Showring Standards: Show Attire

This episode Carrie is joined by her daughter Kamylnn and the two discuss advice on show ring attire, emphasizing professionalism, appropriateness, and trends. They discuss hair, clothing, accessories, and evolving standards to help young showmen present their best overall package.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Well, welcome to Showpick Central. My name is Carrie Brockman, and today we have a guest on the podcast, my daughter, uh Camlin Mason. She's 15. Uh, she has been showing since she was three or four. Uh we we started her really early. Uh, and today we're going uh we had a listener request about uh showring attire. And so um, you know, from the offset, we just wanted to emphasize these are our opinions. Uh we may say some things today that maybe you don't, you know, uh think is a big deal or agree with, and and that's totally fine. Um we're basically going off of uh what we have seen, and we'll talk about some trends that we've seen even since you started showing. Um but what we think looks the most professional, appropriate, is the least distracting. Um, and we always have to remember the biggest part of a job of a showman is to make their pig look the best that they possibly can. And some people say might say, well, what does that have to do with the clothes that they have on, the shoes that they have on, how their hair looks. Um, but we have emphasized on this podcast a lot how hard it is to win right now. Um, and part of that is having the whole package, that when you and your pig come in the ring and that judge gets the first impression, it's like, okay, this kid is in tune, they know what's going on, um, and the whole package looks like they're supposed to win. So we'll we'll kind of continue to emphasize that. Um, but we just, you know, wanted to say that from the get-go that these are our opinions. Um, I've learned that Camlin has some strong opinions. I think it's genetic. I think it's the the female gene in our family that she has strong opinions.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Um you didn't just learn that.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

No, I didn't just learn that. Oh, this is true. Um, but you have some opinions about things on show attire that I didn't, you know think were quite as as um strong as they are. Um, so we kind of just want to start from the top down. Um, and so the first thing we're gonna talk about is the exhibitor's hair and haircuts. Um in some other species, you know, in cattle, it it's very um accepted or it's fine that that kids wear hats, uh cowboy hats. Uh in the pig ring, I would say not so much, you know. Um and like I just mentioned you want to think about, you know, there there are appropriate clothes for a job interview or appropriate clothes to, you know, go to church in or to go to a business meeting in. And there's appropriate clothes and hairstyles to show a pig with. So um basically something that's you know short uh if you're a boy and and clean cut looking. Uh we have had some conversations with kids that we help. Um we actually have a boy that uh works for us Mason. We used to call him Mason Mullet because he had a mullet. Uh and we had him shorten that as much as he was uh comfortable with so he looked more professional in the ring and looked like a pig kid. You want to look like a kid that that um is in this industry, involved in tune. And so um on boys, that means you know, a clean cut haircut, not long, nothing that's in your face. Um even though at San Antonio we do have a mullet counter on the live stream, um, you know, that that's not ideal. So uh on boys.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Like big like yeah, like like you said, cut, but yeah, nothing that's big and poopy. But it looks intentional. Like threw your cap off.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

I was gonna say, yeah, you talked about that earlier. You know, don't make it look like you just threw your cap off and ran in the ring.

unknown 4:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Um Caden lately has started wearing a cap and um kind of have to fix it up a little bit more. Yeah, this weekend when we showed Steers, he took his cap off and we had to kind of tame his hair down just a little bit. So um, but yeah, no, I think that's a good point. You act if you're a boy, you actually want to make it look nice, not all disheveled and and that kind of stuff. So anything else you want to add on boys' hair?

SPEAKER_00 4:33

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Okay. Girls, um we prefer that if girls have long hair, or even if you have short hair and it can get in your face, we prefer if you to wear it back. Um, Cam wears her hair in a uh ponytail and a braid. Um, you know, uh I know a lot of girls wear ponytails or half up, half down. Um, if you have pretty long hair like Cam does, you just have to make sure it's not falling in your face. It's real distracting if a girl is showing and she's constantly, you know, flipping her hair or or using her other hand to get her hair out of her eyes or anything like that. So um I can't think of anything else on a girl hair-wise.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Um, I want to do a messy bun that kind of looks sloppy.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, no, we have talked about that before. Um, we had some girls starting out showing and they were using a pretty messy bun, and that can look a little bit or even any bun on top, unless if you're like a little girl. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

But if you have a lot of hair and it's kind of like a big bun, that kind of is distracting.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Distracting, yeah, yeah. Um, so but again, you don't want to take anything away from the pig. If you have a hairstyle that somebody's gonna see your hairstyle before they see your pig, um, then you might need to rethink that.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

So or even if it is back, just not real like big and poofy.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Right, you know. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so uh we talked about hair and and no hats. Um, you know, we didn't really talk about makeup. I guess your face would be. Yeah, I just thought about that too. Yeah. Um, so again, nothing real distracting.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah. Um and also you're gonna be sweating, so right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Um shirts, okay. If you talk about shirts for boys first, what would you say there?

