What I Got Wrong My First 2 Years in Show Stock - Kaid Panek

In this episode of Cheat Codes, I sit down with Kaid Panek—someone who’s just a couple years ahead of me in the show stock world and still very much in the trenches figuring it out.

This isn’t a polished “expert” interview. It’s a real conversation between two show dads comparing notes, sharing mistakes, and trying to shortcut the learning curve for anyone getting started.

We talk through what we both got wrong early on, the things we completely overcomplicated, and what actually matters once you get a little experience under your belt. From getting roped into goats (that definitely aren’t “low maintenance”), to building routines, to realizing that sometimes the best education is just showing up and getting beat—there’s a lot in here for beginners and parents navigating this world for the first time.

Kaid also shares his perspective on documenting the journey on TikTok, why people connect with real content over highlight reels, and how social media has actually helped him learn faster.

We wrap up talking about goals for this season, what he’s trying to do differently, and the bigger picture behind all of it.

Because at the end of the day…

We’re not just raising animals—we’re raising kids.

🎯 In this episode, we cover:

•  The biggest misconceptions when starting in show stock 
•  What beginners tend to overcomplicate 
•  How routines and systems evolve over time 
•  Lessons learned from jackpots and getting beat 
•  Goats, lambs, steers… and yes, treadmills 
•  Using TikTok to document and accelerate the learning curve 
•  What actually matters vs what doesn’t 
•  Goals and mindset going into this season 

If you’re new to show stock or figuring it out as you go, this podcast is for you.

Share this episode with someone else getting started—let’s learn this together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to Cheat Codes, where we're learning the game of showstock together and talking with people who are just just a few steps ahead of us. Today I've got Cade Panic on. He actually just started following me on TikTok and he's right in that sweet spot, a couple years ahead of where I'm at, still in the trenches, figuring it out. So this is gonna be a less of an interview and more just us comparing notes and trying to shortcut the learning curve a little bit. Cade, give me a quick rundown. How did you get into this and what are you running right now?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Tom, I made the cardinal mistake. Hey I rodeoed all through high school and I dated barrel racers, which was a bad habit. And I thought that I would upgrade and I actually married a farmer's daughter first, but she was also a stock show girl. Because I thought that, you know, once we get out of high school and her showing journey ends, then the problem is cured.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Until they have kids. That's what I found out. And so now that we have two kids of our own, that uh one's five, the other one's nine. Man, what a journey that I have been baptized in. And trust me, it's by fire. Did you have any background in any of the showing stuff yourself? So I was an FFA kid by trade, going up through high school, state FFA officer. And so it for me, I was around it, but I wasn't necessarily in it. I found a way that uh an easy way to skip school is if you convince your parents to get you a pig, then you can go to the junior livestock show. I did that one time. It was horrific. I was scarred mentally. Um, I found out all in about five minutes of going into the show ring that this wasn't for me. But uh, you know, then I ended up I'm still in the same boat. I don't know how I made it here, but I did. So, how long have you guys been doing this seriously? So, when you marry a stock show girl, chances are the stock show girl has a sister that raises club lambs. So, Mandy Long with Long Club Lambs, they uh they take their show sheep pretty serious. And we started at the age of four, so we've been doing it about five years, but the first three, we just borrowed lambs for a pee-wee show. We would show up, she'd have a lamb, we'd go walk around, get a prize, and everybody had a good day. I would say last year was probably the first year we we kind of gradually worked our way in because I guarantee you, if I if somebody came to me and said, you know that you're gonna be drenching goats, weighing lamb feed, shampooing steers, all at the start, I would have put a kibosh. That's the bad thing about this whole deal, Tom. They get you inch by inch, and eventually it's a mile, right? Yeah, I'm finding that out. Uh, but at the same time, I wouldn't trade it, uh, wouldn't trade it for anything. What I've learned so far is um, you know, gradually working our way in. My kid has kind of found a way to look up to some of these older stock show kids, wanting to, you know, they're idols, you know. And I remember we went to a show that's local to us. It's not necessarily local, but it's in northern Idaho. It's called the 208. It's every spring, and they do something really, really cool. The winners of the last show, they plaster those kids all around the show the following year, right? Nice, and so and and it's like action shots of them showing. And so last year was our first year going up there, and all of a sudden he was talking about my kid. We were watching ringside, and he spits off this name of some kid, and I'm like, how do you even know that? And he looked and he's like, She's the champion last year, right? Like, watch her win this class, you know. And it was funny, like it's kind of like uh when I take him to an NBA game, right? And you're like, That's Kevin Durant, right? Right, you know, or watch Steph Curry, he's gonna hit that three right there. See him in the corner, it's happening right now, and so it's really, really cool that way for him to find role models and that type of thing, but also we're teaching responsibility and doing all of the things, you know, there's just enough good stuff to where we can tell ourselves it's all worth it. Right, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

So, what species are you guys focusing on right now?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Uh so we lucked out and we had a grand champion sheep this last year. For us, we're kind of diversifying. Last year we were goats and lambs. This year we added a steer into the mix, and we're definitely not professionals by any means. Uh, because what's funny is things have changed so much since my wife got out of going to stock shows, right? They're fitting them different. They're, I mean, shoot, they're even setting them up different. Yeah. So it's kind of it's funny. We think that, you know, we're gonna have this edge because my wife was really competitive, but all of a sudden she looks at me and she's like, no, we're at square one. And then I realize that we're both screwed. So this year we're we're kind of trying to diversify a little bit with the three species, but our biggest thing right now is we aren't necessarily chasing quality of animal. We want to win the showmanship. That's the one thing that we can control that I'm trying to pound in my little guy's head is the one thing we can do is show up every day and hopefully we walk away with a showmanship buckle.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

