For a free version of Adobe Reader Click Here

Fitting Tips are also available in a PDF to print - Click Here-

Step 1- Rinsing and Washing
For best results the steer must be rinsed and blown dry daily.   Before you begin rinsing, blow all dirt and dust out of your calf's hair. When rinsing daily do not use shampoo more than one time a week.   Conditioner should be used daily to help keep the hair healthy and manageable.   A good conditioner to use is Mane and Tail.   Once your calf is rinsed, comb hair in the following directions:

First:
Second:
Third:

By following this process, you will find your calf's hair much more manageable come show day.

Step 2- Drying
Once you have properly combed the hair, you will need to blow it dry in the same direction as you combed it in the third procedure of STEP 1. Special Tip :   On show day, if your calf is dried first with the blower, then left to air dry three hours before you begin fitting or clipping, the hair will look and be more manageable.

Step 3- Clipping
The phrase to remember is “Rectangle & Square.”   You want your calf to look like a rectangle from his side profile (in figure to right) and a square from the front and rear view. When looking at the profile of your calf, you want to see smooth lines from front to back.   To achieve this you start by spraying the entire body of the calf with Sullivans Pink Oil and lightly blow it in.   Begin by clipping the high spots on your calf and clip the hair to the lowest length. Then create your line by blending into the rest of the low points.   The hair on the head of the calf should be completely shaved off, along with the bottom of the neck. (To do this go against the natural direction of it's hair ).

Continue down between the front legs trimming all the hair off.   At the back of the front legs, blend hair from the brisket to the stomach, and then shave the hair completely off the sheath of your calf.   On the back of the rear quarter of the calf,l shave with the grain of the hair to smooth and square it off. The tail will be shaved from the top of the twist straight up to the tail head to make it look square.   On the top of the tail head, back and neck, make it look as wide as possible.   From the calf's side profile, make it look like a ski jump, shown in the figure to the left. This is done by taking the high points and shaving them down and blending into the low points.

 

Step 4- Fitting
For best results, you may want to purchase and use:

Sullivan's Pink Oil, Sullivan's Clear Prime Time Adhesive, Sullivan's Clear Mousse, Sullivan's Black Touch-up and Sullivan's Hocus Pocus. Other brands may be used, but Sullivan's has proven to be the best.   To receive a catalog or order a product, visit www.sullivansupply.com

Once your calf has completely dried you may begin to fit him for show.

First:   Spray the entire body of the calf with pink oil and lightly blow it in with your dryer. This will soften and moisturize the hair.

Second : Spray Sullivan's Clear Mousse over the entire body of the calf, excluding the legs.   Once sprayed on, you will work it in with a brush. Once completely brushed, you will then use the blow dryer to blow it into the hair.   For best results, blow the hair in the same direction as before (shown in figure to the right).   The mousse must be blown in for twenty minutes or more.   The longer it is blown, the fluffier the hair will become, --that's the secret .

 

Third : Use the Sullivan's Prime Time Adhesive to bone the calf's legs or in other words, pull the hair up.   Start at the hoof of the animal and spray the adhesive on the leg then comb it up, so on and so on until you reach the middle of the calf's rear end.

Fourth :   You will square the legs up with clippers once the leg hair is combed up.   Trimming the leg hair is similar to the trimming the body. Take down the high points and square them up, then blend into the low points.

Fifth :   Use Sullivan's Prime Time Adhesive to hold up the hair on the tail head to make the ski jump appearance mentioned before. Once it is pulled up don't forget to trim it up with the clippers.

Sixth : Just before you enter the show ring use a light spray of Prime Time to help hold up the hair.


Step 5 - Breaking Down
After the show, it is important to wash out the adhesives from the calf's hair.  First, use Sullivan's Hocus Pocus to loosen the adhesive so that it can be washed out. The steer must be washed head to toe, start with the legs and work up. Let the steer get use to the water so you don't give him a shock from hot to cold. Be sure to let the steer cool down before you wash him. This time use soap and conditioner to get all the junk out that you put in.   Then we start at STEP 1 again
.
Western Livestock Source
Fitting Tips - Nathan Bushman - 2005