Brenda Murray ~ Canada
I was raised on a dairy farm and upon moving
onto my grandparents homestead, we quickly realized we needed
something to keep the pastures from getting taken over by weed
and sallies. We bought our first registered highland cattle in
1992. We went to a show clinic in 1994 and caught the 'show bug'
and our family have been showing our cattle every year since
then at various shows all over Canada and the U.S. including
the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Canada, the National
Western Stock Show in Denver , CO and New York State Fair, amongst
many others. Our children have 'grown up' so we have cut down
the number of cattle shows we compete in to 3-4/yr. Of course
along with that , we have cut down on the number of cattle we
take to shows, as I am the 'lucky one' that gets to train and
feed the cattle for shows (before and after work)
We try to keep our cattle numbers to about 25 max.
(including cows, bulls, yearlings, steers and calves) as we both
work off the farm and time and energy are limited. We have done
quite a bit of artificial insemination since 1996, (every year
on females too closely related to our bulls) with wonderful success,
and have also flushed various cows for embryos for other countries
including United States and Europe. We also had two bulls collected
for semen at facilities, which was another interesting experience.
All of our cattle are halter broken (except the
new calves), and all must have good dispositions.
I had the pleasure of judging a highland cattle
show in Victoriaville, Que. along with my husband Rob which was
a fun experience.
I feel very honoured to have
been asked to be a part of the judges panel for the 2011 virtual
show. |
Judy Smyth ~ New Zealand
Paul and I have been breeding Highland cattle
for the past 15 years, since we established our small fold on
our rural property in Tauranga, in 1996. I had decided that if
I was to put our 4 children through University, the financial
pain would be eased considerably if I could afford my Highlands
first!!, so our fold began with a breeding up programme of 2
C grade cattle and is now a combination of PX ( P5 ’s +)
and Full blooded ( Purebred ) animals.
Although
I work full time as a Senior teacher, I decided in 2006 to complete
my Beef Judging Interbreed certificate through the Royal Agricultural
society and so my great love of judging began. Currently I hold
a Grade 1 Judging classification and it is with pride that I
discuss the attributes and characteristics of such a wonderful
breed with the public and breeders alike. I am always impressed
with the enthusiasm and dedication that breeders have for the
breed and each show season I have been thrilled to be in a position
to promote the attributes of the breed publicly, from Royal shows
to smaller local shows.
In 2010 I was elected
on to the New Zealand Highland Cattle council and we are looking
extremely forward to hosting the New Zealand Southern
Muster 4th International Highland
gathering
in 2014, where we can share with international visitors our magnificent
country and wonderful animals. |