What does your setup around there look like today? Like, you know, we just moved and I'm just throwing stuff together. Yeah. What do you what are you running there? It looks like in the background, you you got a pretty nice building.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Yeah, so uh this is my calving barn turns. The bad part is is um it was a calving barn with a goat and a calving barn with a lamb, but now it's more it's like the small stock has taken over 25% of my barn right now. But then where my heifers usually calve, there's a shell steer out there now, and he's all by himself. So it's slowly taking over the whole feng shui of the place. I'd still like to try and keep these goats reminded that they are in a calving barn from time to time and they need to respect it.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, so I've seen a little bit about the goats and a little bit about your cattle operation and a little bit about the sheep, and I've seen all that stuff on TikTok. Do you mind talking a little bit about some of your social media stuff? Like yeah, sure. How'd you get started in that?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Well, I just kind of like my whole story is uh everybody looks at social media, rides an addiction, and I always would see these ag accounts, and they would have perfect cows in belly high grass, and nothing ever got sick and never died. And I thought, what they are I don't know where they're at, but where I'm at, it's a it's a completely different world. There's you know, it needed a dose of reality, and so I just kind of thought to myself, like, you know what? Like, the one way that I can do it is to share my story, tell what I deal with every day, try and put people in my shoes. And what's funny to me is um the more that I go through this social media journey, the more I find out people just want the real stuff. It's not the fact of you know, this doctored entertainment and a highlight reel, people can see right through it, and it's funny because you'll find that the more transparent you are, people, you know, they support you, they understand. And my thing is, is like, you know, if if you watch a movie and a kid wins a medal, you're like, oh nice, he won a medal. But if you know, you know, like man, he was coming from a broken home and like there was a low before the high, you appreciate that high so much more. So if you can take everybody on that journey, it's great, you know. You know, kind of the same thing as like the stock show aspect. I just thought, you know what, this is a crock shit. Like all this stuff that we get roped into, you know, and I was kind of looking for sympathy. And what's funny is I had a lot of show parents reach out to me and they still do of just like, you wait till you put your goats on a treadmill. And I'm like, goats on a treadmill. What the hell are you talking about? And next thing you know, I'm like fabbing up a treadmill. And so it's it's uh it's it's been really cool to be able to go and share my story and have people relate to it. And that's my biggest payoff or trade-off is um to see people relate to the content, to uh to be like, oh, this was so me 10 years ago, or you know, or even this was me yesterday. And yeah, it's it's really cool to see how people are invested in uh in what's going on here in small town Idaho.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yeah, and so you could you kind of just brought it up about uh getting roped into stuff, but like what's some of the stuff that I don't know, maybe you didn't even imagine, or things that you thought were gonna be one way and are completely different. Can you walk us through some of that stuff? You know, I'm probably a year or two behind you.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Yeah, so it first started off with the sheep, right? All we had to do was feed the sheep, keep it alive, and then we would show up to the jackpot and and you know, it'd get touched up, washed, that whole thing. But uh at the county fair, like it was our first year at the county fair, and uh Mandy, my sister-in-law, she really she wanted to have him, she wanted my kid to have a really good experience. And so all of a sudden, because Mandy was really, really fun the first couple years, you know. Oh, did you have a good time, you know? And I knew that there was something when she was like, How serious are we gonna be? And I says, Oh man, I was talking shit. I was like, Grand Champion or nothing, Mandy. Come on, what are we doing here? Yeah, and and she looked at me and she's like, the mean Mandy has come out and the nice Mandy is gone. You we are we are taking this serious, and so next thing you know, we're uh we're trying to wrap legs for lambs, we're weighing feed, you know, day not daily check-ins, but like weekly check-ins of okay, I want to see what they're looking like, change this dose of a drench here, maybe put them a little more on this aspect of it, and uh make sure that when you when we get in the show ring that we look at the judge and we set our head right. You understand? And so that that was kind of a big wake-up call. The goats, like after we kind of got into the sheep, and I realized that sheep were kind of a blunder. I was sold the goats because it was like, oh man, they're really fun. You don't have to do that much, you know, they're pretty low maintenance, but then all of a sudden it turns so I thought that we'd show up with a rope halter, a curry comb, and we'd clip him day a show. Yeah, no, wrong on that one too. Yeah, 100%. They tricked me into another one, yeah. You know, at least now, like I appreciate the people that talked me into getting a show steer. They were like, it's good, it's a commitment, right? He's gotta be washed or rinsed three times a week. Hair flow makes the hair grow and and all this, all this stuff. I'm like, okay, but I've seasoned myself and gotten ready to do the the whole steer endeavor.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

