The Rural Voice, 2000-12, Page 22,\
When a 4-H'exhibitor finally gets in
the ring at. the Queen's Guineas, it's
the culmination of a year's work.
At 5:30 on a Saturday morning
in downtown Toronto, many
1 -year-olds are just returning
from a night of partying. But at 5:30
a.m. Sandra Alton of Lucknow and
the other few Huron County young
people in the 4-H Queen's Guineas
beef calf competition can be found at
the Royal Winter Fair preparing their
calves. Winning the competition can
mean, according to Alton, fetching up
to $50 a pound for a calf.
Since Alton's childhood, she has
been coming to the Royal Winter
Fair, and at 21 is showing a calf for
the sixth time.
The night before the competition
the Huron County group set up a
display until 12:00 a.m. where the
cows stay. That means at most these
4 -Hers are running on five and a half
'hours of sleep. Before the
competition starts at 8:00 a.m., the
cows are fed some hay and water and
groomed.
A precise makeover is given to
each calf. Three people work on a
calf. Its hair is sprayed with a light
mist, to make it look more shiny.
Then all the hair is combed upwards,
so that when the judges look at the
calf it looks like velvet. Hair spray is
Cattle get the beauty -parlour
treatment before the show begins
with a careful clip (right) and a blow
dry (far right).
18 THE RURAL VOICE
Doing it up Royally
For 4-H beef club members, the highest goal
is winning the Queen's Guineas.
Preparing for the big show requires
not only hard work, but art
Story and photos by Mark Nonkes