2013 National Guernsey Convention in Oklahoma

Check out this link for great coverage of the fun activities at the Guernsey Convention!

http://purebredpublishing.blogspot.com/2013/06/livin-on-tulsa-time.html

"What are your future plans?"

I got my e-newsletter from Progressive Dairyman today.  They featured my latest post.

“WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? DO YOU PLAN TO REMAIN INVOLVED IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY? IF SO, WHY?”

• Posted by MaddieMoo on August 6, 2012 at 6:41am
• View Blog

When I first got this question, all I could think of was “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  That freaked me out because I don’t know.  I’m still a tween-ager.  I’m only twelve and a half years old.  My mom and I talked about this question for three days. Here is my list of things I have honestly considered for my future so far:  Pre-K teacher, actress, professional ballerina, and beautician.  No joke.  We laughed about it a lot, but we were afraid that list wasn’t a good enough answer.  Then we looked at the question again and decided that maybe it wasn’t asking what we thought.  We thought that maybe it was asking about my nearer future.  Since I’m only twelve and a half, I’ve got a lot of future ahead of me.  Even high school is still a ways off.  I have several things that I’m looking forward to in my middle school and high school future.    

I plan to continue showing dairy.  I still have six more school years I can show as a 4-H or FFA member.  I want to continue to expand my dairy herd through breeding what I have and by purchasing additional animals.  I have always thought I would eventually own at least one of each of the major dairy breeds.

I would also like to continue to be a dairy princess.  I have been chosen as the Oklahoma Ayrshire Jr.

Princess for three years in a row.  When I am no longer chosen as an Ayrshire princess, I will be able to compete for a crown in another breed association where I am a member and show animals of that breed.  

We did pre-enrollment in school in May.  School starts in two days, and as a seventh grader I am going to take AG class!  I can’t be in FFA until eighth grade, but I can at least be in Ag class.  I’m so excited!  For ONE thing, she's already told me that I'm going to learn a lot more about dairy and dairy judging.  Later there will be SAEs and CDEs and convention and banquet and all kinds of new stuff.  I also plan to always be in  4-H.  My 4-H leader, who is also the FFA advisor, will help me make the right choices in my project areas so I can get the most out of both organizations without overlapping.  It’s tricky.  You can be active in both, but you have to be careful that you don’t “double-dip” as she calls it.  This year I turned in a 4-H recordbook for Gold in Dairy Livestock, Silver in Dairy Foods, Silver in Nutrition, Bronze in Shooting Sports, The Nutrition Special Award, and The Outstanding Junior Special Award.  I do a lot of work in a lot of areas.  I have been a  4-H officer for the past three years.  I will run again this fall.

I will continue to compete for Local Overall Exhibitor.  This is a competition among exhibitors of all the species.  Points are earned by your placings, showmanship, sportsmanship, herdsmanship, and your scores by judges during an interview process.  I have been showing for three years.  The first year, I was Runner-Up Overall 4-H Exhibitor.  The second year AND the third year, I WON 4-H Overall Exhibitor!  

I can’t wait until I’m fourteen.  It seems like fourteen is the magic age for lots of cool stuff.  This last year my placing qualified me to go to nationals in shooting sports, but I wasn’t old enough to be invited.  Fourteen is also the age I can start running for Oklahoma Dairy Princess.  It’s the year that I can turn in my first 4-H state level recordbooks.  I can run for 4-H office on the county level.  I can be considered for 4-H County Hall of Fame.  

I will also keep on helping with Cloverbuds and working in dairy themes wherever we can. 

I will continue to promote the dairy industry and dairy foods as a part of a healthy diet.  I will work for Dairy MAX’s Susan Allen for as long as she will have me.

   

Who knows what else I’ll get to do with agriculture?  Just recently I’ve been invited to spend a day working at Cross Country Genetics, and just the other day I was invited to come work for a day at a family dairy.  Who knows what other agricultural opportunities I will get in the future?    

Repost:  From Progressive Dairyman E-Newsletter 08-10-12

4-H Success!!!

Tuesday night was the annual county 4-H banquet.
We had BBQ catered by Klein's.  They served a HUGE dinner!  There was also a large silent auction and LOTS of door prizes.  I got some green and black 4-H vintage style sunglasses.  YEA!!!

