Livestock judging

Ok, here are the results for my Steer's name:

Aiden - 6 votes
Stan - 0 votes
Stu (most liked Stew) - 5 votes
Stevie - 1 vote

So I now have a steer named Aiden!  I'll try to remember my camera today and get some pictures of him and I and maybe some of our fast growing chicks.  They've changed quite a bit in the last week and a half!  :)

We've been working furiously on livestock judging.  I'm practicing next Sunday and Thursday on local farms and going to competition on Saturday where we will be judging 12 classes and giving 6 sets of reasons.  This is like college level, so it will be tough.  Then the following Monday or Tuesday we leave for a workshop in Ohio all day.  From there we head to the Nationals in Indianapolis.  I'll be home that Friday evening.  Hopefully I'll be taking my laptop with me and I'll keep everyone update. :)

I'm posting a set of reasons just so you all have an ideas as to what I'm doing.   I am supposed to come up with these reasons after judging 6 classes of livestock, using just the notes taken on the class and memorize them.  Then I have to say them in front of a judge (he's judging my reasons).  It's quite a challenge!

Here is a set of reasons on a class of market lambs that we judged at the county fair we went to last week.

I placed the class of market lambs 2-4-3-1

In my opening pair 2 wins the class being the heaviest muscled through the hindsaddle.  She is stronger  and longer over the loin and will hang a carcass with more product from the last rib back.  Yes 4 had a thinner hide and longer hindsaddle however this fails to compensate for the narrower, softer handling lamb and therefore I placed him second.

Moving to my intermediate pair of weathers 4 places over 1 exhibiting more desirable degree of finish than the third place lamb.  He shows more natural thickness over his top and will have a more desirable yield grade.  I concede that 1 shows a more stylish figure with a longer loin, however I must criticize him for handling with less dimension.

Apparent levelness placed the dark hided lamb over 1 in our bottom pair.  Furthermore, 3 was longer over the hindsaddle and was deeper ribbed than 1.  I admit that 1 was more correctly finished, however this fails to compensate for the small framed, lightest muscled lamb that will hang the fewest pounds of red meat which placed 4^th. 

Thank You

 So yep, that's what we've been working on.  I don't know if I ever mentioned my team members.  There is Jake, Logan, Tyler and I on our FFA livestock judging team.  Jake and Logan have had previous experience and Tyler and I have had none except for the 5 weeks before we won state.  Ahhhhh, and we still have so far to go!  

 Anyway, sorry for rambling on for so long.  Hope you now have a better understand of what we are doing at Nationals though!  

Have a great day and God bless!
~Bethany~