Guest blog: Getting cow ready for show ring

Today I am hosting a Guest Blog that was written by my G. Her 4-H club hosted a demonstration night and her presentation was about getting her cow, Sparkles, ready for the show ring. She's been working with Sparkles for a couple of years but this June will be the first time she'll walk in to a show ring with her. G. prefers to simply be with the animals at the farm and isn't interested in the competitive side of showing but agreed to give it a whirl this year at the 4-H Jamboree (mostly because she LOVES to groom and that's a big piece of getting ready to show). This is a low-key event geared more to teach the kids the finer points of the show ring rather than the formal competition of a county fair. G. is a bit nervous Sparkles is going to show her spunkier side and be unruly in the ring but Sparkles' owner (G. leases the cow from the farm she works at every week) thinks G. can handle whatever Sparkles dishes out. G. has some good upper body strength and instincts when working with large animals so even when Sparkles bucks or tries to run, she gets her under control without ever losing her hold on the halter rope. And having seen the antics, this is much easier said than done.

So here's G.'s explanation of how a 4-Her gets their cow ready for show....

Getting My Cow Sparkles Ready to Show

I have been prepping my cow Sparkles this spring to show her at June Jamboree.

The first thing I learned is how to set up her feet and posture. I do this with a show stick. The stick is hard to use at first because you need to use one hand for the halter and the other hand for the show stick. And sometimes I have to switch hands without letting go of the halter. But now I am getting better at using the show stick than I was at first.

There are 2 different postures your cow has to know for the show ring - Square and Western. For the Square posture the front legs are lined up together and so are the back legs. For the Western posture the front legs are lined up but the back legs are uneven. One back leg is more forward than the other.

I use the show stick to set up Sparkles’ legs for both postures by poking her feet to move in place. This sometimes takes a few minutes to do.

Another part of showing is learning how to shave and bathe the cow. I shaved Sparkles for the first time this spring. I shaved her neck and her face. Shaving is not very easy because the cow does not always stand still. I put my cow in a crate so that she can’t run away or move too much when I am using the clippers.

I also gave Sparkles a bath for the first time this spring too so she that looked nice and clean. Before I bathed her I brushed her a little bit to get some of the loose hair off and the mud that was on her. After I did that I got her wet and scrubbed her down. I got just as wet as Sparkles giving her a bath. And I’ll be giving her another bath the day before Jamboree.

I practice every week walking Sparkles around in a circle with the show stick like we are in the show ring. And I groom her so she is used to being groomed all the time.

I hope with all this practice that she does good at the show ring at June Jamboree.

This is the Western posture.

This is the Square posture.

And I have to offer the disclaimer that these photos were taken in early spring before G. had a chance to give her cow a bath or use the clippers (it was still too cold for that).

Sparkles loves her grooming sessions with the curry comb. G. likes it too because she can tell how much the cow enjoys a good scratch. G. said Sparkles' favorite place to be scratched is underneath her chin.