It seems like I've been waiting FOREVER to find out what I earned this year!
My awards included:

Gold in Dairy Livestock
Silver in Dairy Foods
Champion in Individual Talent
Champion in Powerpoint
Champion in Prepared Speech
Reserve Champion in Impressive Dress
and OUTSTANDING JUNIOR!!!

The members of our 4-H chapter who turned in record books were very successful!

Sooner State Dairy Show 2012

I've been bustin' butt every day either trying to get ready for the Sooner State Dairy Show or working AT Sooner State.

The breeder said that Carmelita was already trained to lead.  That she will walk with you on a rope halter, but when I got her home, she really didn't want to do that.  So for me, I had to almost start her from the beginning.  I had to outsmart her to catch her up, then get her haltered, and then it took two of us to make her walk.  She just planted her feet and sulled up like a little donkey.  Since she's a Jersey, she's fairly small, but still, that's hard work!


Stop and Stare is itty-bitty, but she can sull up and plant those feet with the best of them.  She even did the "Jersey flop" on me once while I had her haltered.   Stop and Stare flopped down and she got so comfortable, we thought she would NEVER get up!  But she did, and we finished up our training session.


Juicy is back home from the breeder.  She doesn't need as much work as the other two, but I worked her out anyway.


We scrubbed the girls down on our own at the farm.  Then we did something we've never done...we clipped all of my animals without anyone supervising us.  I liked it.  I didn't feel rushed.


That was on a Monday.  Tuesday afternoon, we loaded up all supplies, took them to Stillwater and unloaded and set up as much as we possibly could.  We got home around 11 P.M.


Wednesday morning we met to load up animals.  Got to Stillwater in time to have a hamburger at Braum's.  Then we unloaded and washed animals, and our advisor roughed in toplines for the animals we had chosen to use for showmanship that next evening.  I chose Juicy.  

Thursday night there were fifteen in my 11-12 year old class.  I'm not making excuses.  I know where I messed up, but  it was an honest mistake and definitely a learning experience.


I was second in line.  The boy in front of me was having a hard time handling his heifer.  (He said he knew she would be trouble that morning.)  She kept freezing up.  So I kept giving her a goose to help him get started again.  So at one point, he stopped and was wrestling with her, so I stopped and waited for him to go.  Sadly, that's where the judge told him to stop.  I should have been setting up, which is what he was trying to do.  Finally I started setting my animal up when I saw that other people were behind me.  What a stupid mistake.  Anyway.  Then she dropped the bottom five and then ten to come up with the top five showmen.  Even though I hesitated (which she labeled as "lacking confidence") I still made it in the TOP FIVE, barely, but I made it, and ten other people didn't, so I am still proud of my performance.  I learned a lesson.


I am also proud of my friend April!  This was her first Sooner State, and she got FOURTH in showmanship in our age group!  Her Holstein is a little crazy like my Faith used to be, so she REALLY deserved in the top five!  Yea, April!


Friday we did dairy judging.  I had the high score in our 4-H group, but I didn't place.  


Saturday we showed. I spent a lot of time goosing the Jersey in front of me to help the girl get it going around the ring.  Carmelita got 7th out of 9.  The judge was really complimentary about her and said there were LOTS of things she liked about her, but she was currently "carrying too much condition"  which is a nice way to say that she's too fat right now.   :)  That's okay.  I haven't had her long enough to get all the weight off her that I want to.  Just give it time.  She wasn't last!

Stopnstare got 1st in Jr. and 1st in Open as a Spring Calf.  (If you wonder where she got the name Stopnstare, maybe it would make more sense if you knew that her mama's name is SEXY!) 





Juicy ended up getting 1st as a Jr. Yearling. 

After the show Saturday, we tore down everything we could and moved it to the front of the aisle.  We went to eat lunch then...at 5:30 or so.  When we finished, my mom pulled the trailer that we loaded with supplies.  Our advisor pulled the gooseneck with the cattle.  We dropped the trailer at the farm then went to unload hay at the Ag Barn.  Then we took my friend home and finally headed to the house.  Woo!  What a week.