Yeah, I would suppose suppose once you uh get through a goat, the fitting and stuff's probably pretty similar.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Oh yeah, yeah. It's uh there's a lot of things that are as far as like terminology goes, it's it kind of goats are I find that they're the mesh between a lamb and a steer. And so there's some things that are applicable when you're talking goats that that you would talk to a sheep person about, and then same thing with cows, and uh yeah, still I talk about terminology. Do I know any of the terminology? No, right, but that's like you gotta think once you buy into all this stuff, Tom, my kid's nine, he's gonna show till he's 18. Yeah, right. You're committed now. Oh a hundred percent, hundred percent. Yeah, it's like uh we we went to that 208 show, and there's this this old guy, his name's Dave, and he's gonna be pissed that I called him old, but uh he has a couple senior daughters, I think one might be graduated, and and he had a big old set of earmuffs on, like the Milwaukee ones that pick up the radio. Yeah, and he sat there and fitted goats all day for everybody. And I was like, Dave, like what the hell? You wouldn't catch me doing that stuff. He looked at me and he says, This is gonna be you next year. Sure enough, here I am, right? It's like this old war veteran where he's like, I just shut up, put my headphones on, and clip goats.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Yeah, right. You you know, once you learn it, it's it's like working in a factory, you know. They say, Hey, would you mind learning how to do this over here? Right. I don't know if you know many factory workers, but they're like, No, I'm gonna stay in my lane because if I learn these jobs, I'm gonna be moving everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Exactly. Yep, a hundred percent. But no, it's a it's been a hell of a ride, and and there's definitely things that I wished somebody would have told me. And it's not just like, oh, the financial aspect or getting roped into things, but just for the fact of like good solid advice to help me be a better show dad. Because, you know, there's a lot of things that like I'll find myself, you know, handling things that I didn't even know was on the horizon. But then you go vet you go vent to Dave, the old goat clipper, and he's like, ah, those are so second year problems.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

So, you know, it it's some of that stuff that I wish that, you know, and and I I wouldn't mind passing on what I've figured out. But the the thing is though, is like I'm still not Dave's status. I need to need to work my way up, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, and that's one thing I've talked with, I think maybe it was Troy off-air, I think, but you know, he was talking about, uh, you know, we used to do these clinics, and I'm thinking about not doing them anymore because it just feels so repetitive to me. I'm like, huh, well, it is repetitive to you because you're very good at what you're doing, and you've done it in a long time, but I'm like, you know, you're gonna have people that come in year one who don't know anything, you're gonna help me. You're gonna have people that are on year two or three that have already covered year one and two or whatever, and like I've already got that stuff figured out, and you weren't paying attention to like I'm gonna say like level 10 type stuff.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

You're just trying to keep your head above water.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Yeah, and uh and so when I told him that it was like, well, maybe you're right. You know, I do see some new faces there every year, and so uh yeah, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

And and the the thing is though, is like those old seasoned veteran show parents, those seniors, they just say, Oh, you go to the clinic. Like, I don't need I don't need to tell you any more because you know it's you're learning times tables and I'm doing calculus. Go somewhere where there's you know, you're still doing your times tables and maybe dipping into some long division, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Right, yeah. And it you almost have to learn that way.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

It's like drinking from a fire hose.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Yes, and it it'd be super overwhelming, and uh it's it's kind of like anything else in life, right? Sh the stock show industry is what you make it. If you want to be a Freddy 4H or that you teach your kids the principles that you want to do, and you know, kind of lay a foundation of responsibility, and you know, just making a good kid, then that's perfect. But you know, or you could go all the way to Arizona Nationals or the Nile, and it's it's a completely different ball game. Yeah, sure. It it is what you make it.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

That's my understanding, just even from local jackpots to the county fair, you know. Uh and I've never attended either one of them, you know, uh uh as a show parent, but I've never attended a jackpot, actually.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

So I've noticed it'll it'll come, it'll come, you know. It's really interesting. Like I remember the first jackpot that I went to, man, and it I thought it was like the biggest um, I wouldn't say waste of time, but showing up just to get your ass kicked. It's an education, yeah, and but at the same time, you're like, dude, we burned a whole Saturday, like just for the judge to sort us off and shake our hand, right? But the more that you go to, you know, you start to listen to these judges kind of, you know, give reasons and and look at the people that win or the that are super competitive, and then you start asking yourself, okay, what are they doing that when I go home I can implement with with what we're trying to get done here? Right. You know, and it's a it's a gradual progression. Now, is it one of those things where it's like, oh, well, you know, daddy, you gotta open your pocketbook and and write a $20,000 check for an animal. Now, I don't believe in that because I think it defeats the whole purpose. But and I'm not saying it's bad if you do, but at the same time, like I found out through my uh dating barrel racer adventures that the more money that daddy spent on a horse, the more of a train wreck that was gonna be. Sure. You know what I mean? So, but also like there's there's different things as far as attitude and whether it's buying a new shirt at you know, like, man, they they had this presence when they walked in the ring, and it, you know, and it might be physical, like the shirt, the pants, and they looked apart, but also it's like, okay, and I, you know, like I'll go watch ringside of my boy and be like, see her, see what she's doing. What do you think she's like, what is she telling you right now? That she's serious, okay. Well then why are we walking in all happy go lucky and you know, trying to get halfway drug around by our goat, like the program? We need to get with it, you know? Yeah, right, right. And so there's also like the more you observe, the more nuggets you find to to pick up and kind of help, you know, be your kid's own coach because you're the one that's around them all the time. Now, is it one of those deals where if something comes from me, it gets heard at a hundred percent and it sinks in? No, whatever dad says, it goes in one ear, out the other. But if I can talk to another show parent, right, and just say, Hey, will you mention this to my boy? You know, they go over there, or you know, they have their kid go over and be like, hey, you know, like it might help you if you do this. Then all of a sudden it's gospel. And I'm sitting in the back smiling, going, gotcha. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Uh I even had we've got a Highland calf that was just like, she had super long hair, and we needed to do something with it because it was just knotted up every time we tried to blow her out. So I had a friend and his son come over, and uh, they clipped her up, made her look pretty and and more manageable. And we all had that conversation standing there, and his son's kind of helping my daughter a little bit with the showmanship type thing, and his kid basically just straight up and said, you know, yeah, my dad might know what he's talking about, but I don't I don't listen to anything he says. It's like, yes, you know, we kind of have this coach, which should be like, I it's probably a traitor or something that they're getting lambs from. But he's like, Yeah, I listen to everything he says, and and he's just I mean, this guy's golden.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

