4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Paula Hynes: We are simply a showing family
The FBD National Livestock Show in Tullamore is always one of the highlights of the showing season, and this year we had our biggest team ever entered.
We decided to leave Rouge at home as she had a very busy show at the National Finals. It is a mammoth task to take nine animals to a show so far from home.
Cork Pallet Express delivered two silage bales directly to the show for us. Richard and Becky clipped the full team on Wednesday before Becky headed to Kerry for 24 hours to clip animals for Daniel and Eimer Curtin, while we packed the cattle trailer with all the show gear and feed as well as packing the jeep with tents, quilts and our travelling kitchen.
Brian arrived early on Friday morning with the truck and the full artic trailer was bedded with straw before the team were loaded. We find it so much easier to transport so many cattle long distances by truck; they arrive fresher and more relaxed as they can lie down while travelling with all the extra space.
We arrived at the show prior to the truck, so water drinkers were set up along with the pack where cows sleep, and all the show gear was unpacked and organised.
The afternoon was spent washing animals, keeping them fed and setting up fans to keep them cool.
With animals all content, the barbecue was unloaded and fired up as we had planned to celebrate the success of National YMA Finals with the full team and it was lovely for us all to sit down for a meal so close to the cows, have a beer together, the craic and banter. For some the party continued through the night while some of us grabbed some sleep and took it in turns to mind the cows.
Saturday was an early start, washing, finer clipping and also exercising the animals before the barbecue was drafted in for round two but this time there was 16 of us for dinner, that's what we do for each other as mates, keep each other fed, solve problems and share feed or bedding. However, an early night was required for most as it was a 4am start on Sunday ensuring every animal was prepped for the show ring before breakfast and ready to start showing at 10am.
Our show classes began with the Jerseys, Ricky Barrett judging, and Georgie was in with Kalani, while Richard's son Ben Jones was on the halter with Kaira. A great start to the day with a one-two in the jersey heifer calf class with Kalani taking the red rosette.
Georgie was straight back in the ring for the Jersey showmanship class, where she claimed first place with Khaleesi and followed up by winning the Jersey maiden heifer class.
With so many classes ahead, we were all in show whites and I had the task of taking Kali in the Jersey heifer in milk class which she won and also got best udder. This was before Becky took the strap with Kasey in the Jersey cow class which she won and also got best udder making it her fourth year in a row to win a class at Tullamore even though she is only a second lactation cow.
Kali and Kasey also won the Jersey pairs class, and then it was championship time. We were humbled to have four through to the championship, an even sweeter feeling that they were all from the same cow family and Kasey was in the line-up with both of her daughters.
As judge Ricky Barrett made his final comments, he circled the championship line-up and tapped Kasey out as champion jersey with Kali tapped out as honourable mention.
Kasey really is such a wonderful cow to work with, four outings this year and four champions, she simply does it all, a super cow to milk, produces top class calves, goes in-calf easily and has huge success in the show ring.
Becky and Rathard Kasey after becoming Jersey Champion at the Tullamore show.
Richard was in overdrive at the clipping crate, prepping animals for the ring as jerseys and junior Holsteins were showing at the same time. Andrew Patton from Northern Ireland was judging in the Holstein ring for the day.
Pauric Colman has been a great part of our team and slipped on the show whites to show Jagerbomb in her class as Becky was busy showing Kasey. Jagerbomb placed second to Gary and Philip Jones's Caught A Vibe heifer.
Pete hasn't worn his show whites for two years but he has a great bond with our Bullseye Alanna heifer and entered the ring in the class after Jagerbomb for the January 2024-born heifer class where Alanna finished second, which we were delighted with as she is a March-born heifer.
She remained in the ring for the in-calf heifer class which they won comfortably, Alanna is in-calf to Dropbox and hopefully if she calves down nicely, Pete will have to keep his show whites out for 2026 to continue showing the heifer.
Junior championship
Junior Holstein championship time, and with two in the championship, it was a day that just kept getting better and better. Gary and Philip Jones claimed the Junior Holstein champion with Jagerbomb being tapped out as Reserve Junior Champion and then the entire team focussed their attention on Acclaim.
She really is the queen of the herd and show team, a cow that is so young, so modern and so good at her job with over 12,000kg of milk produced already in her second lactation and went in-calf first serve to sexed semen.
The Junior Cow class was her mission, and we knew all week and all through the show that she was on form, she delivered in style, winning a strong class and going on to be tapped out Honourable Mention in the championship with Philip and Linda Jones claiming the championship again.
2025 show season
Tullamore Show 2025 is a show we will not forget, 10 first placings, four seconds, three best udder prizes, a champion, reserve champion and two honourable mentions, but then the 2025 show season is a year we will never forget.
Yes, the results are amazing, but it's not all about rosettes; it is the teamwork, how everyone on the team knows the animals so well, the work ethic, the early mornings and late nights, the laughs and craic, the hugs to celebrate.
We take one show at a time, we discuss show teams as a team, and decide who travels and who needs a rest.
The close friends we have made, we compete against each other in the ring, but outside the ring, we are a show family, and we've got each other's backs.