HELLO, INTERNATIONAL DAIRYMEN!!!

WOW!
Who would have known that this little old 4-H dairy project blog would reach so far? 
According to the Blogger stats, my audience includes:
U.S.A. (of course)
RUSSIA
NETHERLANDS
ARGENTINA
CANADA
GERMANY ***home of my Larchey ancestors!!!
FRANCE
UNITED KINGDOM
INDIA
BRAZIL
ECUADOR
MALAYSIA
NEPAL
SOUTH KOREA
UKRAINE 
LATVIA
PHILIPPINES
SWEDEN
TURKEY 
AUSTRALIA
IRELAND ***Cork County:  home of my O'Scannell ancestors (and my McTeggart Irish Dance teacher)
NEW ZEALAND
COLOMBIA
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
POLAND
KUWAIT
BANGLADESH
VENEZUELA
VIETNAM
GEORGIA
LEBANON
ALGERIA
MOZAMBIQUE
PAKISTAN
MOLDOVA
SINGAPORE
MYANMAR (BURMA)
PANAMA
MEXICO
GABON
BAHRAIN
HONDURAS
ITALY
NIGERIA
SRI LANKA
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVIA
MALTA
FINLAND
CZECH REPUBLIC
MONTENEGRO
JAPAN
and
JAMAICA.

This made me start thinking about dairies in these countries.  So my mom and I started looking up information on the internet about them.  Cool stuff!

Ultrasound Appointment

I went to Cross Country Genetics and got an ultrasound for Ayan, my Brown Swiss nurse cow.  We needed to find out if she is preggers or not.  If she's not, we have to see if she is cystic and treat her for it.  If she's all clear, then we have to watch her for heat and A.I. her again.  If she is preggo, I do my happy dance and I get a calf in nine months!

Ultrasound results:
No cysts.
No fetus.
No happy dance :( 

So, how did you come to be interested in Dairy? Proud To Dairy blog post: July 6, 2012

I got an email the other day suggesting a blog post:

“I'd like to know more about how you became interested in dairy. You said you live in town and your parents and grandparents weren't involved in raising livestock through 4-H or FFA. So how did it happen? What sparked your interest in dairy?”

In my family, it’s been three generations since anyone was involved in agriculture. Most all of them sold products to creameries.  Only one still farms and he only has a few beef cattle.  I’m not a farm kid.  I’m not even a country kid, but  I am a third year 4-H member with four registered dairy show cattle, with another calf on the way, and assorted pairs of orphan calves that I tend every day.  I don’t even live in the town where my cattle are.  They live at my Godmother’s little farm, so I do chores every day on the way home from school.  On weekends, holidays, and breaks, I still make the half hour trip from my house, do chores, and make the half hour trip back home again.  Even people who know my family wonder how I ended up raising dairy cattle.

I’m guessing I was just over a year old when my mom made arrangements for me to come to the FFA Week Petting Zoo at the high school where she teaches. 

My (now) 4-H leader carried me around and showed me all of the animals.  The one animal that I pet and seemed to like the best was “Daisy”.   She was a dairy heifer that one of the students had won in an essay contest.  I attended the FFA petting zoo every year for at least eight years.  


When I was about four,  I started my Pee Wee Showmanship career.  I came to the Local show and showed every species.  I went to the County show and showed beef, dairy, and sheep. 

I went to the Sooner State Dairy Show, and  I went  to the Oklahoma State Fair to do Showmanship.  The ring was almost full, and as I got ready to walk through the gate, I looked up at my Godmother and announced that I could do it all by myself.  I led that giant Holstein around the ring with no problems.  My mom still tells the story about how I was the smallest kid in the ring with the biggest animal and the only one with no help at all!  
Another year I started doing the Purdiest Cow Contest.  The little Jersey and I were "Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon."
It was also around that time that I learned I could be in 4-H and have my own heifer when I turned nine.  I thought my ninth birthday would NEVER come!  After I turned nine, two very special friends decided to give me one of their Ayrshire calves to raise for my own. 

