A Day With Kirk Stierwalt

We had so much going on at home and at the neighbor's farm, it was freezing cold, and the biggest snow of the season was expected.  By Friday night, Daniel couldn't decide if he wanted to take a cow or if he just wanted to have the boys buddy up with someone else.  We decided to take a cow and I am glad we did.  Chase teamed up with our boys because they had decided not to drive 3 hours in the snow with a trailer.  We were able to let all 3 boys take turns with the clipping. 

With the Ohio Beef Expo just a few weeks away, we were not about to let Isaac and Walker's untrained hands on a show cow.  We have heard too many "oops!"  We decided to pull Cece out of the field since she is already halter broke and is very calm and cooperative.

She was a sight!  Daniel washed her on Wednesday because it was the only day anywhere near freezing.  The plan was to wash her the morning of the clinic.  It was barely above freezing and Cece is pregnant, so we scrapped the washing idea.  We blew the chunks out with the blower and just did the best we could. 

A couple of months back...when it was still bitterly cold.  No, not this week when it was trying to decide if it was going to be sunny, windy, rainy or snowing....I mean when it was still below zero on a daily basis.  We had the privilege to attend the Ohio Cattlemen's Assocation Novice Youth Day.  

The Ohio Cattlemen's Association and Weaver Leather teamed up to bring the BEST Novice participants and 2 day hands-on clipping, fitting and showmanship seminar with Kirk Stierwalt.  

A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Feb 28, 2015 at 5:08am PST

Isaac and Walker decided to pool their Christmas money and purchase a new pair of green 5 speed clippers.  They were very excited and we had to make sure that they each got equal time to use them.  It was nice for each of the boys to have a pair of clippers to use throughout the day. 

All the sessions were very informative and we all took lots of notes.  Kirk made sure that there was plenty of time for questions and gave us an opportunity to really pick his brain.  He was very approachable and helpful.  He even pulled Isaac off to the side to help him solve some problems he has been having in the show ring (the cans represent cows).

Oh...if you ever see Isaac, ask him about Kirk's experience with the shocker collar.  Isaac will giggle through the whole story.

Clipping is definitely an art that takes a lot of practice and patience.  I can't say that Cece looked very good at the end of the day, but the boys were very proud of what they learned and accomplished.  Cece had a ton of winter hair to start with, so it left them with a lot of room to fix their errors. 

Daniel had a lesson in self control.  He tends to be a perfectionist and can't stand to sit by and watch.  This was a lesson in hands-on for the boys and hands-off for Dad.  Daniel did a good job of biting his tongue, shoving his hands in his pockets and letting them learn.

A photo posted by Dan Wiley (@4wileyfarm) on Feb 28, 2015 at 6:58pm PST

There were only 12 cows for the clipping sessions, so it enabled Kirk Stierwalt and his helpers to really give one on one attention to the kids.  What an opportunity to learn from the one of the best!

Thanks Ohio Cattlemen's Association and Weaver Leather for putting together such a great opportunity for our future cattlemen!