CALDWELL, Idaho — It's the moment many exhibitors work for - hoping their show animal makes weight to be eligible to participate in livestock shows.
Tuesday afternoon, beef and dairy were up, a moment many were nervous about.
Click here to find out exhibitors' efforts to get sheers and dairy cows ready for weigh-ins:
"Little voice in your head that's like, 'no, he's not gonna make weight,'" Mac Nye, 4H exhibitor, said.
"I knew I was gonna get in, but I wanted to make sure the vet knew," Hayden Christensen, 4H Exhibitor, said.
RELATED: Protecting livestock from summer heat
For the Canyon County Fair livestock shows, it's a checkpoint to see if their animal is show-ready, but it's not easy to determine their weight.
"And it's stressful because the animals are in a hot trailer, kids are stressed, parents are stressed, so everyone's nervous crossing fingers until the weight comes up, but usually [it] goes fine," said Jaime Short, an associate vet at Caldwell Veterinary Hospital.
Short says this part is crucial as it shows exactly how much work each animal requires. That means checking the animal's health in a comprehensive fashion, not only to be show-ready but to protect other animals as well.
"If one cow comes in with a little bit of a cold, they are in a tight barn where it's hot and they are stressed— pretty soon we are gonna have a barn with sick animals," Short explained.
But for Middleton Wranglers Claysen and Mac Nye, their animals surpassed the 1050lbs weight requirement by hundreds, emphasizing it was not easy but worth it.
"Takes a lot of patience," Clayson Nye, 4H Exhibitor, said.
"This guy is a little bit of a butt head," Nye added.
Many exhibitors form a routine over months to get their livestock ready for the big day.
When asked how long they prep their livestock for the big day, Mac replied, "Like 7 to 8 months." When asked if it's a lot to handle, he said, "Yeah, but you get used to it."
"I hope I can do this for the rest of my life until I'm old," Christensen said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.