The most interesting thing for me to watch was everyone getting ready for the steer show. You can feel the difference in atmosphere the minute you enter the fairgrounds on steer show day. It's intense, and for good reason. Some of these animals sell for the equivalent of a college education.
The steers have been raised, fed, and pampered for about a year and all that hard work comes down to this one day and the evaluation of one judge. The judge, who has a job I do not envy, checks out each animal in the ring, ranks them, then publicly gives his reasons for each ranking. He tells you, more or less, which steer will taste best at Sunday dinner. And his rankings directly affect the price each steer will command during the auction the next day.
So what everyone tries to do is make their steer look as well-formed as possible because if there are weaknesses, you can deflect attention from them with clever styling. I think of this as steer comb-overs.
The hairdryers, glue, clippers, hairspray, spray paint, and various implements whose names I don't know were in full effect, with Haden at the center of it all. He's so good at steer-styling, people pay him money to work his magic. And I had a front row seat for the Haden and Naughty show, a family production.
Always a perfectionist, Haden was still spraying and clipping as they walked Naughty to the show barn.
Kyle and Naughty took third place in their class that day and Naughty sold for $2.75 per pound the day after. We are very proud!! And I'll be practicing my blowdrying skills just in case Haden needs an extra hand next year... any volunteers?
