There’s no life comparable to that of a stock show kid. Morning to night, our schedules are jam-packed with caring, grooming and training our livestock in preparation for shows. Let’s face it, some of our urban-dwelling friends just do not understand why we do what we do. While our routines seems perfectly normal to us, it’s often hard to explain to others. Here are 15 Daily Habits That Only Stock Show Kids Can Relate To:
1) You set your alarm for your livestock, not for yourself. You have to wake up to get to your day job. But heck, if that’s the only place you would have to go, chances are you would be sleeping in for an extra hour or two more. Instead, your cattle in the barn call dibs on your first alarm at 5:00 am.
(But, working livestock while seeing the sun rise is the best way to kick off each day).
2) Your cattle get a shower before you do each morning. “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy.” Eh, not quite, but close. Instead, we got our boots on, we’re out the door it’s time for morning feeding. We may not be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when waking up at the break of dawn. But that changes quickly when rinsing cattle. A sudden swish of their tail is all it takes to get showered in a cold, early-morning, uninvited ice bath. We don’t mind though, because as soon as we finish pampering them, we can head inside for our own shower.
3) Barn hair, don’t care. Girls can relate. Grooming your livestock’s hair takes priority over your own. Raise your hand if you rock the high ponytail to the side, center part or messy bun…anyone?!
4) Hair drying technique. When blow-drying your own hair, it’s all in the flick of the wrist; just like when you blow out the show calves. No matter how much you try to concentrate on blow-drying your hair like the average person, you always revert back to flicking your wrist in a vertical fashion without even realizing it. It is also a daily disappointment that human hair dryers lack an enormous amount of power compared to our cattle blowers. Just think how much time we would all save if we hauled in the blower and hoses into the house.
….Or, maybe there’s a reason we don’t.
5) You tease your hair. Fitting tails is just too much fun. Why not enjoy it in the comfort of your own home, and hair, each and every day!?
6) Along with that, hairspray is essential when packing your bag for a show. We all have our preferences when it comes to brands of hairspray and what gets the job done best. Guys – maybe you forgot your hair gel. With the strength and hold that hair requires in the summer heat, humidity and show day stress, we might as well utilize the Prime Time and Tail Adhesive in the show box for optimum hold.
7) There’s no such thing as a set breakfast time. When you wake up at the crack of dawn, your mid-morning snack is replaced by lunch.
8) There’s also no such thing as a set dinner time.
9) Sperry’s are not ‘boat’ shoes. No, no, they are *all-purpose shoes. Suitable for everyday wear, hanging out at livestock shows, a night out to the barn or on the town and for all seasons (well, except for Minnesota winters). Perhaps the “boat,” in boat shoes, represents the durability they show when challenged by water, dirt, gravel and manure more often than not. Your Sperry’s get a lot of wear throughout the year and it shows. I don’t know about you, but the washrack is the closest that I ever get to a lake.
10) Checking account, savings account, farm account – they all equate to livestock savings. Each time you get a check for your Birthday or Christmas, it goes into your savings account – most likely for your next show heifer.
11) When you finally have time to shower, the more suds the better. We may not utilize a soap foamer in the shower, but there’s just something exciting about massaging your own hair and creating the most soapy, foamy scrub possible. Bubbles and suds make everything more exciting.
12) If there was a Sullivan’s Supply Kleen Sheen, Revive or Zoom Bloom perfume for women or cologne for men, we would all seriously consider it for daily use. #sofresh
13) We take the simple barn essentials for granted at times. In the summer, fly spray is one of those things. Flies biting? Everyone STAND BACK!
14) You are a master of emotionless faces, without even realizing it. Going through the same routine caring for your livestock day in and day out usually results in an emotionless face. But that’s okay, because when it comes time to show in the ring, it’s likely that you will have perfected your competitive “game face.” Often, this is not a smile, but rather an intense look that shows how serious and passionate you are to be in the ring showing off all of your hard work. Smiling? Nah, it’s all fun and games until you head to the ring. Showing is serious business.
15) When you can agreeably relate to many of these habits, all you can do is laugh at yourself and appreciate the stock show life you live.
Shared from Ranch House Designs, Written by Rebecca Church