And it's like, well, he probably is, but like, I'm standing here telling you the same thing, like I'm looking at you.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Exactly. And you know, and it's it can be frustrating as a parent at first, but once you kind of, you know, and most people that play the game, like stock show parents and stuff like that, like we were the people that we bought the steer from RK Livestock, they uh they do great, and their daughter, Cadence, who's a senior, is absolutely just wiping them out here in the West. Whatever she says is gospel. And it's funny because they were they were coaching Creed, my son, the other day. We were kind of working them all together, and they would get in their own little spats, right? And it's not like it was a major disagreement of mom, I'm right, but you know, it was really interesting to watch that dynamic of you know, where I took a breath of relief and was like, okay, you know, I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

It's not just me. Yes, yes, yes, a hundred percent. Can you tell me like when you started out, what what do you think you were overcomplicating? Is there things that you just overdid?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

I think for us, I would say if anything, like the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, the more you complicate things. Like last year with our goat, we were just like, we're gonna try a goat. So we kind of tried to keep feet in front of him and and do, you know, I guess check all the boxes this year. Now that we know a little bit more about it, we want to kind of bring on a little bit more of a competitive edge. Like we've set some pretty good goals for our goats. And, you know, like as far as I felt last year, so the way that I understand and the way I've been told, you build the goat up and you want to get him kind of chubby and really kind of get some gain on him, and then you're gonna put him on a treadmill, which I cannot believe I'm recommending this, by the way. Right, right. What has happened in my life for me to say that?

SPEAKER_01 21:09

We're making little bodybuilders, right? That's my understanding.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

100%. So you know, you you build them, build them up so they're chubby, and then chisel them like a Greek god, right? Like a marble statue you see in Rome. And I felt like we could have probably edged out those goats last year if if we would have built up quicker and had more time to refine and chisel. And so this year, like I didn't even know what a drench was till last July and our fairs in August. Now I'm running a drench on this sucker. I don't know, like this goat that I have right now. I think he's on Jenny Craig. Right. Like I'm trying to feed him and trying to get him to bulk up and do good, and and he's okay. And I think he's eating as much as the one did last year, but it's like I have expectations now, right? Right. Right, right. And so, like, you know, getting stressed out about it, whatever. Like one of the things that I'm I've found with the show steer aspect of it is like me as a cattleman, one way that I look to see if like my cow's well-being, you know, like a quick riding through the pasture judge is if they've shed their winter coat, right? So it blows my mind that we're trying to grow hair during the hottest time of the year, and they're shucking it because we're giving them supplements and we're trying to make sure that he's gaining and he's healthy. So his natural reaction is to shed all of this hair, but the show industry is like, man, what about this hair? Dude, my wife was gonna lose her marbles because we started shucking hair and getting a winter coat off and a summer coat on, and you know, so it's uh it's kind of one of those things like in talking to veteran show, parents are like, happens every year, like it's okay. You go to the spring, you go to a spring show, like you know that their hair is kind of in the middle, it's in the ugly stage, deep breath, you know. So that's just a couple things that we kind of have to remind ourselves of, you know. Remember simpler times where you weren't worried about the little things and just go out there and have fun, right? Because at the end, at the end of the day, we're growing kids, we're not growing animals, in my opinion. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 23:24

I think that's the second time I've heard that on this podcast. Maybe the third.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

There you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

So it's like a recurring theme.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah. Well, that just means that you're interviewing guests that like they understand it, right? They understand the main goal of the whole program and why we do what we do.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yep. Um, so we just started drenching maybe this week, this beginning of this this last week, and kind of the same thing. It's like we had to order a drench gun. I couldn't find one anywhere local. I think it's I think you call it a gun. I don't know. I don't know either. A syringe, whatever you call it.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Just yeah, it's it's all referred to as give me the damn thing so I can drench him. Yes, that's what we call it around here.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

And so Philip was at the barn, he's the one we bought the lambs from. He was there maybe two weeks ago, and you know, we get him out, and he looks at him and he goes, All right, that one we're gonna have to start holding on feet a little bit. We're gonna add this at uh supplement. Okay, and then that one, we need to get to pushing that sucker. All of them need to get drenched with uh like melatonin and stuff, uh Sasquatch is what we're drenching them with for there you go, for hair. And then these two, we need to push them extra hard. And I may be screwing this up, you know, forward, right? But but we need to give them some dime. And I'm like, don't know what any of this stuff is, you know. So my wife's standing there and she's just texting me because we didn't have anything to write on. She's texting me all this stuff, the amounts, you know, and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

And thank God it all needs to be in writing, documented somewhere, yeah. Well, it's it's like a recipe, right? It literally is a recipe, and so you know, and I have been chewed out for missing an ingredient to the recipe, and I'm like, it'd still be a chocolate cake, dude.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Right, right. For real. Yeah. Have you ever fed dine?