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Just long sleeve button up, tuck it in, good. Make sure that like some of it's in and some of it's out. You don't want that. That kind of looks messy again.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

And her and I had when we were preparing for this episode, uh, we were actually talking to Caden about this, and he was adamant. Like, if you're at a major show, you wear a long-sleeve shirt. And I do think it probably looks the most professional um now at Dallas when it's 114 degrees. I it's not some, you know, law-breaking thing, I don't think, for someone to wear a short-sleeve shirt.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

You just need to make sure it's not like flamboyant and like distracting again.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Like the brush popper that dad had that he wore. Yeah. We might be roll that. Uh no, I mean a long sleeve button-down uh shirt. Uh again, you know, a pattern that's just appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

I wear stripes.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah, Camlin wears uh blue and white stripes. Caden uh wears it's his is kind of blue and and reddish. Um our kids have decided they they basically picked a shirt that they started showing in, and we have kept that same color the entire time.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Same exact shirt pretty much. Yeah, the same exact mine.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Yeah, Caden, it he he grew a little, so we had to find uh the closest thing that we could um with that. Uh I know when it's been cold, Cam has worn a vest. Like when you're at Fort Worth, it was real cold. I was looking at that picture over there, and you have a vest on over your striped shirt. Uh so that's fine.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Uh it was just a plain white vest, though. It didn't have all these patterns and stuff on it.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah. Uh you mentioned sweaters earlier because girls like Yeah, a lot of girls wear sweaters now.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

And I I think that it looks pretty good as long as it's not too hot and you're like overheating.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah, Camlin could never wear a sweater. She gets hot too fast. So um, and this goes with whether we're talking about your hair, your shirt, your pants, the shoes you wear. You need to be comfortable in it. And if it's a shirt that, you know, somehow the way it fits, like Caden cannot wear starched clothes. He he's he cannot handle the feel of starch. So you've got to be sure that it's comfortable so that you're not fidgeting with your clothes when you need to be showing your pig. Uh hence why you could never wear a sweater because you would get too hot.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

And I would also say with the sweater though, it's not like you just throw a polo sweater on. It's on top of, like a lot of girls wear on top of their long sleeve shirts. Shirt. Right. Yeah. And I'm not real I can't really remember. Some people tuck them in, some people don't. It's just like how it looks good. It doesn't need to be like halfway down your jeans, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Yeah. Well, and I think that goes another thing. Some people would be more comfortable with it tucked in, some people would not be as comfortable with it tucked in.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

And then also another thing I just thought about with I mean, even with your button up or with, like we were saying, a short sleeve shirt maybe at Dallas that isn't too flowy, is you don't necessarily probably want to wear a v-neck or your and you want to make sure your buttons are up, not where it's like up here, but it doesn't even be down here because when you bend over, then like you're gonna be able to see. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

No, exactly. Yeah, I have videos of you as a little kid. You would put um clothes on and then you would show your pig act like you're showing your pig in the store to be sure that it your shirt was fine before you had landed on the button-up, you know, yeah, um, shirt. And and that's the other thing, you know. Um girls can they don't have to wear like a button-up long sleeve shirt, they can wear um some other kind of shirt. This is definitely not in my wheelhouse talking about clothes, but you just want to make sure that it's not too like big and flowy, yeah, and also like the pattern that's on it, because I mean the pattern can be distracting. Right, no, for sure. Um, but you know, uh, I know sometimes we'll see like these big long flowy sleeves and real flowy here, and it it's kind of distracting. It doesn't really fit a showroom setting.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

