Before you buy, know the winning features of a show calf

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

August 9, 2001 -- When a youngster has decided to show a beef heifer or steer for their 4-H or FFA project, the initial step is selection of that animal.

Garry Boyd, long-time ag instructor at Union Grove High School and show cattle expert, detailed animal selection to the 143 youngsters and parents who attended the recent East Texas Beef Show Cattle - Youth Day Camp in Tyler. The event was organized by the Van Zandt County and Smith County Extension offices, in cooperation with the East Texas State Fair.

"Look for the obvious," Boyd emphasized. "If you see something wrong, the judge will see it too. ... Just because she's expensive doesn't mean she doesn't have any flaws."

He added that last year about $800 and under was spent to buy each of his student's beef cattle show animals.

Boyd brought along some champion show cows to the East Texas State Fairgrounds to point out some key considerations to the youngsters.

"If you see she has crooked legs, leave that one alone," he began. "When it comes to legs, she's got to be able to walk, to stride out there."

The show heifer or steer should not be sickle-legged, or post-legged, but somewhere in between. "By sickle, that means you've got a lot of turn in it," he said while pointing to the knee area of the cow's back leg. ... If she's too posty-legged, she'll walk (like on stilts) instead of striding out there."

Too fine of a leg bone is not desirable, either.

While still at the back end of the cow, Boyd pointed out some things too look for in the hip and butt.

"You want a good, square hip," he said. "You want her to be parallel from the hooks to the pins."

When it comes to the butt area, Boyd told the youngsters to look from the side to get a good view of the muscle pattern there. "See these real rounded muscles, here," he pointed out. "I call that apple-butted. Stay away from that. You want a flat, long muscle and smooth hip."

The animal's body capacity is an important element. "Some call this the barrel capacity. You want this big, ... because when she's a grown cow you want her to harvest as much forage as possible. If she has a big tank to fill up, then she can ingest a lot and she'll give a lot of milk."

Boyd added that when it comes to show heifers, competitors should keep in mind the animal's main goal. "Their job is to later go out there and raise calves, so you want her well suited for that."

Moving along to the shoulders, Boyd stressed beef show cattle buyers to be "careful here. You want good, smooth shoulders. In some shows you might hear the judge say the animal is too steep in the shoulder" which means the animal's "blade is back too far and she'll walk like she's on stilts. You don't want them winged out either. ... It's a femininity trait."

Another good feminine trait for heifers is her head. "You don't want a wide, bold forehead" but you want it big enough to "go with the body."

When it comes to the space between the animal's front legs, the brisket area, "you want this as clean as possible, ... and not too narrow."

Joining the brisket area and head, under the neck, is another area to consider. "You might hear a judge say there's too much leather if there's too much of this hangy-down. You want this as clean as possible too," Boyd said.

The neck should be long and smooth, and when looking at the front legs, look for any hoof problems.

Hoof problems, whether on the front or back feet, can range from one side of the hoof being larger than the other, causing the larger side to "roll over" onto the shorter side. "I've had guys say they could trim that out of a cow, but you can't. It will help it, but it won't fix it because the problem is in the leg."

Boyd summed up the beef cow review by advising the buyer to "get the things you want (in a show heifer or steer) in your mind before you go look." And when you get there to "look at the animal from all sides, ... and watch the animal as it walks.

"Keep in mind, though, there is no perfect animal out there," Boyd said. "You may have to give and take. Many times in the showmanship competition the judge will ask you, 'What would you change about your animal?' So know your animal," faults and all.

("Halter-breaking Techniques," another of the topics covered during the East Texas Beef Show Cattle Youth Day Camp, will be featured in next week's Country World.)