MISSOURI State Fair Dexter Show

[gladhourfarm]

If you have any inclination, come to the (first ever, pretty sure) MISSOURI State Fair Dexter Show this year--bring a Dexter or two if possible! This is a show to allow folks with different breeding goals and registering in any of the 3 registries a place to acquaint fairgoers with DEXTERS! No requirement to clip, or feed for show. People who focus on grass-only beef, historic bloodlines, milking, or oxen will all have one or more classes to walk through the ring as well as the usual conformation classes which feature "dressed up in Sunday clothes" Dexter entries. The hope is that entrants will have fun hobnobbing with other Dexter lovers and have a chance to acquaint a lot of non-Dexter people with the wonderful qualities of our breed. There will (if all works) be some barn classes of possible interest too. I hope this venue attracts a lot of Dexter breeders who haven't felt represented before in the public displays as well as those who have gotten comfortable with showing. Pretty much everyone in the Dexter world has something worthwhile to share and I hope this opens up the chance more. Aug 16-Aug 18... come if you can!

www.mostatefair.com/competitions/competition-updates

www.mostatefair.com/competitions/how-to-enter-premium-guide-older



www.mostatefair.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/premium-guide/livestock-open/dexter.pdf

www.mostatefair.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/premium-guide/schedules/beefschedule.pdf

[gladhourfarm]

Here is a link to read more on PDCA site: www.purebreddextercattle.com/missouri-state-fair-dexter-show/

[gladhourfarm]

Guess you missed the first entry deadline if you didn't get in by midnight, though you can still enter animals in the State Fair show for another week. Someone suggested it should be called a Dexter Extravaganza or a Dexter Exhibition, instead of a Dexter Show. I see the merit in this idea, because this is an opportunity for Dexters to be displayed to the fairgoing public first/foremost. Secondarily it is a chance for Dexters to be judged, yes on conformation but also taking purpose into account. The question is whether a group can trust a judge to factor so many things into his/her evaluation. While participants can disagree with judges' choices, their "reasons" are key for giving clues at how they weight aspects they consider. A grass-only steer may finish differently (and slower) than a "fed steer," but a good judge can still see how the animal is doing for its purpose. Some small differences in preference for hand vs machine milking appear, but a good judge can comment on those things and still evaluate suspension and production and udder safety in structure. A Dexter used for draft should show, even at the trainee level, a tractable nature and decent conformation that will hold up under work conditions, and a judge who has trained would tend to judge a draft animal more expertly than one who hasn't. So IF we get a judge who is knowledgeable about Dexters (including the points you made, Carol, about chondro carriers and non), I hope we will have a very educational experience at our MSF Dexter show just in hearing his reasons. As a person who does not have a "show circuit" though I've appeared at a few shows, I have no particular interest in being in a show where a judge's style preferences and bias toward conventional show conditioning are obvious, but am always interested to LEARN from a judge who looks at and explains structural points and who is aware of Dexters' multipurpose nature and great potential value to small farms in MANY uses. I do hope we get a knowledgeable judge. We don't know who yet. The Iowa State Fair judge this year is reputed to know his stuff, I heard.