You also don't really want it tight either, like just kind of in the middle where it looks right, comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yeah, you know, at the end of the day, we still want to look professional.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Um and also also the material you wear because sometimes like lights hit it, and you'd have to think about all those things.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah, and um I mean I've seen everything, so let me let me figure out how to say this. Um I've seen a lot of you you bring up material, I mean like I've seen sequins in the ring, I've seen like super shiny stuff. Um, I do not prefer that. I think that is is um it just doesn't fit. Yeah, you know, and and we have the same conversation. Um we are not we talked about being prof looking professional in the ring. We are not a big fan of the blazer uh trend with girls or boys in the ring. Um number one, and the main reason is because um sometimes that jacket will open and it will end up touching the hip or the tail of that barra or gilt and it makes their tail go down.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Um and then you could button it, but then it kind of like gets open when you and the top.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

So that's number one because it could affect how your pig looks. Secondly, I just don't think it fits the show ring as well. If you look, I I've been trying to think about this because I know that that's kind of a trend these days. If you look at the pictures of, and I think this applies to anything, not just what a kid wears, but like, you know, how you fit your pig, um, how you feed your pig, everything. My parents always taught me, look at the pictures of the people that are winning. Look at the pictures of the people that won San Antonio, Houston, you know, Expo, all these things. Um, what's that kid dressed like? And I couldn't think of one that had one that had a blazer on. That does not mean that a blazer will keep you from winning or anything unless it makes her tail go down, and then it could. Um it I just don't think it's uh I just don't think it fits.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Yeah, like it fit for like an interview or like a nice occasion for a boy or or a girl. Yeah. But it doesn't that's just not necessarily what I think of when I think of a pig showman is not somebody in a blazer. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

That's a good way to put it. That's not what you think of when you think of anything.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

I think maybe some people could be like, what makes me stand out? Or like with the sequence, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

But the reason we want to stand out, or like we want to stand out because of our showmanship and because me and my pig look good.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Because you're pig, yeah. You want to stand out mostly because you're pig, because you are making your pig look as good as you can.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

But like you're saying, the full package, you know, like y'all need a fit and you want to stand out because your showmanship and the pig, uh, because of what you're wearing.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Correct. Yeah, that that's a great way to say that.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Like a pig show, not a fashion show.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

But yeah. No, that that's a great way to say that. So, um, okay, so we've talked about hair, shirts, pants.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Oh, one other thing I thought of was glasses. I didn't think about that until just now.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Um yeah, I mean, as long as they're I think it's something that's not, you know, they're comfortable and they're not gigantic. And you're not constantly like these, I could probably not show in these because I have to push them up all the time. Thankfully, I'm not showing anymore. Um and I had good eyesight when I did a long time ago. Um, so yeah, think about that on glasses. Um pants. Uh for boys, uh, you know, I think uh they don't need to be, obviously, they don't need to be skinny jeans. Um you know, boot cut probably. Uh make sure they're the right wash, you know, that they're not some like.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

I think like a medium to a little bit darker. I don't want them like black looking, but light wash doesn't necessarily fit, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yeah, and that that's a little bit of a per personal preference. You don't see a lot of guys wear real light washes. Um, but and you know, Caden went, we're just picking on him. He's in Oklahoma today, so we can pick on him. Um he used to wear high waters. Yeah. Terribly, terribly, and he didn't care. Um, and so uh they can be a little skinny sometimes.

unknown 14:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

So just make sure they fit right, that you know, the pant sizes, the right, uh at the bottom.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Uh you don't want them to like be dragging the ground either.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Yeah, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Yeah, like sometimes with at least with girls, I've never really seen it with boys, but you can cuff them. You know, I've never seen that with a boy.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

No, that would look funny if a boy cuffed his pants. So just make sure they're the right length and they're the right um, you know, cut at the bottom to fit over whatever shoe you're wearing.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

And like you were saying with Caden, he doesn't like starch. Right, and a lot of boys do starch jeans.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

I was gonna say I prefer starch jeans, honestly. I think they look nicer, classier, crisper, but he just can't handle that feel.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

So they also don't need to be too baggy, I would say, because like Mason, he like that works here. Remember when he was doing um the camp and he was trying to show how to like do a hawk type of hawk, and he and his pants were like super baggy and starch, and he was like, You got some baggy pants on.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

I don't remember that, but you will see it whether it's a a a boy or a girl. If you're having to show your pig and then hike your pants up with your other hand, you need to get a better belt or a different pair of pants. Yeah. So um, girls' pants, um, along the same lines, except girls' pants can get a little out of bounds for me if you get the real big, big bottoms. Bell bottoms. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of that in the ring. They're cute anywhere else. I just don't think it you look like a pig kid if you're wearing really flared jeans in the ring.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