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Uh no, never, never had to feed dyne. I know like our 4-H leader on the goats, they fed some some dyne.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

It's super thick, okay. Man, uh I'm getting it sucked up in there. Okay. So I get I I fed it to two of them the first night, and it was work. But I got it in there, and they both got it. And so I'm sending them a message afterwards, and I'm like, hey, you what's the secret to this stuff? This stuff is garbage, it is so thick. Well, yeah, you gotta you gotta cut it with water. You forgot to put that in the text. Yeah, I'm like, you never said anything about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just cut it with water. I'm like, okay, so like are you making small batches? Yeah, yeah. In a blender ball. All right, so like, like I'm slowly pulling these secrets out of people, you know what I mean? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And this is like the level one to the level ten kind of thing I'm talking about. It's like, man, like, there's gotta be some way, and and we're talking about it right now, you know. So hopefully, anybody that listens to this, you just keep listening to these and you'll pick up these little things and you'll be like, I remember someone said something about you have to order a drench gun, you can't find it anywhere local. And if you ever do anything that's stupid thick, you just cut it with water and then mix it up in a blender bottle.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Now I know. Thank you. Yeah, you're passing on your knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Yeah, if you ever need it, uh, because I'll I'll bet if he was standing there watching me do this, he'd have been like, What are you doing? Like, you're an idiot.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah, but then there's the flip side of the argument, though. So, like, we're giving our goats what they call chocolate milk, and it's some concoction with a bunch of stuff, right? I get it from my 4-H leader, like she's a drug dealer. Yep. Because literally she is, but she's legal, right? Yep. She she has the juice, and the juice is what I need. Well, so the prescription to uh we have a couple bottle babies, because we're gonna uh the idea is we have a competitive goat for the county fair, but then we're gonna go to the state fair this year for the first time. And we want not necessarily the market, we don't care about the market class, but we want to go in there and just beat the brakes off of them in showmanship. The best way to do that is get to get you a bottle uh baby, right? So that way, I mean they're like a little dog. And uh so anyway, she she says, Well, in their bottle, put 10 CC's, that's it, 10 cc's of chocolate milk in there. I had to leave for Easter weekend, okay? Father-in-law had the chore list, and I wrote down all the recipes, and I come home and these bottle babies, dude, they could shit through a screen door. It was horrid. Yeah, and I noticed it was kind of weird because my 4-H leader, I mean drug dealer, she was like, How are we doing on the juice? And I says, Oh, we got about half left. We're good for a minute. Well, I come back from Easter and I look in the fridge and I'm like, What the I swear we aren't burning through it that quick, right? Like, what the hell? So, long story long, father-in-law comes bebopping in, and I'm like, Man, I don't know what I says, how much chocolate milk are you feeding? Or you watch me, he's I was making a bottle for these kids, right? With 10 CC's, measuring it out with the drench gun, squirting it in the bottle, just like I was told, right? The only thing that we can control is what we're told, and we do what we're told. That's the only thing I know. Father-in-law looks at me and he's like, geez, I was just giving him a good healthy free pour. Right. And I'm like, No wonder why.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

So these these goats behind me have been detoxing for a couple and for for anyone that doesn't know, like 10 cc is uh let's see, uh 15cc is half of an ounce, right? Yes, so like that is not very much.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

No, just a little. We're mic, more mic.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

If you're free pouring, I mean the one one is way too much, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

He must have been giving him a Vegas free pour because I mean the goats look great, but yeah, we had to clean them up a little bit, back them off.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

My how shiny your coat looks today. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Yeah, and when the when the 4-H leader listens to the podcast, she's just gonna scratch her head and she's gonna there's gonna be a list of not just recipes, but also things that she's like, I can't believe Kent did that. I'd be like, Yeah, I never told you about that.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

You didn't, you didn't do that, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:44

We we uh we are not guilty. I plead not guilty.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

Well, I mean someone else did it, it wasn't you.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yeah. Uh what were some things that that you were doing when you started out that you just shouldn't have been spending your time on?

SPEAKER_00 29:58

So a couple of the things that uh that I think we were uh it's really tricky because I've found this out the hard way. There's two different types of show people. There's the market showman and the showmanship judge, right? And and so like my sister-in-law and my father-in-law, like the the number one grand marquee honor is being named the grand champion market animal. Me, I think I hold showmanship at a way higher regard just because it's based on the kid's effort with the animal, and the animal doesn't necessarily matter. And so I'm gonna be biased in my opinion. We were really worried about dialing in nutrition or making sure that they grew leg hair and all that stuff. I mean, the county fair, we won the grand champion market lamb at our county fair last year, but at the same time, it was like we were in this barn practicing and still getting drug around three weeks out from county fair. And we were all praying to God that we would see a miracle, and we did. She worked. Yep. Yep, you know, but just that's one of the things that I would and I have tried to emphasize to to my kids is get out there and spend time with them, you know, not just feeding them, go in their pen, pet them. Like, let's let's get these actually show worthy, right? Because the right showman can take a lamb that should have placed fourth and make them place first.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Yeah, yeah. And showmanship can show up in how your animal responds to you. Like, those judges can tell that kind of stuff. Like, yeah, I don't think this kid ever put any time in with this one.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah, it's so crazy to me because like Connor Brew, I love to pick on that guy. He's he's freaking awesome. But uh he uh like judges like him can pick up that finer detail to where it was almost like he lived in this barn the whole time. He can pick apart the animal, but also he can turn around and say, Well, you know, I just I saw this, and this is what I think should happen next, right? Because it's and and that's one thing I like about the stock show industry is the fact that you know the criticism they get, it's you know, I've never heard a judge tell somebody your animal looks like dog shit. Right. It's always like constructive criticism on how you can be better the next time you go in the ring. And you know, like it's funny to listen to some of these guys that really know how to cut the mustard on, you know, like very nicely say spend some time with them, you know, like you could do good, but your lamb didn't have her day.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

So, like if we strip back everything that we've talked about, what are the kind of things that actually move the needle on on the whole thing? Like, in your opinion, what are the action items we should be doing right now?

