Believe it or not, I am actually a better judge of dairy cattle, than horses. Ive won more awards and trips with cattle judging than horse judging! This all came to a head one winter in 1997 when visiting a farm with a top breeder and judge of Holsteins. He asked me what I thought of one of his bull calves in a pen. I (being the outspoken brat that I was) told him it wasn't good enough. The farmer snorted and walked away. My dad ripped a strip off of me when we got back to the car! He w.as a good guy though and he and dad had a good laugh over it the next time we visited
Two months later its 4-H judging time, we go to a different farm and the judge who will be hearing our results is the same breeder that I ticked off a couple of months earlier! So I place the cows, walk up to the Judge and give my reasons and places. He smirks a bit during my results but no big deal.... Two months after that we receive our placings at the local exhibition.
I won.
Out of all the farm kids, who live on farms I won and had the highest score in the county. Turns out that bull calf wasn't good at all, and I placed the cows exactly the same way he did during the competion. And the farmer got a hoot out of it, he now calls me George, even years later, said I needed a real farmers name!
The real reason I'm writing this is that one of the breeders I showed for recently had some significant success. One of his cows Pine Haven SSM Marmie, is the 2011 World Dairy Expo Grand Champion Jersey cow! She won over 360 other Jersey females to win this honor.
For dairy breeds this is the equivalent to winning the grand champion at the AQHA world show.
Eric still donates calves to all of the 4-H groups, and has had several bulls selected for breeding.