And some like a lot of people, including me, wear sevens. You don't have to wear sevens. No, like that's not mandatory. A lot of girls.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

No, I actually think it would make a lot of sense to not wear them because you're gonna get some poop on them and some other stuff on them, and they're not cheap. So I think it'd be great to wear something else. Um, but again, make sure they fit right, um, that they're not, you know, too tight, too loose.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

And that I feel like wash is even more on girls than boys. I feel like boys' wash is normal is normally pretty good. But sometimes a girl's wash can get a little lighter, but sometimes it doesn't look bad. You just have to pair it right with what your right shirt is, you know. Yeah. Like light wash on me doesn't look the greatest, but on somebody else it looks good.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Right. Um, okay, so we've talked about that. Um, belts, uh, I think most kids, you look like a stock show kid when you wear a belt and a belt buckle. Um, I know the lamb deal, uh, we don't know anything about sheep and goats, but I see that they have to wear it sideways and all that because of how they show their sheep. That you know, their buckle, it doesn't work. Um, if that is not comfortable with you, because we do the the trend now is you kind of you know bend over just a little bit to show your pig, if that's not comfortable with you to have a belt buckle on, then just wear a belt, you know. Or if you um are a girl and you have a shirt um that that that is that does not get tucked in but is also not too flowy and you know, maybe long. Yeah, not too long, and you don't have to tuck it in.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

And you don't prefer to wear a belt.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

I I think if you tuck your shirt in, it would probably be best to wear a belt. Even if you don't wear it with a buckle, just like a little agree. Yeah, what that's called.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Um, I I wish, and maybe we'll find some pictures of these like different shirts that we're talking about for girls. Um, it mainly in the summer at a jackpot, is what I'm thinking, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

Um that aren't like I wear a shirt uh when I show at jackpot during the summer that I would not wear at a major.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

That's uh that was gonna be my next point, is there might be some stuff that you'd wear at a jackpot that you wouldn't.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

And you still don't want it to be too distracting at a jackpot. Right. Like I've even got commented on it on my shirt at a Seerjackpot, and she's like, I realize it's hot, and all these other had all these other people had long sleeves on, and I'm like, I'm not wearing long sleeve for now. But I wouldn't even I didn't matter if it was hot at the majors, I would wear uh your long sleeve shirt. Because it just looks the most professional.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Yeah. Um, okay, so next would be shoes. Uh both of my kids uh show their pigs in in Hey Dudes. Um again, it doesn't have to be a specific brand, it's just like a this is gonna date me when I say this, but kind of like a loafer type shoe. You don't even know what that means, do you? Yeah. Um some kids wear uh boots and uh that that's fine. Some kids wear um tennis shoes. A couple things to consider. If you don't wear boots every day so that when you wear them you aren't comfortable and you look like you're slipping and sliding around.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

And since you walk a lot with pigs, you kind of then don't show in boots.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

It needs to be something uh you know, I think we talked about Dallas Martinez wears boots. He looks like he's probably comfortable in them. It's not distracting. Um when you first started wearing boots showing cattle.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Oh, I sh I showed some pigs and boots too.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Well, and it looks like you were like a little thing skating on ice because you didn't really know how to walk in them. So it's a little distracting. Just be make sure it's something comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

And it fits with your jeans, because if you have skinnier jeans on, it's not gonna you don't need to tuck your jeans in your boot.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

No. Um if you wear athletic shoes, I would say not big, clunky ones.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Uh your feet are real big, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Not not, you know, solid white.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah, I was about to say, or bright white, because then that's another distracting thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Um I think Kenley, hers her tennis shoes were white, but I think they're kind of they had been worn, so they're not. They weren't distracting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Um and I wouldn't say like I don't really know anything about shoes, that's not really my department, but on like cool looking shoes. Like like I don't I don't know, like those one those blue ones I have with the star on it. Oh yeah. I like just I I would just like I said, you're not trying to put all this focus on you. So if you have some shoe, I don't I don't even know what an example would be, but uh well those are shoes that you wear to a baseball game, not to a pig shoe.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Yeah, or to show your pig in.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yeah. Like you don't necessarily have want to have need to have cool shoes on while you're showing a pig.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Like some people are showing a Nike, whatever that is now.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Just something that's not distracting. And and um it's important, especially when your kids are little, or if you have a son, um, and it's not to pick on boys, and I mean I guess it could be a girl too, but if your child is growing and um kind of in an awkward stage of like uh coordination, um, and they're having a hard time keeping up with their pig to begin with, um, when you're practicing at home, I would practice in the show in the shoes you're gonna show in. Because if you, you know, uh it's been raining on and off here, and and there's probably some times where we could need to wear mud boots to the show barn, but you would not practice in mud boots because it's hard to keep up with your pig and it they're kind of clunky and distracting. So, you know, practice what you're gonna show with uh at home.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah, I mean you don't have to practice with it every day, but just where you're comfortable in it.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Yeah, yeah. A lot of it goes down, it needs to look right, but it needs to be comfortable for you so that that uh you're not thinking about your clothes while you're showing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