Since then,  I have saved up my stock show winnings, birthday money, Christmas money, and odd job money and bought my other animals by myself. I bought a Brown Swiss calf.  I made and paid off a purchase agreement for a Holstein yearling, and I financed my Brown Swiss nurse cow and paid her off.  I sold the Holstein and kept her heifer calf.  My Ayrshire is due in less than a month.  The Brown Swiss nurse cow gets preg checked in three days, the Brown Swiss heifer is going to be in heat any day now so she can get A.I.ed., and I have bought and sold three pairs of orphan calves for my nurse cow to raise.

“Where do you think your determination comes from to raise dairy animals?”

I guess it does take a lot of determination to raise dairy cattle.  In my little corner of the world, dairy doesn’t get much respect.  Our county only allows ONE dairy heifer in the premium sale.  They do not allow dairy to compete for money in showmanship.  They do not allow any crossbreds.  They do not allow any fresh or dry cows.  Over the winter, our STATE Fairgrounds tore down the cattle barns and rebuilt them...without a milking parlor.  There will be no cows, not even dry ones, shown at the State Fair starting this fall.

Even though dairy is treated the way it is, I keep working.  Maybe it’s because I’m stubborn.  My MawMaw looked at me on the day I was born and told my parents, “That is going to be a strong-willed child!” 

The work is hard, and sometimes I get frustrated.  Not as much as I did when I was littler.  But when I do, and I get UGLY, my mom stops me and asks me, “So what do you want to do?  Quit?  Sell out? It’s fine if you do, because it will save us a lot of money.”  She says the same thing every time because she knows that those words will shake me up and get me to straighten up SUPER-FAST!  She knows I don’t want to quit.  Quitting is like being beaten, and who wants to feel the agony of defeat? 
I know I don’t.   : )
 
Written for Proud To Dairy/Progressive Dairyman 
Posted July 6, 2012

UN.BE.LIEVABLE!!!

 AAAHHHHH!!!

The most amazing thing happened!  I was invited to post to PROUD TO DAIRY on a regular basis!  They've sent me six months worth of topics to write about.  They also want me to post videos.  But wait!  There's more!

They want to feature my content through:


 AND










 








AND

AND

IN THE PROGRESSIVE DAIRYMAN PRINT MAGAZINE!!!

They also post links on their facebook pages to articles and photos they want to feature.

But I don't know.  I'm going to have to think about it...um, let me see...uh,

YOU BETCHA!  I'm IN!

I don't know who to thank first.  Really, I wouldn't even be posting stuff online if Kara Eschbach, the Tulsa State Fair Agribusiness Coordinator, hadn't chosen me to blog about my 4-H dairy project, given me info on where and how to set up a blog, and linked me to their facebook page.  So THANK YOU, KARA!
Then of course I want to thank EMILY CALDWELL,

Web Editor, East Coast Editor of Progressive Publishing, because I'm sure she had something to do with that decision AND she was the bearer of the good news!  Thank you also to ALAN LEAVITT, Publisher and WALT COOLEY, Editor of Progressive Dairyman magazine because I know that they are the BIG DECISION makers!

Hope I can come up with some good stuff for you to use.
(If I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.)

...and the winner is...Maddie Moo!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EACH AND EVERY PERSON WHO TOOK TIME OUT OF THEIR DAY AND WENT TO THE PROUD TO DAIRY SITE AND VOTED FOR MY PHOTO!

AND EXTRA SPECIAL GREAT BIG GIANT THANKS TO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR SPONSORING AND RUNNING THIS PHOTO CONTEST:

TABITHA CROMER 

Marketing Communications Manager

at Innovacyn, Inc. (the makers of Vetericyn)

ALAN LEAVITT 

Publisher 

Progressive Dairyman magazine

WALT COOLEY 

Editor  

Progressive Dairyman magazine

and 

EMILY CALDWELL

Web editor

Progressive Publishing

*******

PROUD TO DAIRYby Progressive Dairyman

THE CHALLENGE

Show us your pride:  Participate in the June Dairy month photo contest!

Do you have a Proud to Dairy hat? Snap a photo of yourself wearing it and upload it to Proud to Dairy for a chance to win prizes from the makers of Vetericyn Wound Spray: http://proudtodairy.ning.com/profiles/blogs/show-us-your-pride-participate-in-the-june-dairy-month-photo. Don't have a hat yet? Earn one by posting a blog or video and tell us why you're Proud to Dairy!

