Dalton Nix was a little concerned when his father set a family goal to resume raising steers for the familys younger generation to show.
Nix Farms, near Tolar in Hood County, had stepped back from breeding artificially inseminated show cattle and reverted to a conventional cattle-breeding and -raising outfit.
In returning to show cattle, the familys yearly goal is to have a banner steer at each of the states three big stock shows Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston for each grandkid.
Last year we had one for five of the nine grandkids, Nix said. In 2015, his nephew Brett Reeves, now 14, showed the champion Santa Gertrudis steer at the San Antonio show and the third-place heavy American crossbred at the Fort Worth show. Weve probably sacrificed a lot [to raise show cattle], but were real passionate about it.
In his sixth year to show at the Fort Worth Stock Show, Reeves, an eighth-grader at Tolar Junior High and the son of Tracy and Vicki Nix Reeves, hopes to impress the judges again Friday. His entry is a European crossbred.
On Wednesday afternoon, Brett Reeves was already busy washing and blow-drying his black steer, named Bradshaw (for the NFL Hall-of-Famer Terry). Since Bradshaw had recently been groomed for the Hood County youth show, Reeves said, his hair was already in good shape and only a touch-up was needed from the clippers.
Weve probably sacrificed a lot [to raise show cattle], but were real passionate about it.
Dalton Nix
Another nephew of Dalton Nix, Jay Diehl, 18, showed his Angus steer Cecil on Thursday morning with the Tolar FFA. It was the Tolar High seniors final time to show stock in Fort Worth, after 10 long years of participation.
Its sad, but at the same time, its kind of a relief, said Diehl, the son of Bob and Laurie Nix Diehl.
He plans to enroll at Clarendon Junior College this fall in the livestock-judging program and transfer later to Texas A&M in College Station.
I think it [showing stock] has helped all us cousins to grow closer together, Diehl said. We work together at all the shows and go out and eat together wherever we are.
Davis Nix, Dalton and Amy Nixs 11-year-old son, has been showing steers for three years after showing pigs at county shows.
The fifth-grader said only one other classmate at Tolar Elementary shows steers, but others show goats.
On Thursday afternoon, Davis showed an American crossbred, Bronco, so named because the white-headed steer was high-spirited as a young calf.
Driving, grooming, and more grooming
The logistical process of getting to the arena floor started several days ago, back on the farm. The Nix grandchildren loaded 4 tons worth of 50-pound feed sacks into a feeder.
We have about 400 cows and no hired hands, Dalton Nix said, and we put out feed for the 90 babies while were gone.
On Tuesday, they left Tolar about 1 p.m. to get to Fort Worth and, after waiting in line for unloading, arrived at their stalls about 4:30.
Bob Diehl and son Jay had left before sunlight with supplies including 150 pounds of feed, 20 bags of horse pellets (a type of bedding that is watered down to make it soft), several crates of equipment and stall dividers. That allowed the steers to simply walk off the trailers and into their prepared stalls.
Many contestants arrive at the show complex the night before check-in, get in line and stay overnight. Dalton Nix doesnt do that, opting instead to minimize how long the steers stay in the trailers in an effort to keep them calm.
On Wednesday, the steers were sifted, classified by show officials by weight and breed for competition. Some early grooming was done, especially by exhibitors like Jay Diehl, who showed his Angus steer early Thursday.
Thursday and Friday are the big show days, and by the time all classes are done, 1,380 youth steers will have been judged. Class winners will be judged a second time Friday afternoon, when the grand and reserve champion steers will be chosen, the two animals that will bring the big payoffs at Saturdays Sale of Champions.
For exhibitors and their families, grooming the steers, like feeding and cleaning stalls, is a never-ending process that goes on from before daylight to after dusk.
Dalton Nix said their steers are usually bathed and blow-dried every day of the show, but they wont be doing that so much this year, because the steers are already shedding heavily because of the warm winter and lengthening daylight.