So and then also on the boots, um, like like you said, some people like it's more comfortable with it. Obviously, it's not comfortable with me. I can't walk in boots very well. But um, like we said on tennis shoes, they don't need to be big and clunky. There are some big clunky boots that don't need to be worn either.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

More like work boots than they are um like nice Western boots maybe.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

I I don't really know what like I I guess you would say cowboy boots is the more appropriate. I don't really know.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yeah, no, any kind of boot, the the smaller you can make your shoe selection the better. Um okay, so we've talked about uh hair, shirts, pants, belts, shoes.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

One more thing on the shoes. Is like the color does matter. Like we said on the bright white, but there's also like some bright pink or bright whatever.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Like that's another personal preference thing, but you just need to have in mind to not be distracting. Like if you have bright red or bright pink shoes on.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yeah, that would that would draw attention to your feet instead of instead of you and your pig. Um so kind of to go over some accessory type things. Um and I just thought about this. Uh wild rags on girls.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Oh yeah, I didn't think about that.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Um I think you could wear one where it wouldn't be too distracting.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Like uh the Pew Girl where the Pew Girl. And it looked good. And she wore a sweater and that.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Yeah. Um, but you know, don't get them. Sometimes they can get kind of big and long and yeah, you need to know how to tie it, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:46

I guess. Right. Yeah. That would not be our department. That's not our department. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

We can't go out with that. Um, but along with Wild Rags, you know, jewelry. Um, you can tell that I have no jewelry on at the moment. That's kind of how I am. Um, but if you're showing, you know, I know a lot of people or some people like to wear like long bangle bracelets or a lot of bangly bracelets or something. I think that could be a little distracting.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Especially when they move up and down to make noises.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. So I think your your jewelry just needs to fit and match the ring again.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Yeah, like I don't wear jewelry just because it kind of gets in my way. Like even with rings, like it might make my fingers hurt or something. Like when I w show sears, I take or ant pigs, I take all my jewelry off, unless if my necklace. Yeah. Because like also if I wear a charm bracelet, which does make noise too, but like just a loose bracelet, my whip could get stuck in it, and then like it might take me one or two seconds to take it out. But for those one or two seconds, my pig's head might be down on the judge might be looking at me.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

So I take all jewelry off except for my one little necklace. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

No, and and I mean, I prefer that. You know, I'm not saying there's not jewelry that you could wear and it would be fine, but I prefer Yeah, like a lot of people are wearing stacked now, and that's like good.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

I would go with like a more minimalist kind of stack. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Or like with earrings, I don't wear earrings, but I wouldn't do big hoops probably because that could be another thing that's in your way. Yeah. Or it's just kind of distracting, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Too much attention to the jewelry versus the animal. Yeah. Um, and obviously, if you're a boy, I do not think you need to wear earrings.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

No. But some some people wear or some boys wear necklaces.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Necklaces, and that's fine as long as it's not too big.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Yeah, I probably like when I have my necklace, just like how my shirt lays, I tuck it in to my shirt. Yeah. And like if it comes out, it comes out. But I just kind of tuck it in.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Um and then also another thing I thought on the shirt I forgot to bring up is the collar. Okay. Like I the collar and the tuck. Like we said, we probably tuck your long sleeve button up in. Yeah. Um, and I always do like a tuck check and a collar check before I go in the ring. But with um, like when you're tucking it in, I always get it like pretty tight and then like just kind of put it out where it's not like puffy. But then also before I go in the ring, I bend over to make sure that move around, and like if I need to like go down and grab my whip or like if I drop it or my brush or something.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Only your brother drops brushes, you don't draw brushes.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

