I recently read this article in the Lancaster Farming written by Dick Wanner titled, A Fitting Job for the Farm Show, highlighting a professional dairy cattle fitter and describing the ins and outs of a day at a cattle show. Coming from my experiences showing beef cattle, I can definitely relate to the hard work and long hours it takes to get these animals ready and glamourous for the show ring. Here is an excerpt from the article…

One of the busiest guys at the 2009 Pennsylvania Farm Show was Brian Sparling, of Ralston, Pa. But he wasn’t showing, selling, scooping or judging. Sparling is a professional fitter, whose business it is to get dairy cows ready for the showing and the judging.

When we spotted him in the dairy barn last January, Sparling was putting the finishing touches on Lola, a spiffy looking Brown Swiss that was part of the Kir-Kare Dairy Farm in Millville, Pa. Karen Cramer — the “Kare” part of “Kir-Kare” — was at the Farm Show with 15 Brown Swiss, one Jersey and five little Cramers. Husband Kirk — the “Kir” part — stayed home to tend to chores.