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Now, this is gonna be a little tricky because I like you say, I'm only on level three, I'm not level 10. Yeah, right. But but I'm on I'm on level one or two, so so my my biggest action item for show parents is ask the right questions and keep asking questions. They might sound stupid, and maybe when you get to a higher level, when you get to level 10, that is a stupid question. But you know, it's it's really funny because you don't want to be the green show parent that asks stupid questions, but I've learned to realize that everybody will pick me out of the crowd and be like, okay, yeah, that's his first time here. You know what I mean? Right. And and so you think you can hide it really good, but in all reality, you can't. Um, so use that as an opportunity. Leverage the fact that you don't know to figure it out. That's my number one action item is ask the right questions to the right people. Look at everybody in your local area that is kicking ass and taking names. Just, you know, and you don't need to say what's the secret, but you know, what's something I don't know about? You know, like at the 208, that 208 qualifier I was talking about that goes on in the spring. Last year, dude, we walked in, got sorted off of the market class. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Well, I get to look in around the show ring and I can tell who's still involved, right? They have kids in the show ring in the final drive. So I went over there and I was just casually talking to them while they were watching their kid. And it wasn't like I was an investigative reporter, but it was kind of like, man, like that goat's impressive. Like, how did you put an ass on him? And they were like, oh, dude, it's a you know, and so I found out that like that was the big thing that pointed the needle towards we need to start treadmilling goats, is because, you know, it's like, yeah, we can we can do a lot through genetics, but we can also help genetics through effort and being able to do that, but you know, like being able to ask the questions that lead to the right path. I didn't necessarily be like, what supplement packages are you using to put an ass on a goat like that? But it's just like, dude, look at what we brought in the ring and look at what you brought in the ring. How can, you know, three things. What can we do at home? And a lot of show parents, they'll point you in the right direction. Believe it or not, they will point you in the right direction. They don't necessarily gatekeep as much as you think they do.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Right. And that's what I'm finding out now, just talking to people. It's like, I guess I'm the guy asking, I joke around, you know, I'm just a guy with a microphone asking dumb questions too. And like, so for the people that don't want to go out and do that, I guess that's kind of what I'm doing right now. I need to learn it anyway. So why not share it with other people?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Absolutely. Well, it's like uh I put a video up on social media, right, of of this debauchery of a show string that I have and you know, all the problems and good things that come out with it. But whenever I post a trial or something that's like, oh my god, I can't believe this happened. There's a handful of people in the comments that are like, you know, or they'll jump in my DMs, hey, have you thought about trying this? And it's like, oh my gosh, thank you so much. I appreciate the cheat code, right? And so it's like that. Is my number one big advice to that's my number one big advice to stock show parents is don't be afraid to be the person with the the least amount of knowledge in the room. Don't fake it till you make it. Use your inexperience to an advantage to learn more and better yourself, your family, your kids. The second thing that I would say is try and keep your kids involved in the process. And there's a lot of things that uh like I don't do everything for my kids, but like we were clipping this steer so we could go show this weekend, right? And my my little boy had school, and so and I had a free hour and a half. I washed his steer for him, but he had to dry him and do the whole thing, but it was so we could get him clipped like right when he got there, and trying to keep him involved and not necessarily let him make the decision, but help him make the decision of this is what's going on, you know, try and guide that that kid through whatever's going on in that moment and you know, to where I'm learning, but also the more important part, my kids learning. And so, you know, more time in the barn or around your animals, it's fantastic. And then from like the county fair aspect of it, you have to remember that you're growing kids, and so don't be afraid to have your kid put themselves out there, write handwritten letters asking for money. Learn, you know, those kids need to learn how to market themselves. And, you know, like my kid, it was funny. So last year, my son was really he wasn't upset with me, but when I says, Yeah, we're gonna write some letters to some potential buyers, he was he was kind of upset when I was like, and here's 35 names that I've found. And we're writing a and we're writing a handwritten letter to all of them. But through that, right, his lamb sold for good money, and he was able to upgrade this year. Like he thinks he's a fat cat showing a steer this year, you know. But he wasn't able to, he wouldn't be able to do that until, you know, like his lamb sold good. And, you know, there was consequences of okay, if you want to really show steers next year, some of this lamb money has to go that way. Right. And I'm and it's not that I'm putting my kid on an island and say, oh my gosh, you have to pay for the whole nine yards, but you know, enough to where he feels like he has skin in the game, to where, you know, it was kind of the tale of two choices, right? Do you want enough money to buy just a lamb next year? Or do you, you know, if your lamb does really well and she sells really well, then maybe you can do something more than you thought you could. And so, you know, it's like the the whole show letter thing, and I'm trying to get your get yourself out there. Man, I'm a big proponent of that to kids and and like flash.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

I've never heard that before.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Is like what, sending show letters?