There's a reason for that. Anyways. And um, so I just like make sure my tuck isn't too like big, it isn't like tight. Right. But like if it's where I can move around, and then like with the collar, obviously you don't want to tuck your necklace into your collar. That would I've never seen anybody do that, but anyways, and then um like make sure it's not up and wrinkled in the back. Yeah. You just want it to make sure like you get look like put together in a pig showman.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Right. Intentional. Um, so some other things that maybe aren't necessarily clothes or attire but are accessories, um, is your back number. Um, and not all shows have these, but uh, most of our major shows do. Um, we like to use safety pins to put them on the back of the shirt. Um, some people will use it like on the mid-back, not down. Mid back. We're real particular about some things. Um, some people use a belt clip to put it on the back. Um, I wouldn't put it on the side. That's gonna look like a cattle thing. If you're gonna use a belt clip, I would put it on the back. Um, I would not show in a number harness. Uh, that's more of a cattle situation. That's you know, you're gonna look like a cattle showman in a pig ring if you have a number harness on. Um brushes, and um, we're not just saying this because of uh Cam's business of second-year strow brush, but there are some brushes that I don't think are um the most appropriate or look the best in the ring. So basically uh we're gonna uh you know want you to show with some kind of brush that looks similar to this. Um Sullivan's also has one, but I couldn't find one in the back of the barn here. Yeah, it's like an EX87 or I don't know, something like that. Yeah, maybe you can b-roll that, Mr. Producer. Um, and so uh we prefer something like this. Um Cam makes brushes. You want to tell them how or why you make brushes like that?

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Um I make brushes like this for kind of smaller hands, or even if you have a big hand, just be able to like hold on to your brush better. And then also you can put it in your back pocket. So like if you don't necessarily use your brush all the time, like I use my brush all the time, even at the house. That's another thing you want to practice with what you're gonna show with at the house.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Right. Whether it's brush or whip for that matter.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Yeah. Um but or for your pig and you to get used to it. But if you just put it in your pocket and like if you need it, then it's a lot easier to put that in your back pocket than it is then. Since it's half bristle.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Yeah. Um, this would be a little bit too big and kind of an odd size. I wouldn't say, you know, this rice fruit brush. I don't think this is a good show brush. Um, you know, probably 10-ish years ago, I couldn't even find one of these brushes to show y'all because we don't have them anymore. But the kind of it's like a it's like black bristles and then it has a little handle that you like hold. Yeah. Um we just don't show with those anymore. It just doesn't, it doesn't fit the trend. Like you brought up Emily Muellstein when she was young.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

And she won San Anton. Did she have it in the San Anton picture?

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Oh, yeah, she does in her back pocket. So in 2021, that was fine. Yeah. Um, today it's probably still fine if you have it in your back pocket, but it you don't prefer that. No. Um but definitely you don't hold that kind in your hand.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

No, like I know you can't really utilize it because it's going everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Yeah, I know it it has a handle, so you would think like, oh, that would be good to hold.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

I can barely even oil a pig with it.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Yeah, we just don't really like those kind of brushes, and I don't think they look the most professional in the ring now. Yeah, no. You know, like we talked about 20 years ago, people used to show with their hand behind their back. Uh, but now we don't.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

With canes or pointing at your pig back in your day.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

We did not point at them. Um so uh and then you know, two years ago, uh Cam showed with this comb. Um it was a different steer comb, but well, but it was a it was a comb because that barrow went it made him go faster.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Uh sometimes the brush doesn't work. Yeah, it's supposed to.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

So this steer she showed with this steer comb. She still had that brush in her back pocket, I think, in case she needed to, you know, clean her pig up, but she did show with a comb like this because he went the best with that.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Yeah, but also let me add. I like went like this on the side, you know, like I would with a normal brush. I've seen a few people go like this on their back or this. I wouldn't do that just because it's kind of distracting. And then also it may not be. Or even if the it puts if it's high if they're high topped and you hit it and it makes it go down, then the judge is gonna be like you're kind of pointing the flaw out to them. Right. It's not really what our intent's trying to be.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Yeah, like when we loin our steers too much sometimes. Yeah. Um, okay, so we've talked about brushes. Um is there anything else that we haven't talked about? Oh.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

