Reprinted
with permission from www.showpig.com.
Kim Brock is a nationally renowned swine judge who has been
working with youth in swine show rings for over 15 years. Kim’s
experience in swine judging has been all over the country, reviewing
hogs at national breeding stock and major market hog shows nationwide.
While enjoying judging numerous times per year, Kim’s primary
occupation is to manage and oversee the nutrition research and
"teaching" swine herd at Oklahoma State University. Over his
20 years with Oklahoma State, he has helped to develop their swine
management program to a place of national prominence. His students
repeatedly place high at national livestock judging contests, and he has
developed OSU’s swine herd into one of the top purebred herds in the
U.S.
First and foremost, let me say just how much I enjoy working with the
youth swine showman across the country. It is my firm belief that
enormous values and responsibility can be learned from swine projects.
Because of the lessons that a junior swine showman learns throughout
their project, it is my hope that the leadership involved with junior
swine shows can continue to increase the emphasis placed on showmanship.
Always having a separate day for showmanship is a great starting point
that all national and regional shows should strive to attain.
Now, let’s start on our key points for Advanced Swine Showmanship.
My goal with this article is to move into a few more of the intricacies
of showing hogs at major junior shows. The senior classes at major state
fairs or the National Junior Spectacular are some of the toughest and
most exciting showmanship competitions that you could ever want to see.
Let’s discuss what separates the kids that make it into the top
placings at this high level of competition.
Let’s assume that you understand and are competent in the basics of
swine showing. Clean, well-groomed hogs that don’t run in the ring are
basics from which we start. So, where do we go from this basic level?
How do we impress the judge?
Above all else, success in Senior Showmanship classes starts and ends
with one phrase:
Complete Confident Control!
Successful seniors enter the show ring at a slow easy pace with a
plan in mind. They DO NOT just follow their hog around the ring, but
rather are continually driving their hog to the
"openings" in the ring. They seem to always have their pig
away from the group of pigs, off the fence, and
out of the corners. While this may sound simple, it is much more
difficult than it sounds. The showman must know
and understand their hog well enough to anticipate their every move.
They DO NOT fight their hog to get him off the rail after he’s already
running it. Rather, the truly successful showman anticipates when his
hog will head for the fence and is able to head
him off, get him turned, and back to the middle of the ring. It is this
level of control that you must attain for success at major showmanship
contests.
Senior showmen must have a confident look and a very skillful
approach in the show ring. They must use their whip/cane as an aid, but
not overuse the whip on the pig. There is no problem
whatsoever, in my show ring, for a showman to use their hand in the face
of their pig to help to turn them. A showman that uses his or her hand
to turn their pig shows a high level of experience with hogs and a true
understanding of how to handle and show swine.
At all times in the ring, a successful showman understands that they
are participating in a competition and, as a result, they must have
complete concentration on the judge. Whether you’re waiting for all
the pigs to enter the ring or waiting in the pens, your complete focus
needs to be on your pig and the judge. Many times, young people try to
be noticed with unnecessary movement of their cane/whip or a
distracting, unnatural walk. The idea is for your pig to be noticed, not
you. YOU are not the focus. Showing your pig to its best advantage is
the single goal in a showmanship class.
Finally, the final placings in advanced showmanship classes can be
determined by your responses to the judge’s questions. Often, in
senior showmanship, there are a whole handful of kids that have done a
good job of driving their hogs. At this point, a judge is waiting to be
impressed by one of the showmen, and how you answer your questions can
be the way that you really impress your judge. For me personally, my
expectations for advanced showmen are considerably higher than those for
younger showmen. So, be sure that you have thought in advance about your
answers to some common questions about the swine industry. Here are some
questions that I have used in Senior Showmanship Classes, and you would
not believe how many times these questions have made the difference in
my placings!
Are pigs monogastrics or ruminants?
What does NSR stand for?
What does LEA mean and what size LEA does your pig have?
What is the most important view of a market hog?
What is an EPD?
How does the future look for the seedstock producer?
Picture in your mind the average market hog today. How
could the average market hog today be made better?
Explain pork quality.
What might you tell another young person considering having a
4-H or FFA livestock project?
Why is it important that a pig be sound on its feet and legs?
These comments are just a few of my ideas for the advanced showman,
but if you can follow these guidelines, you will surely have an improved
chance in your next competition. There is just one last thing to keep in
mind…HAVE FUN! Showing livestock is a serious competition, but when it’s
all said and done, showing livestock is meant to be a fun, learning
experience. Prepare at home, prepare at the show, and, then, give it
your best shot! You’ll be surprised just how far this approach can
take you.
