Worming!

Make sure that you are always keeping up with worming your animals! You want to worm your cattle once everything three months. Cydectin is what my family is most familiar with. This is a pour on parasite control treatment that you put in the animals back.

FUN FACT: You need to switch up the types of wormers that you are using because the animal can get immune to it and it will not work!

Show Sticks

I advise that you always have a show stick that is taller than you. This gives a more professional look and it helps you reach to the animals back feet. I also recommend that you use a black one,  black is a very standard color. I know there are so many different colored show sticks, there are even rainbow ones, but it doesn't give a professional look. You want to strive to look professional, if you haven't already seen my post about dress code when showing I advise you do that as well!

Stubborn

Sometimes halter breaking isn't the easiest. Even after going to shows, your steers could still be crazy, have an attitude problem, or stubborn. No one likes to show a steer like that.

Recommendations:

1. Keep your steer tied up for a few hours, make sure its head is tied up high 
2. Tie them to a tractor or skid loader and make sure the showman walks beside them so they think the showman is the one in control 
3. If you have a donkey, I recommend you tie them to the donkey and they them run around together

Gross hair!

Sometimes when your steers hair is all gross and tangled together, if you mix half a bottle of rubbing alcohol and the rest of water in a spray bottle and mist that all over your steer and comb it in, It breaks up the hair and helps with hair growth.

Make sure you keep combing forward!

When you are showing you want to make sure that you are dressing appropriate.

• Boots or twisted X
• Jeans WITH NO HOLES
• Belt
• Button up shirt

You want to have your hair so it isn't in your face because paying attention to your animal and the judge is most important. 

I get a lot of my show wear from Showgirl Style ! Check them out.

Hoof Trimming

If your steers hoof looks like this or longer you want see if there is a hoof trimmer in your area. It is important to make sure their hoofs are not getting too long, this could mess up the way they walk or potentially hurt them. 

Fans

As the days are getting warmer it is crucial that you are keeping a good air flow through your barn or wherever your animal may be. Keeping the animal cool helps with keeping their appetite up and also hair growth. I personally keep fans going in my barn all year around. You don't want your animal to sweat because that could cause them to lose weight or hair!

Sure Champ

I recommend taking a look at Sure Champ. This company is awesome! They have so many different products that I have found to work with not only cattle but other species.

They also have very good tips on their page! Their tips range from showmanship, feeding, and they also have animals to judge.

Show halters

As crazy as this sounds, show halters have a HUGE effect on showing. When it comes to showmanship you need to have the same colored halter that matches your animal or you will not make it to the next round. Black animals should have a black leather halter and red cows should have the brown leather halter.

Wrapping the chain can also help with control on your end.

You also want to make sure the leather parts are skinny and not the thick bands. 

Implanting

Sometimes our animals don't grow as good as we want and it could be the genetics not anything that you are doing wrong. You animal could also be late born so its not on track for your county fair. I suggest implanting your steer with Revalar-G. This implant is great because it won't give too many fatty pockets on your animal and it also won't burn off hair as fast as the other ones

When fitting a leg you want to follow this picture.
Adhesive, white paint/powder, a scotch comb, and little clippers will help do this job
You want to PRACTICE at home before trying to do it at a show.

Here is a good demonstration on how to get ready for show day 

If you are noticing hair loss, or not enough growth take a look at your feed

There are a lot of feeds out there that will burn the hair right off your animal, this why rinsing everyday and keeping them cool is crucial!

Keeping an eye on your animal helps with noticing things like lice and mites, if you do notice these you need to get a pour on to get rid of them immediately.

Shampooing

Shampooing is not always necessary. However, it is when you are getting ready for a show. When choosing a product you need to keep in consideration would you put that in your hair? If not then don't use it. Animals skin is just like yours, if you use a product that's not so good its going to dry their skin out which can cause hair loss.

Make sure if your steer has white spots that you are using a whitening shampoo!