Preparing for the Show Ring

Every evening in the summer, after chores were finished and supper was over, Dad would work with the bulls in the show string.  Once I started in 4-H, Dad included me in the practice sessions.  He brushed every bull every evening, while I brushed my first steer, Chip.  Then Dad would halter a bull and my steer so we could lead them out into the driveway area between the house and the barn.  We led them around with Chip and I in the lead and Dad following leading one of his bulls, urging my calf along if he decided to dawdle.  After a few trips around the loop, we would set the animals up.  This entailed getting each animal to put his feet squarely under him so he would look lengthy but not stretched too much so his back dipped.  A show stick helped to guide each foot to the correct position with a small bunt nail-like nub on the side tip of the stick hooked under the dew claw of each foot to move the foot forward. Pushing the tip of the stick between the hoof in the front motivated the bull or steer to move his foot back.  Once the feet were set square, the nail nub made for a good scratching tool under the brisket to encourage him to hold his head up or to soothe him while standing still. Another item to tend to was tipping the hocks out so the hindquarters looked wide and muscular.

 Once we had our animals set, mom would act like the judge and come to each animal running her hands over them and walking around them talking. This was good practice for what would happen at the fair in the show ring.  Dad usually had six or so bulls in his show string, and he worked with each one each evening.  I made the circuit with my steer as he took a different bull each round.  This meant that both Chip and I were well trained!  When we stopped, we both eventually learned exactly what was expected of us.  Chip set up square and I used my show stick to scratch him under the neck so he held his head high.  Dad was successful with his projects my first year in 4-H.  Chip was the grand champion steer at the county fair and I won the Junior Showmanship.  Over the years as my younger siblings joined me in 4-H, Dad's training intensity moderated, but he still made sure we were all well trained on how to show our animals.