For years the comments have been made that show cows look very different in the ring than they do most other days of the year. I have heard breeders make comments about some great show cows that look All-World in the show ring and not even All-County in the barn. One of the biggest changes I have noticed in the past 10 years is how much this situation has changed.
More and more we are seeing cattle with consistent show pedigrees or type winning the shows. Does that mean that there are not as many “freaks” out there? Or, does it mean that show ethics and better management practices have led to the top genetic animals rising to the top? I think the latter is true.
Here are two great examples from my recent visit to Quality Holsteins
QUALITY GOLDWYN FLANSCO
This past week Flansco was scored EX-95 and I wanted to check her out. Flansco is the first third generation EX-95-CDN cow. Her dam was QUALITY GIBSON FINSCO who was HM. ALL-ONTARIO 5-YR 2008 & 2ND 5-YR ON DISCOVERY 2008 and her 2nd dam was none other than QUALITY B C FRANTISCO EX-96-3E-CAN 18* and 2 time Royal Grand Champion as well as the 2005 Holstein Canada Cow of the Year. So there is no question that Flansco has a female line as well as strong type sire stack (Goldwyn x Gibson x Charles) behind her
Therefore it is certainly not surprising that I was able to get this great udder shot. After all, Flansco won grand at the recent Autumn Opportunity show (Read more – Autumn Opportunity Holsteins Show Results)
She looked this good when I visited just before milking time
VALLEYVILLE RAE LYNN
It’s also not surprising that, when I took a quick peek at Rae Lynn, the recent 2nd Sr. 2yr Old from the Royal (Read more – The 2012 Royal Winter Fair Holstein Show – One of the greatest stories ever told!), I got this shot
She looked just as good on an average day on the farm
It’s obvious Rae Lynn has the complete package. Her dam is an EX 2E Champion sister to the 2011 Royal Winter Fair and Madison Supreme Champion EASTSIDE LEWISDALE GOLD MISSY, from the great STADACONA OUTSIDE ABEL VG-88-4YR-CAN 29*. Rae Lynn is also in the top 10 in Canada for her EBV for Conformation. However, as we all know it takes more than just great genetics to win at the big shows. More is exactly what these two cows have. The care they receive from the team at Quality Holsteins (Read more – Quality Holsteins – Well-Deserved Congratulations) and key team member Don Schwartz (Read more – Don Schwartz: “Love what you do and do the best you can!”) is second to none. It’s for that reason these cows that have the great genetics are all able to fulfill their potential. It is also the reason why these cows look so amazing day in and day out.
The Bullvine Bottom Line
Gone are the days when you could take a complete meat bag cow to a show and expect her to do well. Between the progress in show ethics and in how we evaluate cows, the cream really is rising to the top. For me there is nothing better than going to the herds where these top cows reside and seeing that they look just as good in the barn as they did in the show ring…..well with a little more sh*t on them.
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