Page 102 - Shorthorn Magazine

102
Shorthorn
JUDGE: OWAIN HARRIES
Royal Cheshire Show I 20th & 21st June 2023
A very wet day in Cheshire for the National Dairy Shorthorn Show, but a great success in terms
of quality on display.
In the baby calf class, judged in one of the biggest downpours of the day, the breed showed its hardy credentials with the calves braving the weather and presenting themselves well. In first I led with a super light roan calf, I really admired her balance, depth and openness of rib and also her dairy texture. It was this extra depth of rib, and cleanliness of bone that made
her stand out above my second placing, which was a big strong heifer. Second place was a lot more calf than my third placing, having a lot more front end, taller at the shoulder, stronger through the chine and harder over the topline. Third over fourth, I went for the calf with more chest width, and she tracked straighter on parade. In fourth I went for a taller, more developed calf over the baby calf of the day, that just needed more time before she comes into her best.
Next class was the biggest of the day with eleven entries forward. We had a mixture of modern and traditional calves in this class, with some excellent examples of both. Correctness was my main goal, and I found this
in the form of a medium sized, super balanced calf that came to the top of the class quite easily. This was a heifer I admired for her deep sweeping rib, gaining the advantage over an older, bigger heifer for her openness of rib and dairyness. She was also a little nicer in the tail placing. In second was a tall, long red heifer, that I admired for her strength and balance. It was the extra length of neck and cleanliness of bone that gave her advantage over a real strong calf in third. Three and four were similar calves, with a marginal difference in the power through the front end of the third placed calf. These were two calves that walked very well and will be exciting prospects for the future. In fifth we had a nice dark roan dairy heifer that I felt needed more time to grow into herself. She was longer than my next placed calf, and was more desirable through the rump, especially in width and levelness of her pin setting.
The senior calf class put me to work, with two excellent heifer easily making their way to the top of the class. Eventually I went for the stronger heifer of the two, rewarding her for her strength of topline and balance. In second was a clean boned, feminine heifer that walked exceptionally well. It was no surprise that these two heifers landed up being my Champion and Reserve Champion of the Junior section. Third in the senior class went to a smaller, very balanced red and white heifer who got the advantage for being more correct in the rump, over a clean boned, wide chested heifer in fourth. Fifth and sixth were completely different type heifers
to the rest of the class, with my heifer in fifth being the
most mature heifer of the class and in a difficult stage compared to a smaller red calf that was cleaner in sixth.
We had five entries forward in the in calf heifer class, and I led the class with a heifer that was very heavy in calf and due within the month. She had a longer neck and was cleaner over the shoulder, but I gave her the main advantage for her depth and openness of rib. In second was a powerful red heifer, carrying a little more condition on the day, but a heifer I had a lot of time for due to her extra length, strength of spine and quality of locomotion. The white heifer in third followed nicely in type, being taller, more dairy and harder topped than my fourth and fifth placings.
In the dry cow class, we had a very handy winner, and
a cow I would love to have seen in milk. She was an easy winner in this class being taller through the front end, blending perfectly behind the shoulder to a long and deep bodied frame. She had a cleaner bone than my next two cows with a lot more cleanliness through the thigh. Second and third were more traditional cows where I favoured the younger looking cow with a neater mammary system.
When it came to the heifer in milk class, we had two great young heifers stand out. I led off with a real fresh heifer that had calved less than 2 weeks and showed real promise for the future. It was the quality of rear udder that gave her the main advantage, being extremely
wide at the top of the rear attachment, showing great texture and veination. She also stood out for her greater cleanliness of bone, especially through the hocks. Not taking anything away from my second heifer, as she was another excellent example of the breed, and I credited this heifer with having the best front end of the class. She was a very powerful heifer, with plenty of width at the chest floor and was a big upstanding heifer. She in turn gained advantage over my third placed heifer for her quality of udder and teat placings.
Junior cow in milk was another fantastic class, with a lot of potential in the animals forward. On the day I favoured a big powerful red and white cow that was a little more settled into lactation and at her prime. She was a very long cow with a hard top and great rump, however it was in the udder that she gained the most credit. She was more settled after calving and displayed more depth of crease at the rear. In the fore udder, she blended a little nicer to the underline, and held her teats more central to the quarters. Second place was a very fresh white cow,
a cow I would have loved to see a month calved as she showed great promise. The best bodied cow of the class,