Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Matt Glaze and I am from Wharton County and a member of the state 4-H council. I have been asked to tell you about my experiences with unethical practices I have seen in showing cattle in county and major shows.

One of the major problems I have witnessed, in junior shows, is what I call the "Daddy" syndrome. This is when you see the parents living their lives through their child's activities. The child is given a heifer as he or she enters the ring. The heifer proceeds to trample the child and all the adults and other exhibitors run to help this poor child who is now had a very unpleasant experience. I personally believe a child should not be allowed to show until he or she is in the sixth grade. I also question who has done the majority of the work with the animals. I have witnessed professional cattlemen use their child to advance their herd recognition. Was the child responsible for this animal or has Dad had one of his many employees working with the animal? The "Daddy" syndrome has no place in the junior livestock shows.

The second concern of mine is the altering of papers by breeders. I was showing a six-month-old heifer with two others in my class. I was second in line behind a heifer that was twice the size of mine. The judge looked at the three heifers and asked the officials for birth dates. This was my first indication that something was wrong. Then I realized the major size difference. From the observations of the crowd, they also felt there must have been alterations in the birth dates. I might also mention, that my heifer grew to be a very large framed cow. Breeders need to be aware that they can put an exhibitor in poor standing by altering a date just to make a sale.

Professional fitters or I call "show jocks" is my last concern. I feel they have no place in local or major junior shows. These shows are designed to promote learning by an individual. When professionals enter into the picture, the emphasis shifts to the winning principle. "Show jocks" need to provide programs to instruct exhibitors as well as leaders; these programs should be given prior to the show. They should be excluded from all junior shows because the exhibitor by this time, should be able to exhibit what he or she has learned, and not what a fitter can produce. For example, I have seen a professional fitter hand a heifer to a young man at the entrance of the ring, the young man showed the heifer, won his calss, proceeded to place second in the junior yearling division, leave the ring and hand the heifer to the fitter. What did this child learn from this experience, and what did those that witnessed the experience learn? Another experienc I have had was pressure from a breeder to break the rules. Our local fair rules prohibit any grooming by anyone other than the exhibitor, his\her immediate family, county agent or ag teacher, or a member of 4-H or FFA, only advisors or other members of the club are able to fit an animal. My breeder approached several times pressuring me to use outside help grooming my animal. I refused because my parents and I both felt this would reflect poorly on me and I know the correct procedure. I placed second in showmanship, and my steer made the major sale. I could be proud of my accomplishment with no fear of someone questioning me on my behavior. I might also mention there were others who the breeder tried to pressure into using a fitter, but they were influenced by my decision. I find if someone stands for the correct ideas, others will follow.

I hope we have more leaders, as well as parents who will enforce the rules instead of helping the child to break them. These are my three main concerns, the "Daddy" syndrome, the professional fitter, and the breeder alternations of records and pressuring of breeders to break, or should I say "bend the rules." I wish these were exceptions to the rules, but because we are at this conference, I know they are not.