Use Later With My Own Cattle example essay topic

A noun that has played a major part in my life is cow. My life revolves around those nose-picking, cud chewing, cloven-hoofed animals that have taught me a lifetime of responsibility, caring, and pride. One thing I have learned through my cattle is responsibility. Every morning and evening, no matter the weather, I greet my calves through the barn door.

I am responsible for watering and feeding them twice a day and brushing them at least once a day. I learn a lot about feeding techniques and daily weight gain in feeding them. This is a skill my cousin has that I hope to one day learn and understand and use later with my own cattle. Also, all cattle are different and must be groomed differently.

I have learned a lot about grooming cattle over the years through trial and error. I have been fitting and grooming my cattle on my own for almost two years and, with constructive criticism from judges, I have learned the proper and improper grooming techniques. This summer a showmanship judge gave me some constructive criticism on how I groomed my steer. I took his advice, and the next day I won the grooming contest.

I used his knowledge, along with my own, to make my animal look the best that it possibly could. I will all this knowledge and responsibility later on in life to help others as well as improve my own cattle in the future. Not only do I care for them on a daily basis, but also through that I form emotional bonds with every calf that steps hoof on our lot. Over the years I have learned to care a lot about my cattle as if they were my dogs. I think it is healthy to love any kind of animal, whether it be dog, cow, or rhinoceros; I think it also helps to understand the animal.

When I bond with an animal, deep down I know I can trust them; I believe they have the same trust in me. This summer I was working on my steer at the Georgetown Fair grooming competition. Most exhibitors use chutes to contain their animals, but I left my steer, Elmo, freely standing. I was able to be practically sitting on the ground working on his legs without worry of him kicking because we have that special bond. I remember thinking how lucky I was that not only did I trust Elmo, but that he had that much trust back in me. Because of this bond, the judge was very impressed and, in the end, we won the competition.

Along with that responsibility and love comes pride. It does not matter if my steer comes out dead last or Grand Champion over all; I still know that they did their best and I am proud. I take a lot of pride in having cattle as well. I love seeing the faces on people when I tell them of my thirteen hundred and thirty pound steer or my twenty-five hundred pound bull, my pets. At the fairs I love people to stop and ask questions about my cattle. I take a lot of pride in telling people about them.

The best part is lifting the young kids up so that they are able to run back to their parents proudly announcing, "I got to pet a cow!" This summer I received the very dignified Karen Spes ard memorial award for my involvement in the cattle barns and with other people. I take a lot of pride in that as well. At the end of year, when it is time to say good-bye, I will never forget how much I cared for them. Sometimes I am lucky enough to see them out in the pasture every day, and others I know have to leave, but that pride in them never dies. Every day I pick a few apples from our tree and hand feed them. It is nice to know that they still have that trust in me to greet me at the fence to receive some apples and a few head rubs.