We talked with another livestock judge, Ryan Goehring, to get his insight and thought process while in the ring. More often than not there are judges who hand out a second-place ribbon even though there would be one exhibitor in that class. Goehring does the opposite, “because I have no contemporaries to go against and you don’t know where they would land necessarily and then we see where they are at once they get in for the overall tribe.” One main reason why he doesn’t do it is that he wants to have a decent amount of cattle in the ring to represents each class and if you give a red to an exhibitor who is the only one in the class, it wouldn’t be very rewarding to the kid.
Goehring spoke about kids getting upset in the ring, we’ve all seen it happen before. Maybe an exhibitor doesn’t get the placing they wanted, or the animal isn’t acting as expected, that makes emotions run high. “I address kids that I see the frustrations in and I tell them they were doing a good job and if they did something I didn’t like, I explain why they were in that, and next time you are in the ring, improve on that and get better,” Goehring said.
In the show ring, not only do the kids get frustrated but so do the animals at times. Especially for animals that aren’t used to being in the show ring on hot and humid days. “I give them the benefit of the doubt. You can take the best-trained steer out there into the ring and one that you worked with all summer and they can act up,” he explained. For example, he brought up how this has happened in the past and at times he’ll give the exhibitor a chance to bring the animal back in the ring to try again.
In order to have a better chance of the steers being calm in the show ring, Goehring said he starts practicing with his kids and steers about a year before the fair. “As soon as we bring them home we start working on them daily through the fall. Once we get into the winter months, we generally wash once a week to keep the cattle clean, to fight the bugs, and keep them familiar with you. Once we get into the spring, we are consistently working with the cattle about every other day,” he said. “From May on, we work on the cattle every day and have them in cooler temperatures to grow their hair.” He adds that he’s a big fan of people who work on their cattle to get them properly exhibited for the ring.
As far as showmanship goes Goehring said, “You can tell who put the work in at home, for me when they are able to get them set properly is what I am looking for and the mechanics.” He said that he really wants the kids to handle the halter correctly and show that they’re working well with the animal.
Goehring mentioned that when you’re in the ring, act like you want to be out there. “Have a happy smile…you want to have a smile on your face no matter what the outcome is,” he also added, “Be respectful, show some leadership skills when you’re out there, and help others out.” He then spoke to the younger generation and said that they should really ask the older kids for some help and if they have questions, ask them. There are a lot of experienced showmen that would be more than willing to help out the younger group.
He explained that positivity is key. “If we don’t go out there and have fun, then why are we doing it? I just try to preach positivity. Be happy. You have to be happy in anything we do in life, right? That’s what it comes down to.”
You can hear the full interview on our podcast page.
Comments