Page 102 - Demo

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.
JUDGE: OWAIN HARRIES
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,
Shorthorn
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