body can be seen well.  Then grooming them, getting all parts clean, hooves trimmed, heads and backs clipped smooth.  For some reason the long hairs on tail top are often shaped to accent body shape.  Styles vary, just don't clip them off!  Much better to have a knowledgable person there with you, clipping away.  They can see what you have, not give you generic advice for cows built different than yours.  Grooming chute is nice if you have one or can borrow one.  Holds the animal still for working on, teaches calf patience. 

Kid also will need a cow (scotch?) comb in back pocket in ring,  along with her show stick and leather show halter.  Show stick should be able to reach all cow parts while kid stands by head.  Usually about shoulder high on smaller kid.  Older kids, boys, have longer arms to reach with, but on girls, shoulder high works pretty well.  Local girls show uniform here is short sleeve cotton shirt tucked in, nice blue jeans, nice belt, farmer shoes for feet protection.  Hair neatly braided or pinned down, not hanging in her face or loose.  Same clothes will also work for sheep showing, but the pig girls wear sleeveless shirts here.  Some unspoken code around our Fair.  Goodwill is good for shopping, usually has shirts, jeans at a much better price than the Western store or TSC.  Get flattering colors to girl and cattle coat color.

Sorry no calf details for you, just too big an area to cover generically.

Forgot to add that Quick Silver horse shampoo (TSC store) or the generic Shimmer for gray hair at Sally Hanson Beauty supply, does a really nice job on white of cattle.  Goes on purple, but read directions for best results.  Get calf used to being washed all over before Fair so he is not surprised.  Any blueing MUST be diluted BEFORE using on an animal or he will turn blue!!  Blueing is old-fashioned, many better whiteners now available.


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## amysflock (Jul 23, 2010)

Check out this thread from the Showing Your Herd subfolder (this was my post/thread from last year prior to showing our Highland calves): http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1520

One of the posts on the first or second page has 2 links to videos from the Limosine (sp?) society...I recall one is on fitting (which is what you're asking about regarding trimming/clipping).

For bathing, there are a ton of fancy soaps and stuff. Dawn dish soap (the original blue, with the wildlife on the bottle) was recommended and I really liked it...they stayed soft and fluffy for quite a while, and it was a great dirt and grease cutter.

I don't clip or block our cattle (it was prohibited by our national society for a year, now is ok again, but I still am personally against it). Fitting for the other breeds though looks to be quite an art. There may be some more experienced folks at your show who will be willing to give you some pointers or even a little help (although if you get potential points for fitting and showing, competition may create an atmosphere of "help yourself!").


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## MooThis (Jul 23, 2010)

Awesome thank you so much!  We will watch the video's.  My daughter is in Arlington (wa) FFA.  I haven't seen any rules saying what you can and can't do....Maybe for the first show next weekend we should just get the washed up good and see how it goes.


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