*******

So I made a blog post AND I posted a video.  They sent me TWO hats!  I put my hair up in a bun, headed out to do chores, stuck my Proud To Dairy hat on my head, and Mom snapped DOZENS of photos with her cell phone.  Eventually we got some good ones. 

Do I look PROUD TO DAIRY, or what?

Photo contest winner:  ME!!!

Tell her what we have for her, Johnny!

  TWO of these

and one of these!

These prizes have a combined value of  $120 (or more, depending on where you buy them)!!!

I had my choice of three products.  The third option was Umbilical, Navel & Udder gel.  I figured with as many flies as there are, I had better get two of the pink eye spray.  Darn those flies!  I will NOT let them get the best of MY girls!  As soon as these come in the mail, I'm going to be heavily armed!  I've already used Vetericyn wound spray and liked it a lot.  That's why I was extra excited about this contest.  I wanted some more Vetericyn products for my supply box!  They are GOOD stuff!

Thanks again to all the individuals who made this contest and these prizes and my WIN possible! 

Thank you!  Thank you!  THANK you!

 

Vote For ME!!!

Check it out!  I'm featured on Progressive Dairyman's facebook page for a contest!  There are only two days left, so I need you to act fast.

Go to Progressive Dairyman's facebook page and click on the link shown below.  Visit my photo (MaddieMoo) on the Proud to Dairy site and vote for me by hitting LIKE or FAVORITE.

Can't you see how PROUD TO DAIRY 
I am?

Breeding breeding breeding

We took Ayan (Brown Swiss nurse cow) to my good friend Alan to get A.I.ed awhile back.  I've got an appointment on July 6th to see if it took!  I'm praying for it, and for it to be a heifer...of course.  We're taking her for an ultrasound at Cross Country Genetics.  I can hardly wait!






Juicy (Brown Swiss heifer) should be coming into heat in the next day or so, and she will be A.I.ed too.  It's hard for me to believe that she is already old enough!  In my mind she's about the size of a six month old, but she's over a year old now.  She dwarfs the other heifers in the pasture.

Posey is due the first week of August.  I'm nervous.  Really excited, but nervous something will go wrong.

I've raised Posey since the day she was born.  It took a long time to get her bred.  She was one failure away from visiting a bull.  This calf has been a long time in coming.  I keep praying that everything goes beautifully, just like it did for Faith and her little Fara.

Planning for the Unknown

We like to plan ahead, but this year is going to be difficult.  We are going to have to wait until the last minute to see about a lot of things.  I hope it doesn't cause any problems with getting my registrations in or in overpaying for registrations.  These are the kinds of things I think about and eventually ask questions about to the people who know the answers:

Ayan is a nurse cow.  She is also a show cow.  She is nursing Fara AND the bald face bull calf, Bucko.  So what do I do?  Do I take Fara and Bucko off her and show Ayan and Fara in July at Sooner State? Would I have to sell Bucko?  Or do I just have to put Fara and Bucko on a bottle for a few days? Do I take Fara to the show and feed her a bottle there and run Ayan through the milking parlor?  Will Ayan even be in good condition to show?  Can you "milk out" a cow by putting a calf on it at the show?  Is that bad?  Can that even be done evenly/correctly?

It's possible that Posey could deliver before Sooner State.  If she does, do I take her and show her as a cow?  Will she be in good condition for it?  Would we need to leave Ayan at home and nurse Posey's calf?   Will she still be in condition to nurse Posey's?  Will we just bottle feed Posey's?  I definitely know that Posey is going to the dairy.  I have those arrangements made.

If Posey hasn't calved yet, we should just leave her at home, but then someone is going to have to check her.  That makes me nervous.   What if she has problems?  All the people that know what to do will be at the show with us.

It would be more comfortable for Posey to stay home.  That way she wouldn't have to be tied up and confined.  After seeing Faith just before she calved, I feel sorry for those poor mamas-to-be.  They look so miserable.  I want whatever is best for Posey.

That leaves Juicy.  Am I only going to get to show one animal at Sooner State?

