Placing: 2-4-1-3
Cuts: 4-2-2
2-4-1-3 is how I like the Charolais heifers. In a group of quality females that presents lots of challenges, I never questioned tying into the 2 heifer.
Not only is she a standout in regard to stoutness of feature, power and maternal body shape, but it’s truly impressive she tandems this with an elite look from the profile. Here’s a female that is feminine in the shape to her head, she ties her neck high out of the top side of her shoulder and proportions extremely well from her shoulder back. Couple these intangibles with her big feet and flexible structural build and I think that’s a fun one in the ring and as a future breeding piece. Don’t get me wrong, I love 4’s look of maternal function. She’s a soft-bodied heifer who’s got lots of cow features upfront and reads good in terms of the angles of her skeleton while on the stand. Unfortunately, she just forfeits some of the extras of the class winner. The frailer featured female is flatter when you step in behind her and wants to drop her pins when set into motion.
No question, the remaining trio brings some debate. Yet amongst the two more functional females that I keep in the middle pair, 4 still has the advantage in overall cow power and practicality compared to 1. Study that pair from behind and the deeper sided 4 is bolder in the spring to her rib and views with more natural dimension and pin width, matching this with more natural bone and foot at the ground. Now down the road, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found more favor in 1. The bright white heifer is nearly perfect in terms of her skeletal angles and flexibility at the ground and she’s got the advantage from the profile where she is cleaner about her throat and chest and higher tying. But I guess I am not surprised the sounder structured better-looking female is a little disappointing when I step in behind her. She’s just too flat-bodied, narrow built and frail to make a play any higher for me.
However, quality and longevity of build keep her off the bottom in my final pair. I just think she offers more feminine quality upfront, while being smoother about her joints and more athletic in the way she moves out of her front shoulder. Now if stoutness and power is your thing, I wouldn’t argue with you moving 3 higher. She’s the stoutest boned heifer who’s got worlds of dimension when you study her from behind. But for me, this goes hand and hand with the fact she’s the coarsest made female who’s the most open about her shoulder, the roundest in her muscle shape and just too upright in the angle of her shoulder to move higher on my card, so she stays 4th.
