Paula Hynes: From Kilbrittain to Kilgarriffe

Becky and Georgie were busy all weekend clipping and washing heifers as we had seven entered for the qualifier. It was an early start Monday morning to ensure jobs and milking were complete along with another wash for the heifers so we could leave for the show early to ensure the heifers were settled in and get a good fill on them before the first class started at 5pm. 

Becky toplined all the heifers at the show, and she is becoming a right dab hand at it, topping the team of calves for the southwest HYB club last September at the All Breeds All Britain calf show has really stood to her. 

Steve McLoughlin was officiating as the judge at the Cork calf show, he has a wealth of experience and will judge the National Holstein calf show at ABAB in Shropshire in September of this year and he won’t be the only judge travelling from Ireland as Laura Helen from Clonakilty will be judging the National Holstein Showmanship at the same show.

As the competition started at the Cork YMA show, it was wonderful to see so many young handlers there to compete in the Novice under eight years and Junior showmanship classes and the ring was packed for both classes. 

Georgie got us into the red ribbons straight away, winning the Junior showmanship. She has put a huge amount of work in lately, so it was nice to see it pay off for her. Sometimes, she lacks a little confidence in herself, but as the night wore on, she certainly was focused on going to Nationals. 

Becky wasn’t going to be outdone by Georgie and won the Intermediate showmanship. It was not the easiest of evenings for her in the ring, as her heifer was on heat and acting up like a hormonal teenager. 

Our French student Simon has received many showmanship pointers from the girls over the last two weeks, and it was lovely to see him finish second on his maiden outing in the Senior Handler class. Unfortunately, he will be back in France when our national championships are over.

With three handlers qualified it was time to get some heifers qualified, Khaleesi and Dream had a one two in the colourbreed heifer class which leaves Khaleesi unbeaten so far this year in the show ring, they are both sired by Avonlea Chocochip. 

Our March-born heifer Rathard Bullseye Alanna won the March unclipped class; she certainly is an anniversary celebration for her dam Alanna, who is on her tenth lactation and in calf for the eleventh time. 

We had two heifers in the junior calf class; our January calf Jones Haniko Espresso topped the lineup to clinch her second win from two outings which was a little special as her granddam Sunibelle Dempsey Esprit tragically died in Switzerland on Friday night, she was out in a field with 40 cows and was struck by a single bolt of lightning, Esprit was one of the greatest cows Europe has seen, adored by show spectators, truly loved by all her owners who say she truly was a once in a lifetime cow. 

Espresso has had a few setbacks, but she is progressing fast now and has a real pep in her step. I’d like to think Esprit was looking down on her granddaughter Monday night, giving her a little help to get to the National Championships. 

Our other Junior heifer, Rathard Matchless Adora, finished fourth. Rathard Bullseye Acclaim took third in the Senior heifer, with Rathard Jakers Pearl taking the fifth-place rosette.

It truly was a team effort for the night, and with points awarded for every placement in the Holstein heifer classes, we also claimed the Premier Exhibitor award, which was kindly sponsored by Eurogene. 

Stephen Shannon claimed the Champion Handler on the night with the Kirby family winning champion heifer. 

As much as the YMA club members compete against each other, a part I love is that once the last rosette is given out, they all become teammates and Cork YMA certainly has a strong team of handlers and heifers heading to National Championships later this month where they won Club of the Year in 2023.

Becky headed off at 6am the following morning, Kildare bound to help prepare for the IHFA Open Day at the Dondale Herd on Wednesday 10th, July, before she heads to Wexford to help the Jones family prepare heifers for the Hallow Holsteins sale on July 19. 

She will have plenty of clipping practice over the next few weeks, and Georgie will be busy practising her own clipping at home as they are also entered for the team clipping competition at Nationals. 

It will be a short visit home for Becky later in the month, though, as she then heads out to the UK straight after nationals for a show in New Forrest, with a few more shows over there in August and September.

We finished our week of with a visit to Kilgarriffe Holsteins for the CHFC field evening, it is the 60th anniversary of pedigree breeding at Kilgarriffe and the 50th anniversary of CHFC. 

The herd is an absolute credit to the Helen family, outstanding cows with phenomenal production, cows producing in excess 1000kg milk solids. 

The herd places huge emphasis on cow families which is something we also have a huge focus on, we purchased our Acclaim cow from the Eedy herd but her fourth dam originated from the Kilgarriffe herd. 

IHFA president John O Sullivan spoke on the night about the history of CHFC and the club was originally set up to help members gain knowledge and create a social outlet, that ethos certainly still holds true today, we are relatively new to pedigree breeding but can see the progress we are making but also see the skills, knowledge and friends our daughters have made through pedigree breeding. 

Georgie kept the Rathard Holsteins flag flying on the night as she entered the stock judging competition. She might be only 10 years old, but being surrounded by show animals, eavesdropping on John Kirby when he is classifying our cows and watching superb show cows at big shows has stood her well as she went home beaming, having finished in second place in the lady’s category of the stock judging.

For any non-pedigree breeders out there, I would strongly recommend joining the Cork club as every day is a learning day with cows, breeding better cows with more production that will last longer in herds and through the club and Cork YMA, it is also a great place to encourage the next generation of breeders.