GREENWICH, N.Y. — We all know how stressful cow shows can get. Tensions can get high as you race to the ring, struggle to keep cows clean and deal with animals that decide to misbehave. Running on little to no sleep with short windows of opportunity to sit down and relax can lead to a level of irritability that results in an unfun show day experience. That’s why we put together this list of tips to help you achieve a stress-free cow show day.
Now, there will still likely be stressors like the heat or a disagreement on a placing. However, these tips can help make show day go by much easier for everyone to mitigate those pesky show day fights. Read on to learn how to make cow shows easier to mitigate stress on show day.
1 Feed Your Show Team
A “hangry” show team is never good. Like Margaret Brownell said in our The Northeast All Breeds Spring Show Experience article, “There is nothing worse than dealing with a hangry person on show day!” Not only should you make sure you pack lots of good snacks that everyone will enjoy but also make sure you know what you will be having for breakfast and lunch.
Buying food at any show or fair can get expensive quickly. To keep costs down, you can pre-make food before the show and heat it with an oven roaster, electric frying pan, or crock pot. We often cook egg sandwiches before the show, wrap them in tin foil, and freeze them. Then on show morning, we pop them in the oven roaster for a quick, affordable, and easy breakfast you can eat on the go.
Lunch is often not a break if you have classes afterward. That’s why we like to throw on easy foods like hot dogs and pre-cooked hamburgers that just need to be warmed up in an electric frying pan. We also like to pre-make foods like mac and cheese, baked ziti, chicken mess, or beef and freeze it. Then we cook it in the oven roaster to be ready by lunchtime. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it saves us a lot of money.
2 Have Your Clothes Ready
Make sure you try your clothes on before show day and know exactly where they are for when it is time to put them on. The last thing you want is to not fit into your white pants or not be able to find them moments before it is time to go in the ring.
Countless times I have seen people searching for a belt beforehand or asking around for an extra pair of white pants because something happened to theirs. So, a good rule of thumb is to have two pairs of show clothes (pants and shirts) that are in an easy-to-find place for when it comes time to put them on.
We also want to note that you shouldn’t put your show clothes on too early before the show. Avoid the unneeded stress of having to worry about keeping your clothes clean for any extra amount of time. Between catching poop, painting hooves, and using black magic, the less time you have to wear white the better.
3 Organize Your Show Box
Make sure you have everything you need to get your cow into the ring. You should take inventory of your show box weeks before the show so that you can stock up on all your essentials in case anything needs to be ordered online. You don’t want to be rushing moments before show time to find something you need.
If you are using this article to remind yourself what you might be forgetting, here’s a quick recap of stuff that often gets forgotten or not enough is brought.
- Baby wipes
- Fly spray
- Hoof polish
- Paper towels
- Super glue
Of course, you will also need all your sprays, clippers, and your feed. If you think you have brought enough fill and hay, throw a little more on if you can. You always go through more fill than you think you will, and it is better to have it on hand and not need it than to need it and not have it.
4 Have a Prep Table
By far the easiest way to keep all your stuff organized on show day is not in a show box. It is on a table where you can easily see everything, nothing gets lost under other things, and it’s quick and easy to access. The Udder Chaos show team uses a sparkly purple table as our show day table.
We set out all the sprays, wipes, and brushes on the table. Usually, I organize it by the steps in the getting ready process with brushes on one side and final mist on the other. However, as the day continues the table starts to get jumbled, but you can still easily see and find everything.
A table works a lot better than a hay bale or a show box that things are not easily found in. Save yourself the stress of struggling to find your touch-up spray by just having it out in the open on your special show day table.
5 Get Your Numbers Ready
It’s your class but the ring assistant says you’re wearing the wrong number or worse, you can’t find it. You don’t want to have to go back to your pack every time to switch out numbers and risk losing them.
Have all your numbers for the cows you will be showing in order in your show harness. That way, as you leave the ring you can slip the one showing out and the next one will be ready for you to go back in the ring.
Of course, this works best if all the showmen and showwomen on the team have their own harnesses. If you have to share harnesses, this can get tricky but still doable. Know who you are sharing with and put the numbers in class order. The right number will be ready each time one of you goes into the ring.
6 Lute Cows Before Show Day
It is no fun if a young kid’s heifer comes into heat on show day and becomes so wild they can’t show them after spending so many hours working to get them showmanship ready. It is also not fun if a large cow comes into heat and drags you around the ring, making herself not look as good as she could.