On the rice root, I would some pigs I think I think somebody in our group had one that they had to show with like a rice shoot that was kind of like this. Harder. Because they wouldn't or a harder bristled brush because it wouldn't go. Right. But a rice shoot is also gonna make the pig's side red a lot and like irritated and hurt and right just like even though it's harder like with that, it's hard for you to hold it and it doesn't look the greatest, it's not the greatest for your pig either.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah, no, true. Um so like we said in the onset, these are all opinions of ours, and and um that also goes along with, you know, in Texas, this is kind of what works in Texas. Um, I can't imagine that it's a lot different um in other states, but it could potentially be, you know, what what kind of fits and is appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

Um what um another thing on brushes is with the Sullivan's brush, like we talked about putting this in your pocket. Yeah, but a lot of people that don't use their brush, like I think it looks pretty good to put a brush in your pocket, but you need to make sure it's not gonna fall out. Oh, yeah. Because I mean, obviously then that would kind of be distracting, and then the person's gonna have to come bring it to you. Yeah. Like just me, and you're not gonna have to like want to keep pushing it back in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

I would just have a brush that fits in your pocket. Yes, and second year show brush.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah. Um but also I show with obviously a second year show brush, but then I also have a circum in my back pocket, and I just put it in there where it's not gonna, you know, kind of slide everywhere, and so then I can fluff the pig's legs. Yeah. So I kind of have both. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Um, so anyway, back to what I was saying about it, could be a little bit different in your state. Like I know in the Midwest right now there's this trend of like putting your hand on your side. Um I'm not a big fan of that, and it hasn't made it to Texas yet. Um, I just I I don't think it looks comfortable. That's a whole nother discussion. That's ring presence, that's you know, an opinion. Um, we can do whips another day. Um but uh is there anything else that we can think of on apparel? It uh I didn't, I just I looked at Josh and it made me think. If you're a boy, you need to shave um and not have a beard uh or facial hair if you're a uh high school kid. Um and so you need to, yeah, shave the morning of the show.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

Uh you don't really want to look 25 when you're pig.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Yeah, which in Texas we can only show till we're, you know, in 18. So that well, 19, I guess you have to you're in high school in Texas when you show. In the Midwest that might be different.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Well, it is different, but well, but I was looking at Emily's picture again. I sure hope we don't have to show in masks again.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Yeah, no, it looks silly to look back at pictures that have masks, but you know, that'll be the deal. But um anyway, back on topic, you know, um, like we talked about, trends have changed. I mean, um I I don't know if we've brought it up on a show pig episode on uh uh this podcast episode before, but I remember when uh when Kelton showed his first pig at Houston, he showed up with a brush and he won the crosses, and in between the crosses in the grand drive, Dirk Aaron brought him a whip. Okay, so things change. Uh we went to Louisville one year. We were the only two people with whips, everybody else had canes. Um you know, like we mentioned, people used to show with their hand behind their back. Uh things just kind of evolve and trends change in the ring that looks that fits the best. So just kind of watch that. Like I said again, look at the the families that are winning, watch them at shows. Um, when my parents were showing uh pure red Charlet cattle, mom said that they would watch the people. What halters did they use, what feed buckets did they use, just everything. Um, you want to look at the people who are winning and emulate kind of what they're doing, how they're dressed, how they fit their pig, all those things. Um because obviously they're doing something right.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

So one more thing I decided about on hair, claw clips.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

I I don't prefer claw clips. Just sometimes it looks like I don't know. It it doesn't necessarily look bad, but I feel like like what like a ponytail or a braid looks better. It's not, it's not necessarily bad, it's just something I guess.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

You remember when I said she had an opinion about stuff?

unknown 34:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

So uh anyway, we'll wind down this episode today. Thank you for helping us with it. Um, I'll thank your brother for us using him. I take tips at the door. Um, but uh no, we appreciate you guys uh listening to us today. Uh make sure that you um share our episodes on uh social media, that you like and subscribe. If you want to watch the video feed, then you need to watch this on YouTube. If you just want to hear the audio, then you can find it on Spotify and Apple and I don't know, all these other things, platforms that I don't don't know about. Um our techie person is not on today with us to line me out on that. But just be sure that you share and and like and subscribe to our podcast uh so that more people can see it.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

There's also one more thing. Oh my goodness, what is it? Like nose piercings?

SPEAKER_01 35:16

Yeah, nose piercings really don't fit in the ring. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

I was just thinking of piercings for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

No, I would say if you have a nose piercing, let's take that out to show with. I don't even know if you can is that a thing you could take out? I don't know about that. Yeah, okay. Um, anyway, thank you guys for uh listening to us today, and we will see you on the next episode of Showpick Simple.