At a quick glance, a walk in the show boots of David Dyment would take you through thousands of laps on the colored shavings, and into the World Dairy Expo supreme champion spotlight five times.
But that would be only a fraction of the highlight reel of Dyment’s storied career. A true walk in his well-worn boots would take us through five decades and thousands of hours of not only showing, but also networking, judging, fitting and developing sires.
His story began in Ontario, Canada, in the 1960s, the same as many young 4-H kids: chasing after a haltered heifer and a mom who “made him do it.”
“When I was 7, they thought it’d be a good idea that I showed a calf. I think my dad thought I was a lost cause,” Dyment says. “The calf would take off, and I would let it go. It’s funny when you get to my age, and there are things I have no recollection of, but I have recollection of walking that calf behind the silos. She was difficult, but my mother persevered.”
Dyment says from that point on, showing became something he really liked. There’s a large emphasis on showmanship in Canada, and his focus in 4-H was always more on showmanship than on winning the type show. Thanks to the help of some great mentors, he began to see a degree of success by the time he was 15.
10,000 Hours To Be An Expert
At age 17, Dyment recalls a moment of truth while he was working as a fitter in an elite show string.
“I went up to the ring and watched this heifer I had prepped become Junior Champion. When the guy who was showing her came out with his white clothes on, he got all the congratulations, and no one said a word to me,” he says. ”That was my turning point. I got to thinking, ‘I’m pretty good at that too. I’m gonna be in the ring, I’m not doing this anymore.’”
To go from a successful 4-H showman to a high-level fitter, to a world-class dairy Expo showman, Dyment says without hesitation the ticket is 10,000 hours.
“The more you do it, the better you can get. And trust me, I have my 10,000 hours,” he says. “The other thing is, I was a Holstein judge at one time. And that was an invaluable experience, because I know what’s going through their heads. I can sense it — I know what they’re thinking, so when I’m showing, I’m judging too.”
At first, Dyment says it wasn’t a paid gig, either. It has become one, but even now, having led dozens of heifers and cows, of almost every breed, into the top 10 and beyond, he says it’s not about the money.
“There’s hardly a person born I wouldn’t consider a friend,” he says. “Accepting or declining isn’t based on the level at which their animal can compete, either.”
It Takes A Village
A strong network of key partnerships and great mentors is one unchanging factor in Dyment’s career that he doesn’t take for granted.
“Mike Duckett and I owned a business together, and we’ve been friends for a hundred years,” he says. “I worked with Ernie Kueffner and showed Ashlyn,
she was supreme here, and then with Arethusa Melanie, she was supreme too. Then with the Ducketts bringing Frosty to supreme twice.”
And that barely scratches the surface. Dyment also talks of Brian Carscadden and Greg Brain, the first to put him at the halter at World Dairy Expo.
“I sent them to see a 2-year old, they purchased her and had me lead her. She was fourth or fifth down here, and then we won the Royal. You get lucky every now and then,” he says.
There’s one other factor that has remained constant for Dyment over the years: his boots. He has worn the exact same pair of boots into the showring for around 25 years. He doesn’t consider them “lucky,” but at the same time he can’t deny the success that those boots have walked through.
After so many years of working among the best dairy cows at the biggest shows, the novelty of World Dairy Expo still isn’t lost on him.
“Quite frankly, just being here is huge,” he says. “And if you make the top 10, that’s even better.”
Over the years and the hours, Dyment’s show boots have walked through some incredible experiences. He says as long as he can walk, he’ll keep that same pair of boots walking around the showring, keeping step with champion-level cows.
