CHAPTER XXVI. 



PREPARING FOR THE SHOW RING. 



''The condition of stock shown at fairs always has a marked influence on 

 judges and no exhibitor can afford to neglect showing his stock in the most 

 favorable light," says the Agricultural Gazette. 



"Grooming is as necessary with show cattle as with horses ; that is, if the 

 cattle are to be shown in perfection. In the case of cattle, grooming need not 

 be commenced until within three months of the date of the show. The cattle, 

 it is presumed, have for some time previous been well fed and kept in clean 

 lairs. In this condition to begin with, three months' grooming should put them 

 in form. 



"Cattle, it is true, come into the show yard with all kinds of coats, some 

 with long hair, others short, and, worse than all, some with the hair partly off. 

 But half the game in showing cattle is in having them good in their coats, and 

 stock owners who fail to handle their animals so as to make them look their 

 very best, need not expect to win against those who do. When the show hap- 

 pens to be about mid-summer, the spring shedding of the coat will save the 

 trouble of having to take it off by other means, but when the exhibitions take 

 place late or early in the year, then we adopt measures to cause the hair to 

 shed and the new hair to be again well up, and shining like the new spring 

 coat, even in mid-winter. 



"Provide a good warm rug, the same as are used for horse clothing, and 

 about three months previous to the show put one on each of the animals to be 

 prepared. The rugs do not require to be on all the time, but as much as pos- 

 sible, and may be taken off during the night, or when the cattle go to pasture, 

 or are turned out into the yards for exercise, when they are apt to get torn. 

 If the blankets are kept on about twelve or fourteen hours daily they will soon 

 do their work in taking the old hair off. A good washing with carbolic soap 

 and tepid water should be given at the commencement of the sheeting. This 

 will help to lessen the dandruff in the hide. Once a month will be often enough 

 to wash if the bedding be well looked after. There is a great difference in -the 

 skins of cattle for being easily cleaned. Some are rough and so full of dandruff 

 that it needs special means to get them into good condition. An extra wash- 

 ing, however, and a heavier blanket will help to smooth them down, and with a 

 little oil rubbed in will soon raise all the scurf clean off the skin. Until the scurf 

 be thoroughly got rid of, the coat will never shine. It takes rubbing and brush- 

 ing, brushing and rubbing, day after day, and a great amount of elbow grease 

 to put on the shine. Cattle have far finer coats and take a 'brighter polish 

 than horses ; yet we generally see horses brighter-coated than cattle. The rea- 

 son is, the cattle do not get the same amount of rubbing. 



" A dandy brush, a soft brush and a chamois skin are the tools required for 

 putting on the polish. The skin becomes soft under this treatment, and a curry 

 comb should never be used but for the purpose of combing down the hips when 

 necessary, as the comb, unless very lightly applied, is certain to scratch and 

 irritate the skin. In rubbing down with the cloth, it must be done quickly. 

 The friction raises a certain amount of heat on the surface of the thing pol- 

 ished, and this heat is the main agent in putting on the shine. It takes an 

 enormous amount of rubbing to make the skin of cattle shine, but nothing else 

 will do it. 



"For putting on the final touch, no brush or cloth can equal the bare hand. 

 The heat of the hand is more effective than that produced by friction with a 

 brush or cloth, and as a man can rub considerably quicker without either of 

 these appliances, the bare palms make the best polishing paste that can be used. 

 Hand rubbing will also take off the old hair quicker than either comb or brush. 

 It is not easy to say when grooming is perfect, but when the skin will no 

 longer soil a white kid glove with either dust or hair there is not much to com- 

 plain of. This condition is not, however, reached without many days of careful 

 sheeting and rubbing. Some fancy they can, with one washing and a few 



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