Showing Dexter Cattle

Stay with the animal, rub your hands over it and talk to it so that it gets used to your voice. There’s no set age to begin training your Dexter, but the general rule is the younger the better. You can put the cow on the other side of the fence to reduce stress on mother and calf, if you wish. Your animal will resist being tied up to begin with but once it gets used to standing without pulling, it’s time to progress to the next stage.

Rule No 1: You are in charge! It’s very important the animal doesn’t get away from you.

You should stand on the left-hand side beside the shoulder, with a firm grip on the lead (don’t wind it around your hand and don’t hold onto the clasp as you may accidentally undo it). There are a number of strategies to encourage your animal to walk forward as it will probably be reluctant to do what you want at first.

Some suggestions: for walking

Wrap a separate rope around behind the animal and hold both ends in your right hand, above it’s shoulder. While also holding the lead rope in your left hand, walk slowly forward pulling on the rope in your right hand.

Pinch the base of the animal’s tail or hold the end of the tail in the right hand and the lead rope in the left and pull forward. A slap on the rump can work wonders too!

Avoid pulling the animal from in front as it will almost always pull in the opposite direction, which is not helpful!

Talk to your Dexter while you are training it. You can use a ‘walk’ command, if you wish. Then…walk…..and walk….and walk….daily at least – preferably twice daily. Once the animal walks comfortably beside you, you are ready to teach it to stand.

It’s a good idea to purchase a proper stick to train your Dexter to stand. The aim is to have it standing with all 4 feet evenly spaced, but standing naturally. Press the end of the stick between the clove of the hoof to encourage the animal to move its foot; you can use commands at the same time or you can teach it just by the pressure of the stick.

Most animals like a scratch behind the front leg when they’re standing. Your Dexter should have a straight back-line.

You can stand beside or in front of your animal in the show ring.

If you put a cover on your Dexter several weeks before a show, it will rub a lot of the loose hair out, thus reducing the amount of grooming required.

If you shampoo your Dexter 4-5 days before a show it allows the natural oils time to give the coat a sheen (it’s advisable to use animal shampoo). Alternatively, you can do this the day before or the morning of the show.

It’s important to put the cover back on the animal after washing if you decide to do this prior to show day. Leaving the cover on while in transit will help your Dexter to stay clean, so there’s minimal last-minute grooming to do when you arrive at the show.

Just before entering the show-ring you can spray the animal’s coat with a ‘show shine’ product, then wipe it down with your hand or a dry cloth to give a final sheen to the coat.

If you plan to show a calf on its own, it’s a good idea to separate it from the cow during the day for about a week before the show so that it gets used to being away from its mother and is less stressed on the day.

In the show-ring it’s advisable to keep an eye on the judge at all times (this can be difficult if your Dexter plays up!) The judge may indicate an instruction and you need to be ready to respond promptly.

It’s a good idea to walk your animal in a small circle (on the spot) if it plays up. This signals to the animal that you’re in charge and also limits invasion of other competitors’ space.

Your Dexter should be standing still while the judge is looking at it, with all 4 feet standing square. If it’s not standing perfectly, you’re best to leave it rather than move it around as this makes it difficult for the judge to do his/her job.

Walk a little way behind the animal ahead of you, and leave space between you and the next competitor when you stop.

Answer the judge’s questions but do not engage in a long conversation.

Do not converse with other competitors while in the ring.

Dress tidily (this shows respect for the judge). No gumboots. No stud logos.