It's frustrating to own four show animals with a possible fifth one before the show and maybe only get to take one to show. 

I still have the same types of questions for County, but the cow situation is a no-brainer.  They don't let us show cows at County.

I wonder about the barn for OKC.  I wonder how done it will be.  I wonder if they are even going to accept cows.  I hear they are not rebuilding the milking parlor.  We don't have a portable milking system.  I wonder if they will bring in a milking trailer or something?  So I don't know if I can bring Posey or Ayan to OKC.  

I also wonder what my little herd will be like by ***THE TULSA STATE FAIR***!!!

By Special Request: DAIRY SHOWMANSHIP

Local 2011

Local 2012

As a third-year dairy exhibitor, I've won showmanship at Local the last two years.  I also won Overall 4-H Exhibitor at Local the last two years.
 

OKC 2011

I won showmanship in my age division the last two years at OKC, and  I won Jr. Showmanship this year at Tulsa.

Tulsa 2011

You would think that after all that, I would know exactly what to say about showmanship.  I'm a little unsure, but I'll give it a shot...since this post was another special request from my friends at the Tulsa State Fair office.  = )


DRESS
You can spot a dairy showman a mile away.  Dairy showmen wear white:  white shirt with 4-H or FFA patch and white jeans with black belt and black boots.  I'm not sure why we wear white other than maybe because white clothing is traditionally what milk men wore.  Showmen used to have to wear a black bow tie and a little white paper hat.  I'm glad we don't have to do that now.  I've seen pictures on the internet that at some shows, the showman has to wear a body harness of their own with a number on it.  I've never had to do that either.  Appearance is important.  I was watching a show one day when the judge got on the microphone and told everyone about appearance.  I was embarrassed for the kids in the ring he was teaching the lesson, but they should have known better. 

HALTERS
Dairy cattle wear a leather show halter with a sliding chain under the jaw attached to a leather lead.  The lead comes from the factory measuring about four feet long I'm guessing.



Problem is, you don't want to be that far away from your animal.  You also don't want the lead to drag the ground.  For one thing it is bad on the leather.  (You have to take care of your equipment.) For another thing, you don't want to step on the lead or worse, you don't want your animal to step on the lead or get it wrapped around them and do a somersault and take you down, too.  (Been there.  Done that.  Praise the Lord, neither of us was hurt.)  To fix this, you can do one of two things:  either cut the lead down so that even if it is hanging straight down from the halter, it will not touch the ground, or you can do what I do...I slip the lead through its own hardware ring and fold it in half.  This gives me more bulk on the lead so I can get a better grip if I need to use some muscle, and it does not affect the original condition of the lead.

The normal color of a dairy animal's show halter is black leather, with the exception of Ayrshire and Milking Shorthorn, I believe.  They wear brown leather.  I would like to have those fancy halters that have rhinestones on them, but I've been told that certain important people in my life would be embarrassed if I tried that... along with bedazzling my show pants!

A leather halter is used on the animal during shows and during training/practice.




A rope halter is used at all other times to lead them around, load them, etc.



A leather halter allows for better control of the animal.  It also lets the animal know when it's time to work the ring!  The idea is to work with the animal to a degree that the animal will "set-up" in show position with a gentle touch without the need to use a great deal of muscle on them.  Older cows that have been worked well and shown for a long time will many times just walk into a set-up position and stay on their own.

SHOWING
An animal must learn to set-up and stay in show position for an extended period of time.  The judge has to evaluate all the animals in the ring, and that takes awhile.  Hold her head.

A showman must always keep his/her eye on the judge.  You must also not turn your back on the judge.  You must always know where the judge is at all times.
You also re-set your animal in a slightly different position depending on where the judge is standing.  The showman must also move and stand in different places according to the position of the judge.

When showing a heifer, the exhibitor should position the heifer's front legs straight underneath her, evenly.  The rear legs should always be positioned so that whichever side the judge is seeing, THAT rear leg closest to the judge should be farther back than the other rear leg...but not too stretched out looking.  If the judge walks around to the other side, then you make your animal "switch legs" so the same effect is created.  Heifers don't have a visible, "bloomed" udder for the judge to look at.  If she's nervous, she might arch her back.  Give her back a quick touch to make it relax and be straight again.  Straight backs are a must.

