Note: This is a post from my original blog posted in January 2012.
Livestock judging is exactly as the name describes.
In layman terms, judging livestock involves evaluating livestock to sort the bad from the good, and placing emphasis on traits that have more value to the breed, breeder or industry.
If you have ever walked into a judging contest, it may appear fairly strange to an untrained eye. As there is likely to a handful or several hundred people dressed in suites circling pens of the livestock stenos in hand. For those of us that fell victim to the addiction, it was nothing but normal.
I judged in high school and in junior college. I can’t say I was ever a rock star, but I had a lot of fun judging. Some of the best memories come from judging trips in high school and college. I can honestly say without my time on the team at Linn Benton Community College I would not have accomplished all that I have to this point. The skills that a person gains from this extracurricular are endless.
This post comes on the heels of walking through the American Royal contest with one of my past teammates and best friends. I got a fresh dose of livestock, friends and some old memories.
Now, here is one of my favorite videos describing an outside perspective of this event. And these guys crack me up, as there descriptions are hilarious, and abstractly accurate. “It’s like 300 mindless zombies with clipboard” and “they are pig piñatas” are two of my favorites one-liners.
But it depicts youth and collegiate livestock judging to a tee.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/VdG6L77osNI]
