At work it has become the joke to ask me what I have done lately and see how the story somehow relates back to cattle. According to the guys I have this ability to relate every story I tell back to something about cattle. When I was joking about how they think this is odd the other day I was told that besides the ‘cow thing’ I was perfectly normal. After only two weeks back at my summer job I am often greeted with “and what did you do with cows last night Stacey” as soon as I am in the door. What they don’t understand is that raising show cattle is a constant job, taking a break is not an option. I have explained to them about how a cattle show is basically like one of those fancy dog shows you see on TV but on a much larger scale. Preparing cattle to go to shows requires a lot of work that must be done every day.
Besides just daily feeding of specialized diets the select animals around our place that are shown are also given other special treatment, all of them must be halter broke. We start this when they are young just because they are easier to handle and seem to learn faster. To train cattle to lead takes a lot of time and dedication. We start ours off by working with them every day for a week solid, we tie them all up then pet them and play a radio to get them used to people. These animals are also brushed and washed frequently to ensure that they have a nice coat of hair to work with come show day. A few weeks before the show they are also clipped, or given a haircut, so as to look their best. 
Being that summer show season is fast approaching I have been quite busy with all this and spend a lot more of my time out in the coral than in my house. This is probably why most of my stories lately seem to start with something along the lines of: ‘when I was leading my heifer the other day...’
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