Paula Hynes: Looking at the world from the outside in

Irish Examiner

09-05-2025

All the show team are content after their trip to Emerald Expo, it is always a relief to see them fit and healthy after their big adventure, with the glorious weather this week we have been letting the show cows out in a paddock early every morning for a couple of hours, they never have much interest in grazing but the exercise does them good, given that they are all clipped they have to return indoors before the sun gets strong or they would get sunburnt.
The fine weather this week also gave me a reminder of my recent adventure with Pete, we didn't have a day of since November which was why we booked the break in advance to give us something to look forward to.
Those who know us know how much we love Paris, but this year I longed for some sunshine and a total escape from the hustle and bustle of life. We always try to create memories together and make life an adventure. Our destination was a place called Lanis Suites on the Canary Islands.
Little did I realise prior to our arrival that this was a little piece of heaven, a true oasis to escape a hectic life.
Every farm is busy, but for us life is crazy busy, if we are not milking cows, we are at a show with cows, we are always working on deadlines writing about cows and there is always a TV project to be worked on filming with cows so to escape our cow world, we truly have to find an oasis like we arrived at.
Having lunch right beside the sea, good food, a glass of pinot grigio and knowing I simply don't have to watch the time & can order a cocktail for desert is a real treat for me and I always love reading down through a menu to see the pride a chef takes in working with local produce.
We both love the sea and the first evening we went sailing, I had never been on a yacht and to my surprise, once we pulled away from the harbour, the captain asked if I would like to take the wheel while he hoisted sails.
There is something magical about being out at sea with no engine running, just the sound of the waves and the wind on the sails. The moment I realised I had truly escaped life was when I saw the beaches busy with people, and we felt like we were simply looking at the world from the outside in.
We also went jet skiing a few days later travelling down the coast for over an hour which was such a wonderful way to see the rugged coastline, the sea should always be respected, and safety is paramount and while there was a fair swell at sea that morning, we had an instructor with us the whole time and a safety boat.
I am more of a calm water person so challenging sea conditions certainly tested my nerves and got the adrenaline flowing taking me outside my comfort zone, a quick spin on the zodiac safety boat afterwards left me with the realization that sometimes we are in fear of situations that are completely outside our comfort zone but once a skilled person is involved, the best way for a zodiac to handle a rough sea is to go fast, my fear was quickly replaced with views of the amazing scenery and the power of mother nature.
I have stayed at some amazing locations in the past, but never in an oasis where I can truly say I made friends with the staff, all of whom helped us book our adventures.
I am so grateful to Farah and Jonathan for their undivided attention and friendship. I watched on every morning as the owner had breakfast with many of his managers, who treated his staff like family and created a family atmosphere where they all felt like they were part of the success of the location, and a huge part of helping their guests create memories that would last forever.
I laughed to myself as I thought the owner would be a great guest speaker at the national dairy conference; some farmers could learn a lot from, creating a Lanis environment for staff on a dairy farm would ensure staff stay for years and treat cows as if they are the dairy farm's guests. After all, if the cows are truly content, then production is bound to increase.
Teagasc director Frank O'Mara will definitely be thinking outside the box if he invites a guest speaker from the Canary Islands to a dairy conference but as we grasped our opportunity to escape a hectic life and look at the world from the outside in, perhaps on occasions the dairy industry needs to look at itself from the outside in.
I learnt so many lessons from my adventures, how to control my fear of a challenge, at times farming can seem like a rough sea but staying focused can take it back to calmer waters and should my dairy processor wish to crank up the price of milk, they can rest easy knowing I can skipper a yacht now.
Five months without a day off is ridiculous, but that is it takes to keep a farm running and produce food, so it is crucial we farmers find our own little oasis and recharge our batteries.
Back home on the farm and now that our legs have readjusted to dry land, we began halter breaking a few first lactations this week. A show animal doesn't magically appear out at a show; it takes weeks and months of work to get them to a level of success.
Diet needs to be very specific to ensure they look their best and a huge amount of trust is required between animal and handler. We haltered the first lactations, and once they are comfortable standing on the halter and getting a lot of attention around their head and neck, we start washing their tails and feet every day while haltered so that they are comfortable with the sounds and activities around them.
Once all is going to plan, we walk them out to a paddock for a short grazing and then walk them haltered to the parlour for every milking.
I guess life for a show cow needs to be like my spin on the zodiac boat - when you replace fear with trust, the whole experience suddenly becomes enjoyable!