Page 133 - Shorthorn Magazine

cleanliness of bone, extreme length and width through the pins that then gave her advantage over my sixth placed heifer. Six and seven were close placings, with the only real difference being the strength of loin of my higher placed calf. There were ten calves in this class, with the reminder being good strong calves, often with only marginal differences between them.
Intermediate class - I was presented with 2 real nice calves at the top of the class. The white blazed heifer got the nod eventually over a very stylish red calf for having more capacity in the body, being slightly wider and excelled in depth of rear rib. She
also had a slightly neater tail setting. My second calf was a heifer that I also really admired, she had the best legs in the class, and paraded with ease. She got the advantage in this class for her power through the front end, being smoother behind the shoulder, and more upstanding. She was longer overall and tracked far straighter on parade. My third placing gained advantage for being stronger over the topline with more openness of rib and silkier to the touch. Fourth and fifth were again similar, but I went in the end with the calf with the best rump and especially thurl placings, meaning she tracked a little nicer on parade. Fifth a heifer that stood out over the next calves for having a little more front end and being cleaner boned, over 2 more traditional calves that followed.
In the Senior class, I led with a
very long, dairy red heifer. She
was so much cleaner and more feminine than my second heifer, and stood out in this class. It was her cleanliness through her neck and shoulder, and cleanliness of bone that separated her from a very balanced calf in second. Two over three I went for the more balanced heifer, being smoother behind
the shoulder, in slightly better proportion and walked much nicer on parade. Third was an extremely deep bodied calf, and it was the depth and openness of rib combined with more dairy texture that I went for over a strong rumped calf in
fifth. Fifth and sixth were more dairy calves than the remainder of the class and I rewarded the cleaner boned, deeper and more open ribs with stronger loins. Seventh to Ninth again were generally younger, more compact calves on the day.
Lastly, the mature calf class. And by this age we had heifers in all
stages, with some being heavier in
calf than others. There were some real gems in this class, ones I am sure will favour better once at a different stage. On the day, I led with a beautiful red heifer, she had great ring presence, showing herself well. She stood out
for her added chest width, clean dairy frame and clean bone. She had a slight advantage over a very similar heifer
in second for being a touch more
open in the rib, and tracking a little nicer. Second I followed in type with
a similar heifer, where I favoured her to a stronger, more mature heifer in third. I also gave distinct advantage in the rump, where she was stronger and squarer with a more desirable angle from hook to pins. Third was a heifer that was a little disadvantaged for being heavier in calf. She was tall and powerful, and it was the extra length and cleanliness throughout that gave her the nod in front of a correct, but stronger typed heifer in fourth. It was this correctness that I went with next and over the roan heifer in fifth, again giving reward for her rump structure. She was wider in the pins, with a more desirable, squarer rump. Five and six were similar heifers in many ways, but I rewarded the smaller, wider heifer in the end for being slightly stronger in the loin.
At Championship time, the breed certainly gained a few admirers around the ring from other breed enthusiasts. I was happy that my final line up flowed from the baby calf class right through to the mature class, demonstrating
the type of calves that I had strived
to find in all the classes. These were my type of calves, firstly they were correct and functional in every way. Secondly, they combined strength with dairyness, with the makings to
Cotonhall Cupid Empress
be ideal dairy cows of the future. In
the rumps they were all correct, and tracked well on parade. For those that were successful in making it to the championship line up, congratulations on an excellent achievement, but also well done to every other exhibitor for putting on a great show of calves. I would like to thank each and every exhibitor for making my job so much more pleasurable on the day by putting forward good quality calves, turned out well. I would also like to thank the ABAB organising committee and the Dairy Shorthorn Society for the invitation to judge.
My final placing and Champion calf went to the Junior Calf. When looking down my Championship line up, I just felt the balance of this calf was too much to overlook. In Reserve was the Baby Calf who I had admired from the first class of the day, with Honourable Mention going to the dairy red heifer from the senior class.
Thank you and congratulations to all.
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