Thursday, October 13, 2016

And the crowd roared for the homebred cow [Hoard's Dairyman Post]

There's just something special about homebred cows...


With lights dimmed, spotlights shone on seven exceptional cows as they entered the Coliseum for the presentation of 2016 World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion. Each beautiful cow represented the best of its breed. Notably, six of the seven Grand Champions were bred and owned by their exhibitors.

As the spotlights fell upon the Holstein, my heart tried to burst with pride and excitement. The Grand Champion Holstein was Sheeknoll Durham Arrow, a 6-year-old cow known affectionately as Thomas. Thomas’s owners, the Sheehan family of Minnesota, are friends of mine, and I’ve been following Thomas in the showring for years.

Clearly, the rest of the dairy enthusiasts watching the Supreme Champion ceremony had similar feelings. The announcer was barely a dozen words into Thomas’s introduction when the applause started. Cheers and applause continued until Thomas took her place alongside the Grand Champions from the other six breeds. However, no other Grand Champion garnered the audible recognition that Thomas did.

What was so endearing about this Holstein cow?

Photo by Morgan Kliebenstein. Used with permission.

[Read the rest of this post in the HD Notebook.]



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