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Yeah, I'd never heard that before.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Man, so uh one of the coolest things I did through social media the last two years. So I got a letter two years ago from a a girl by the name of McKenna Payne, and she is in she's either in Washington or Oregon. I can't remember, but uh just sent me a letter off of uh because I have a P.O. box, right? So fan, whatever. I get this letter, she's selling the lamb. And what I did is I pieced together as much money as I could and I boosted her lamb. And then I got another letter. I did a video about it, you know, and it wasn't necessarily a pat on the on my back. What I was I wasn't going for that. I was going for like, here is a girl that saw an opportunity and reached out. So, you know, like I think I sponsored a couple hundred bucks or whatever. Three or four months later, I get another letter from a high school in Florida, and I didn't know that, like I've never been around this, and like me being a FFA kid, it was foreign to me, but there was a chapter animal. So the officer team from that FFA chapter wrote me a letter and said, This lamb's gonna be up for auction. It was in November. So I reached out, I did a video about it, and I was like, man, if you guys want to help support this, like here's my cash app or my Venmo for a cost of a cup of coffee. We'll see what we can round up. Yeah. I mailed them a nice check. Wow. And because it was a bunch of people that like built this online community, there's a bunch of people that feel like we need to reward kids for doing the right thing. So to Annie up next year, the bad thing about these 4-H and FFA kids is they're like a bunch of little crack addicts. Right. As soon as they find out that somebody responded to a letter and paid, they tell everybody. I think I got a whole I got a letter from every member of that chapter in Washington or Oregon, where Mc you know, McKenna's chapter. And um, it kind of turned into something bigger that I than like I could handle personally. So what I did is I made like some custom hats with my logo on them. They were burlap. You'll see me wearing them in my videos every once in a while, but uh I sold those for 50 bucks and I I told everybody, I'll pay for the hat to get made, and I will pay to ship it to you. But $50 is going to this fund. And what I and I got a couple sponsors to kind of help with it, and we were absolutely just thrilled with with how it worked, and I got letters. I put it out on social media, dude. I got letters from I can't remember the stats off the top of my head, but a freaking jag. I got like 500 letters from youth all across the country wanting to tell me their story. Um, I picked a a handful of really, really good ones, and we use that money to uh like I bought a pig, bought a couple turkeys, we've boosted goats, we've boosted lambs, and uh it's been really, really cool. And I guess me through social media found that like my calling somewhat is trying to raise awareness that there's kids out there, you know, everybody talks like, you know, that's the famous old saying, right? It's all those snot-nosed kids, they're not as good as when we grew up. But in all reality, there's there's kids up there out there that just do they do phenomenal things and they're impressive and they're busting their ass. And so, like, for us as a society to kind of help support those kids that are gonna be the cream of the crop of the next generation, in my opinion, that's the cheapest insurance of our future that I've ever known, you know. And so, yeah, we've we've been able to do quite a bit there and and uh look at it maybe doing it the again this year just with with kind of what we've like I I told myself, ah, we'll see, but then I found another I found a show deal today. There's a club calf deal that I'm like, oh my god, that's a great story. So I don't know, you might see me crack back out and we'll do it again.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Yeah, so I I think I'm in the right time frame, but are you gonna do something with a showdad showdown?

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Yeah, yeah. And that was kind of the reason why I was like, I don't know about the letters again this year, because uh the one thing about it, so our 4-H goat club is they have a bunch of really driven kids, but also a really driven leader. And one of the big things that like we come from a very rural county in Idaho, our pop our county population is 7,100. Perfect. And so it's really tricky because a lot of the main sponsors of things, you know, like your big businesses in the community, not only are they trying to support kids at the livestock show of the county fair, but they're also, you know, they're paying for volleyball and varsity football and and all of these things that if you add up these contributions these companies are making all across the community, it's a lot of money, right? And so one of the dreams of the 4 H leader is to maybe be able To raise some money to where we can kind of help support our own. But also, where we live in such a rural county, some of our kids, it's hard for them to go jackpot showing or gain any type of ring experience before the county fair. And so, you know, we kind of looked at it as two birds, one stone type of a thing. And uh, it's like all of the labor force of this show. She so she birthed uh what they call the spudtacular goat and lamb show. Uh it's I think it's June 26th or 27th. I'll have to check. But uh it's at the end of June, it's at the local county 4 H or the local county fairgrounds. And the coolest part about it is seeing these kids be involved in the planning process, trying to figure out sponsors, that whole deal. And when this was all kind of brought up, I was like, man, I really would like it to be worth something for the parents, and because like it's all about the kids, and I understand that, but also let's talk about mom and dad that have sacrificed a weekend and doing the whole thing, right? Yeah, so we're gonna have an a it's called the show dad showdown. It's gonna be in between the goat and the lamb show, where it's an open adult showmanship, 25 bucks an entry, no holds bar, you can bribe the judge, and let's raise money for the 4-H chapter. And uh I've been able to talk to you know, a bunch of the companies that I, you know, like we have a really good relationship with some of these companies to where they've stepped in and like we're giving away a five hundred dollar travel voucher to a travel agency. I have a custom show dad cooler, um, and like the the prize pack, I wanted it all to be geared toward the parents, to where it's like, hey, thanks for coming. And what we've also done is like, thank God for timing. So our show in Grace, Idaho is that Saturday, but that Sunday, a three-hour drive away, is the goat and lamb show in Butte, Montana, or uh God, what what's that name? Yeah, Dillon. So it's it's the Beaverhead breakout in Dillon, Montana. So you can actually come through, hit our local jackpot, roll up into Montana three hours away on Sunday and call it a good weekend. Gotcha. Um, yeah, just trying to like the kids, they want their fellow competitors in mind, but I am really thankful that I got to put my own twist on it and kind of help, you know, recognize show parents and do that whole thing too. So it should be a really, really fun weekend.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

And that's open to anyone, anybody, anybody, anybody, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

So I put out kind of feelers on my social media, and uh, we have people coming from South Dakota, possibly Texas, Colorado, Utah, maybe northern Idaho, Montana for sure, Wyoming. And so it's just it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

I've never been out that way. I'm sure it's real pretty.

