Changes made in stock show rules

By Sam Waller

A few changes were made for the 2024 Shackelford Youth and Livestock Show on Tuesday, April 11 at the Shackelford Youth and Livestock Association’s annual meeting.

Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said slight changes were made to the commercial steer class, which made its debut at the 2023 show in January, as well as to how swine will be classified.

The Association also approved the purchase of a photo backdrop for exhibitors to pose in front of with their animals.

Bell said most of the changes to commercial steers were made to address issues that arose in the class’ inaugural year.

“It was mostly working out some logistics on what worked and what we need to change,” Bell said. “We’re going to add a test to that contest and change up the record book a little bit.”

Bell said the record book changes were made to bring more uniformity to the competition.

“We left that really open so the kids could use the same record book they’d be using for other shows, but I think that was just too difficult,” she said. “We need to be comparing apples to apples. The judges need it all to be the same, so there is going to be a specific record book format next year.”

Horse Show

Bell said validation deadline for horses to be entered in the Shackelford County Horse Show is Monday, May 1.

Creation of the horse show was given official approval at the Association meeting, but Bell has already put in work to make the event, scheduled for Saturday, May 6, at Fikes Arena, a reality.

“I have all my buckle sponsorships filled, but if anyone would still like to sponsor the horse show, we will be needing to purchase other prizes and things,” she said. “We still want the support.”