The animals are bedded down outside at night on straw to keep the stall material clean inside while theyre groomed and awaiting showing.
Diehl showed early Thursday, when judging started at 8 a.m.
Davis Nix showed his American cross after lunch, so grooming started before sunrise with washing his steer outside and blow-drying indoors, a process that was done by midmorning.
I mainly wash, and my dad brushes and blows him out, Davis said.
The steer was given some feed and some downtime before more grooming and showing.
The fitting is the finishing process, where the animal is secured in a narrow metal frame to minimize movement while owners, or more often hired fitters, do all the clipping, combing and fine-tuning for the show ring.
This is when theyll bone up the legs, do the hair on the legs to make it more pleasing to look at, and bigger boned, Nix said.
A gluelike hair adhesive is used on the legs to distribute the hair just right and on the tail for a fluffier look.
The hair changes every time theyre washed, Nix said. We might put a little conditioner in the hair to make it more glossy and where it will come alive.
Then, a show halter and show stick for the handler are the last touches before the steers turn before the judges.
Theres a lot more involved in grooming in this show because of the hair, Nix said. Later shows like San Antonio and Houston are slick shows where the animals arrive shaved. Fort Worth is the only big hair show, in part because it is the earliest one.
The fitting is the finishing process, where the animal is secured in a narrow metal frame to minimize movement while owners, or more often hired fitters, do all the clipping, combing and fine-tuning for the show ring.
We enjoy this show because its closest to home and because of the kids, Nix said. But the Houston show is one of our favorites because of the lack of work in grooming. Its laid back.
Vicki Reeves recalled that her mother, Joyce Nix, excelled at grooming in the 1980s before she died in 1990.
Mom was always our biggest fan, and shed be out here every day, Reeves said. The style back then was to make a ball out of the steers tail tassel, and she would have her hairspray in one hand and brush in the other, and she would tease the hair until it made a perfectly round ball.
Grooming can influence the moment of truth in the show ring.
Jay Diehls Angus steer didnt make the Sale of Champions, placing 13th out of 24 entrants. The judge liked the steer, though, and Jay said he will show Cecil at San Antonio or Houston instead of selling him at market price on Saturday.
Among other points, the judge said, Cecil had too much hair.
Well try again
When the call went out for lightweight American crossbreds early Thursday afternoon, Davis and his steer joined 48 other entries in the Watt Arena, the largest class of entrants in the junior show.
Because of the size of the class, two-thirds of the exhibitors, including Davis and Bronco, missed the cut.
We tried but just didnt make it this time, Dalton Nix said in a text. Oh well. Well try again.
Being good sports, the family stayed to watch the judging anyway, and Dalton will be on hand Friday when nephew Brett Reeves shows his European crossbred.
It doesnt really matter what judges say; thats what families do.
When Lynn Nix proposed in 1996 that Nix Farms resume raising show steers, son Dalton worried that it would be pretty expensive to go back. The Hood County operation bred show cattle in the 1980s, when Dalton and his three siblings competed on the student circuit. But then it went back to traditional cattle raising. Dalton Nix operates Nix Farms with his sister Vicki Nix Reeves and their father. The family includes another sister, Laurie Nix Diehl; brother Daniel Nix; and nine grandchildren ages 8 to 20. You give up good basic cattle and easy calving to get one the way you want it to look, said Dalton Nix, who holds a masters degree from Kansas State in reproductive physiology of beef cattle. Nix Farms was established in 1973, though Lynn Nixs Georgia-born grandfather began farming in Hood County in the 1800s. The 2,500-acre farm produces and sells American cross show steers and some exotics, and the herd of brood cows and sire bulls includes Brahman, Simmental, Angus, Maine-Anjou, Brangus and Charolais influences. The farm also sells 30 to 40 steers a year for others to show.
Shirley Jinkins
4cleanequip Community Member 
|
|
