In this last blog of the cattle selection series, I wanted to look at the two biggest components of market cattle. Having these two things are critical to win at your next show. So understanding them will help you to pick a calf that fits the judges and is popular whenever you are showing. Lets look at them more closely.

Width of body 

After considering the length of the loin and hip as we have done in previous blogs, it is important to look at the width. The width of body is evaluated from over the top of the calf. You want your calf to be both wide and flat down the back from one side of the body to the other. You want some spring of rib for good respiratory capacity. To tell if your steer is wide and round enough in the rib cage see if the steer is close to the same width behind the shoulders as he is at the hips. The narrower the calf is behind the shoulders the flatter ribbed he is.  

You can also evaluate this from the profile, but it is easier for beginners to understand by looking over the top of the calf. From the profile, focus on the area between the shoulder and the loin which is the rib area. If the shoulder bulges out noticeably more than the ribs, your calf may be flat ribbed. If it is smooth and round between the shoulder and flank, your calf is round ribbed which is good. Flat ribbed cattle are not always a bad choice to buy if they are still wide in every other aspect. If you feed your calf a lot of hay and roughage, you can fill the ribs out somewhat to fit in over time.  

You also want the calf to carry that width all the way back especially over the loin. When you stand behind your calf, you want his pin bones to be wide and far apart to give more room for muscle and power. You can tell a lot by looking at how flat the animal is over its top. If the spine sticks up a lot down the center of the back, the steer is going to be too narrow.  If the steer is flat from the center going out to the sides and all the way down from head to tail, that is good. Notice the difference in the first calf below on the left compared to the one in the center. Granted the center calf has probably had more time on feed he is noticeable smoother than the one on the left. The steer on the far left is flat ribbed and you can clearly see where he is sunken in behind the shoulder and again at the flank. We want the finished product to look smooth and wide as in the steer on the far right.  

Rear Leg Muscle 

Muscle is probably the most important characteristic of market steers. Usually the more muscle you can get on your calf the better, but don’t give up structure for power. Your steer needs to have meat, but he also needs to be able to move freely. 

The first thing that you should look for is power from the profile. You want the rear leg of your steer, from the tail head down, to bulge outwards. If your steer’s leg muscle is long and thin you should not purchase him. Look for muscle definition with a nice round, full look. When you look at your steer from behind look for muscle bulging to the outside of the leg but concentrate some attention also on the inside leg.  

If you are having a lot of trouble determining your steer’s muscle potential, look at your steer’s forearm for bulge. The more bulge you see on the forearm the more muscle your steer may develop. Notice the difference in muscle in the photos below. The steer on the left is significantly more powerful, and more muscular than the steer on the right.  

Muscle and width are two of the easiest characteristics to recognize in cattle. If you can compare them to others, you can begin to really see it. This is really important to recognize, but it is by no means the only thing to be looking for. To learn more about the more subtle characteristics to be looking for, check out the other blogs in this series.

Once you have your animals, you can take him to the next level, training and mastering showmanship. If you want some help mastering cattle showmanship and impressing the judges, you might want to check out my book Show Your Way To The Top at mastershowmanship.com/shop