FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Angus Heifers Draw Attention at North American
By Kirsten Hill
LOUISVILLE, KY – November 17, 2009 – Black Angus heifers took center ring in the
Coliseum at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) this morning.
A heifer is considered a young cow over one-year-old that has not produced any
offspring. The beef breed, Angus, was one of the five breeds of cattle that first appeared at the
livestock expo when it began in 1974.
Heifers require a lot of time and hard-work by their owners to get good results. “I give
myself a couple months to get a heifer fully prepared for show,” said Holly Gamble Meier, who
is showing in several events at the NAILE.
An important training procedure to having a successful show heifer is for the animal to be
halter broken. Time varies with each animal as to how long it will take for a heifer to become
accustomed to a halter. Some may take a week, while others may take several weeks, she said.
Meier started showing at the NAILE in 1990. Cattle are a tradition in her family. Her
father grew up on a dairy farm and Meier showed her first calf in the late 1980’s. This year her
group brought seven Angus and one SimAngus (a cross between a Simmental and an Angus) to
compete at the NAILE.
“When a heifer gets judged, she is critiqued on structure soundness, mobility, femininity
and stoutness,” Meier said. To make a heifer appear feminine, show preparation involves
washing, clipping and brushing the animal before a competition.
She added that her family currently markets and sells Junior Angus heifers to kids across
the country. Most children either use the heifer to start their own line of cattle, or they aquire the
animal for a project in FFA or 4-H.
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