Sheep, goat, cattle, and swine showmanship aren’t about getting good and staying there. Showmanship is about getting good enough to win and still continuing to improve. To win you have to improve every year. This means working hard with your animals and collecting new information. It also takes being humble enough to listen to someone else’s advice. A lot of people are willing to share knowledge, but few will ask. The best showmen desire criticism, because they know the only way to improve is to correct their mistakes.

In each of my books, I have included three basic steps to winning any livestock show. These steps are training, knowledge, and practice. I put them in order of importance, but you won’t win a show at any level without mastering all three. In this article, we are going to look at the knowledge and practice. I talked about Training in my last artical, so be sure and check that one out!

The Importance of Knowledge

Lets look at learning and expanding your knowledge and skill base. This is something you should always strive for. I hope you will never fall into the mindset that you have it all figured out. There will always be something you can learn or improve. If everyone else is putting in an equal amount of time with their animals but not learning more about the show process, then this will be your advantage over them. The best way to learn is to find someone who knows more than you and ask them questions.

The Importance of Practice

So once both you and your lamb (or pig, steer, or goat) know what you are supposed to do, it comes down to something very important called “practice.” I like to call it “habit building” and it’s one of the most valuable things you can do.

There are so many things to think about and to remember in the show ring. If you understand the show process and have a lamb, pig, steer, or goat that works with you, everything else will come easy. When you don’t need to worry about your animal, it frees up your mind so you can focus on other things. Basically, the more you do something, the more likely you are to do it without thinking. If you can train yourself to do all the important things out of habit, you can stop focusing on those things and pay attention to the judge. This will give you the natural confidence every judge is looking for.

Making a commitment to practice every day is what builds those habits and makes you a stronger showman. As an added part of practice, every showman should get out and go to extra shows. A lot of these shows are called Jackpots. You can search online for the shows in your area. Be sure to read the rules and send in your entries on time. Livestock jackpot shows are so beneficial in building your knowledge and at the same time, making your basic skills second nature. They are also the perfect place to find help and ask questions. Taking your sheep, swine, goats and cattle to more shows will help teach them the patience judges want to see. Practice should always be your starting point and going to a few shows will help your training sink in for both you and your animals.

Take your time to master these three points and move forward with these as your foundation.

The lesson above is from my showmanship books each titled Show Your Way To The Top and each book is on a different species. If you would like a copy on any species (sheep, market goat, dairy goat, beef cattle, or swine) or want to learn more, go to mastershowmanship.com/shop