I’ve seen grown men get dragged around the ring by cows in heat. Save yourself the struggle and lute them to come in heat before the show. Of course, if your cow is bred you don’t want to do this, but you also don’t have the risk of them coming into heat either. If you know your cows are likely to come in heat near show day, use your best judgment and lute them ahead of time.
7 Pack Extra Show Halters
We get it, show halters can be expensive and feel like an unnecessary investment if you already have a couple. However, if you want to make your life insanely easier, especially if you have a string of more than 5, invest in a show halter for each cow. Trust me, it is worth it.
At the beginning of the show day, go right down the line and put a show halter on every cow. That way, as cows come in and out of the ring you don’t have to worry about switching show halters or having enough for group classes/championships. We bring an average of 20 cows to our county fairs. Having a halter on all the ones that show for the day saves time and confusion as we take on the day.
I recommended buying a few of each size and in different colors if you show a variety of breeds. Sometimes the brown halters look better than the black and vice versa. You can use leather oil to keep your show halters looking good for years to come. We did not just acquire about 20 halters in one year. We have some from many years ago that still work great because we take care of them.
8 Know Your Role
Working together as a team makes the magic happen. Know your role on show day and make sure you do it. You need to know who’s responsible for trucking cows between classes, who is filling the cows, who’s catching poop, and who’s cooking lunch!
By working together as a team, you can keep stress levels down. If you have more than just a few cows, you are going to need to rely on your team for help. Establish who is in charge of what before show day and communicate calmly with one another throughout the day.
If you do not communicate, you instantly raise stress levels. Do not jump to conclusions and don’t slack on your part. Work together and talk to one another to keep things going smoothly. Sometimes this is easier said than done but it can definitely make the day go by more smoothly.
9 Pay Attention to the Classes
Make sure everyone on your team is paying attention to what class the judge is on and how fast the classes are going. You also should look at the book beforehand to know how many are in the classes before yours to get an estimate of how fast they will go.
Countless times I have seen people lose track of the classes and have to rush to the ring. Don’t do this to yourself. It’s better to be early than late so you don’t work your cow up and you have ample time to make your cow look its absolute best.
If your show has a live stream, have someone paying attention to it. If it has speakers, make sure everyone is listening to the announcements. If on the off chance, your show has neither, do your best to pay attention to the cows walking past your pack to go to the ring to get a gauge of what class they are on.
Finally, I want to note that if a show lacks a live stream and speakers, please have patience with others. Not everyone can have someone watching in the ring and taking care of everything at the pack. Help each other out and be kind to the kid who is late to the ring but trying their best.
10 Celebrate Losses & Wins
You need to remember that cow shows are supposed to be fun. Don’t get mad at anyone (adults or kids) for losing their class because someone has to get last. It is all a part of the experience. Every loss is an opportunity to learn and grow whether it be in showmanship or a regular class.
Sometimes we get too caught up in the pursuit of purple ribbons that we forget to celebrate the little victories. Being top of your class is an achievement, even if it isn’t first place. Celebrate being at the show and congratulate others on their wins. The world could use a little more good sportsmanship, especially the cow world.
Stress levels instantly go up when you’re worried about the consequences of losing. Don’t do that to your show team. Be their support and offer constructive criticism while still congratulating them. Don’t be the reason they don’t want to go back in the ring.
Bonus Cow Show Tips
Halter break your animals. “On the trailer. Off the trailer. To the wash rack and back,” is not halter broken even if we sometimes use that motto in our show team. If not all of the adults can comfortably lead an animal to the wash rack, you are going to have some stressful situations and unneeded hassle. This is easier said than done sometimes, but it’s a good tip.
Also, wash your cow’s toplines out after the show. It will save you time in the morning the next day and it is usually less crowded right after the show in the wash rack. Round up your show crew and bring every cow that showed right out to the rack for a quick topline rinse out.
Finally, stay hydrated. You don’t know how long you are going to be in the ring, and it can get quite warm in there. Don’t let yourself pass out or get weak from dehydration. Make sure you drink lots of water throughout the show day to prevent headaches and keep you going strong.
Remember What It’s All About
Showing cows isn’t just about winning purple ribbons and getting premiums. It teaches us how to be responsible, communicate, and lets us know that we are never too old to learn something new. The cow show world is constantly evolving with new clipping techniques and show techniques that everyone can learn from.
Going to cow shows lets us spend valuable time with our friends and family and allows us to watch the younger generation fall in love with cows like we did. Stress takes away from these incredible moments, so do your best to mitigate it by following the recommendations above.
Lila Nolan is a dairy farmer in White Creek, NY who works at Morning Ag Clips. She avidly attends dairy shows and draws from those experiences to write about the Udder Chaos that occurs.
