I was very lucky to be asked to parade a calf at The South of England Show for The Montreal Estate. I have helped with the twin Sussex calves since they were born 9 weeks ago, I named them 'Pickle & Ketchup' their mum is called Clemintine. Pickle is my calf, I have halter trained him and got him used to being handled ready for the show. I had to get him smart every day, we bathed them, used shaving foam and brushed their coats up to make them look fluffy.
We paraded the cows every day to represent the Sussex breed to the visitors. I was a little nervous but very proud of my calf. He was well behaved but a bit strong, he even did an excited rodeo buck on Sunday but I managed to hold on!
It was so hot and tiring, while the calves slept I snuggled up & read them some of my book. On Sunday I got to finish the show by leading an Aberdeen Angus cow called Empress in a mock auction, she was huge!
Sadly there was no judging at the show but I am hoping to enter a young handler competition at the Edenbridge and Oxted show later this year.