Combing cows: What it takes to show a heifer at Agribition

Some buildings at Evraz Place smell like barns and sound like busy barber shops this week.

With Agribition well underway, youth in 4H are among the competitors preparing their cattle to look their best ahead of their shows.

“You have a blow dryer, which is pretty much a high-powered hair dryer. You use it on them to get the straw and hay out of their coats. You spray them with different kinds of conditioners and sprays and you’ve got to comb their hair to train it to go the right way,” said Emily Sebastian.

The 15-year old from Montmartre is preparing four Maine-Anjou influenced cattle for the main show and the youth show later in the week.

Her favourite of the four was born in 2018 and is named Simply Sweet. Sebastian formed a bond with the heifer, which has its own personality.

“Her dad’s name is Simplify and we liked the name so it kind of goes together,” said Sebastian. “She’s very lazy. She doesn’t like to walk. She just likes to lay down and rest in the stall.”

What makes for the best-presented cow? Sebastian said judges are looking for the depth of their bellies and bodies, how long they are and correct leg structure.

It’s not just good looks that matter. Judges are also looking at how straight the cow walks.

“We want the back feet to line up with the front feet when they walk. If you were to walk them in sand, you would want there to be, where the front foot was, you want the back foot to land right in that print,” said Sebastian.

Since joining 4H when she was six, Sebastian said she has learned a lot about work ethic, leadership and being a positive role model.

Raising cattle to eventually show them at Agribition starts shortly after the cattle are born. When they are just two weeks old, Sebastian has to halter break them.

She said she spends about 1 1/2 hours in the barn with the cattle every night and wants to be around cattle for the long run.

Sebastian’s goal is to keep building up her herd to one day have a farm of her own.