SPEAKER_00 47:09

We swing by call it a long weekend, come see us. You can go to Dillon, but you know what's in between Dillon? Yellowstone National Park. So, I mean, absolutely. Don't you worry about it. Yeah, we can find you something to show.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

Yeah, I'm sure. Something right out of the lot. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, Tom. It's it's broke, and I tell you what, it's not about the animal, it's all about the showman.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

A hundred percent. Well, it's like uh, and I haven't told anybody I'm doing this, but uh the last last year we showed a goat called Double Stuff, and like there's a whole social media saga about double stuff. Well, since we won the grand champion lamb at our okay, so since we won the grand champion lamb at our county fair, we could not sell double stuff, so he's still here. Okay, and I and I have a bunch of like history with this goat, right? We shot a whole series of last show year with him. I'm gonna crack double stuff out of retirement, and I that's what I'm gonna show at the show dad showdown. So yeah, that's like cheating. Come on, come on, that's the whole point, right? I gotta give myself the competitive edge, Tom.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Yeah, I'm in it to win it, dang it.

SPEAKER_00 48:16

100%.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Yeah, I love it. No, I think that's gonna be pretty fun, and it's gonna be something for it's just gonna be memorable, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Right, right. No, and and I didn't like like I said, we kind of started with a small hope of we'd raise a little bit of extra money, but get these kids some experience in the show ring, but it's kind of grown and turned into more a little bit, and we're excited to welcome everybody to Grace Idaho. No matter what you have to show, let's do it. Heck yeah. So, what else are you excited for this year? County fair, because then I won't have these anymore. But other than that, my whole goal this year is to enjoy the ride as it happens because I think a lot of times, dude, we look back at our kids and it's like, man, I remember when they were a baby, or you know, man, I I remember when he was five. And so there's, you know, and there's so much growth that happens with each show year. That's what I've found anyway, is the kid that started the kid that starts this show year, that kid is no longer there come the end of the show year, right? He's progressed, he's grown, and so being able to do that whole thing, but also savor it while it happens. That's my big thing that I'm looking forward to is you know, embracing the county fair and and you know, the whole experience.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

Is there anything that you're nervous about this year? Or you feel like you're just kind of in a pretty good spot?

SPEAKER_00 49:36

No, we're in a good spot, and like I said, the one thing that we're worried about is we're we're not worried about market classes this year, our big push is showmanship. They just showed up to the bar and just barely we're catching the shelves here, we're gonna go walk him in a circle and and do the thing, you know. So just trying to put time in and and make sure that we're committed to what we've already put on our plate, whether it was my choice or not, Tom. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

Uh, you want to do a little rapid fire? Sure. So you're only a year or two ahead of me, and uh, and we're we're not gonna go out and just call you an expert, but what's the biggest mistake that beginners make?

SPEAKER_00 50:10

Faking it till they make it. Don't do that, don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Just actually learn it and do it.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

Leverage to learn.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 50:16

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

Uh what's the most overrated thing in showstock? Hair on pig feet. For sure. I mean, hair on a pig at all, really. Agreed. Uh, what's the most underrated thing?

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Showmanship.

SPEAKER_01 50:27

I get behind that. What's something you wish you'd started sooner?

SPEAKER_00 50:30

Trying to understand chapter three while I was still in chapter two. I wish I wish I would have asked a lot more questions until I had to find out the hard way or come to somebody with my tail between my legs of like, I know you told me this was going to happen and I didn't listen. Help me, please.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Yep. But I think that's the best way we can all learn too.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

Yeah. It's it's you don't I always say you don't know what you don't know until you know it.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

True to that.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Yep. Uh, do you have anything else you want to cover before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_00 51:00

No, man. I just appreciate the opportunity of like sitting down, BSing with you. And uh, yeah, dude. I just I hope that uh people understand that we're you know, you we could talk about hair, or we could talk about supplementation, or or the laundry list is seven miles long of what we could talk about. In my opinion, we're raising good kids, you know. I think that's that's my number one message is you know, there's a lot of people out there, especially on social media, man, that that they don't understand it and they don't get it. But uh as soon as they get a little bit of a taste of it, they're like, Man, I wish I'd have raised my kid that way.

SPEAKER_01 51:33

Yeah, well, and on the other side of that, you see a lot of people that are pushing their own agenda too.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 51:37

So you gotta watch out for that too.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

I agree, I agree, man. And that's something that nobody really talks about. And I yeah, yeah, there's there's a lot of things that you could come up with to like scratch your head and say, Man, I don't understand why it has to be this way, or like what is going on in the in the show industry. Like, there's a lot of things that I bang my head on the kitchen table, but at the 10,000 foot view, there's definitely more positives than negatives.

SPEAKER_01 52:03

Yep, for sure. Well, man, I appreciate you jumping on. This is exactly why I started this. Just learning from people a little ahead of me and document documenting it so other people don't have to figure it out the hard way. If you guys got value from this, share it with someone else that's getting started. That's how we grow this thing. And Cade, if people want to follow along with what you're doing, where should they find you?

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Cade panic on all handle, like all social media platforms, K-A-I-D-P-A-N-E-K. Better watch out. I might swear at goats or get drugged by a show steer. You just never know what we're up to, but uh, we're into documenting what I like to call the shit show of what I'm currently in at that moment. So try and keep it real, full of reality, and uh hopefully people can learn from it, but also the best part is is I can learn from all of you that interact with the content.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

Heck yeah. And I heard you have a P.O. box.

SPEAKER_00 52:55

I do, I do. P.O. Box 99 Soda Springs, Idaho, 83276. You can catch me there too. Oh, gee. All right. Well, thanks, Kade. Yeah, appreciate it, Tom. Thanks for having me. You bet.