When showing a cow, the exhibitor does just the opposite.  The rear leg closest to the judge should be forward.  This allows the full udder to be viewed.  The judge wants a clear view of all four quarters of the udder, the placement of the teats, their length, and the degree of levelness of the udder floor.  When the judge walks behind a cow, the rear legs should be made even with one another.

I haven't had any experience yet with showing a dry cow, so I'm not sure what the rules are for setting them up.

The dairy showman walks and stands on the left side of the animal.  Depending where the judge is, the showman will walk forward, backward, or sometimes a little sideways always keeping face forward to the judge.  When the animal is set-up and the judge comes near you, you step away a little farther to the left side of the animal so the judge can see from nose to tail and down both sides.

EXTRAS
The judge will also ask questions.  He/she will want to know the animal's birth date.  The judge may ask you the sire's name (the animal's father) and the full registered name of your animal.  You may be asked any number of trivia questions about dairy:  anatomy, processes, anything.

Some judges make you switch animals with another showman toward the end of the competition.  He/she wants to see how you handle an unfamiliar animal.  I've always wondered if it looks good on the showman if their animal is easily lead by a stranger.  You know, like they have trained it very well.  I'm thinking it has to look bad if a stranger can show your animal BETTER than you can.  Maybe I can ask a judge that one day.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
You can work your animal very well throughout the year, but you don't know how it will behave in the ring until you get there.  Many animals don't like to be with a new mix of animals.  Some don't like it when another exhibitor pulls their animal too close behind them in the circle.  Some don't like strangers.  My Ayrshire never has cause to kick until we get to a show.  Several shows in a row, she somehow managed to kick me right before we went into the ring.  Last year, she kicked my FINGER just three minutes before we walked into the ring at County.  It was my halter hand.  It was like it was on fire.  Yes, I cried, but I sucked it up and did my job.  Since she's an Ayrshire, we were the ones to actually start the show.  No time to recuperate.  Another time she kicked the dairy superintendent in the leg as he walked past her entering the ring at OKC.  She's multi-talented.  She can kick forward, backward, and to the side.  She never has that problem except at shows.  Lucky me (sarcasm).  Other animals can be the same way, so you should always leave one animal length between your animal's nose and the rear end of the animal in front of her.  You can't control the person behind you, but you can control the space in front of you.  Animals sometimes get squirrely when the judge has you line them up side by side.  You also never know which animals might end up being in heat during a show.  They will try to mount each other.  One of my friends (age 10)  was standing next to me when her yearling tried to mount her three or four different times in the ring!  Yes, you read it right.  Her own animal tried to mount her.  She got pretty beat up.  Each time it landed, her animal slammed into mine (Posey) and it just about knocked both Posey and me over the fence onto the ribbon table.  People went scattering.  You have to be super aware of EVERYTHING going on around you:  your animal AND every other living thing in the ring.


From the time you enter the show ring until the time you are dismissed from it, you are constantly working.  You don't just set-up your animal and stand there; you're not done. 

You should have worked with her enough that the two of you have a relationship by now.  You are the boss, but you are gentle, and she does what she's "told".

I should probably stop here.  I have super-secret training techniques and showing strategies that I'm afraid I would reveal to the world if I keep going.  I have to keep my competitive edge, you know!

The one thing I just can't ever seem to remember when I'm in the moment is to shake hands with the judge when I leave.  I'm so mentally worn out, I can never remember to do that consistently!  Maybe this coming show season I can add that to my list of things I do in the ring.

To Make the Best Better!

The 4-H Motto:  "To Make the Best Better"













That's the whole point...to make the best better.  Whatever your skills, whatever your project, you can always learn more, do more, and make it better.

Don't laugh. Parades are hard work.

2011 - 89'er Parade

Before...it's just a little cool.  I've got a light wrap in case I get too cold.  I'm crisp and shiny and ready to throw some candy!

and After...the gloves are gone, the hair is windblown, my crown is crooked, I'm sunburned, it is 250 degrees Fahrenheit under the floor length ball gown...
WATER!  Someone give me some WATER!