Chaos, cows and you little beauty!
As I trawl through the hundreds of photos I snapped during our week in Rockhampton for Beef Australia, I am hit once again at what an incredible feat of organisation and enthusiasm this event takes.
(go Dash!)
(You guys thought I was joking, didn’t you?)
And that’s just getting the cattle ready…
on top of that is minor event and food arrangements,
and the odd bit of people preparation too…
and let’s not forget the marketing…
Some people did tattoos to show off their bovine breed of choice.
Nice one, Herefords.
My kids are suckers for fake tattoos – even if they are for a breed we don’t have!
These black t-shirts were one of my marketing ploys …
…little Best and Less shirts, embroidered by a local lady with “little heifer” and “little bull” with our stud name. Practical and cute and quite cheap. Rarely left tucked in, but you can’t have everything!
(Aside: Don’t you love the couch chosen by the kids? Hello D238!)
…
Of course, the highlight of such an event is the interbreed judging.
This is where the best male and female of each breed (Hereford, Brangus, Brahman, Charolais etc) judged throughout the week, are brought back into centre ring to compete against each other for the title of Champion of Show.
It’s a Big Deal.
It’s like the toughest gig of all…
And boy, was he good at what he did.
Yanks love a crowd, don’t they?
I did listen to what he said (something about some breeds of cattle getting too big and not being practical) but have to admit that any southern drawl has a kind of mesmerising effect on me… I expected Scarlett O’Hara to make a sweeping appearance at any moment.
This gent (Professor Jim Sanders, I think) had the drama part down pat (forgive the pun).
He inspected each animal thoroughly, politely dismissed those not in the top dozen, took the microphone and painstakingly explained the good points and faults of each animal, then handed back the mike, slowly strolled along for a final inspection … and then stopped in front of his chosen champion and shook the hand of the groom.
He had the crowd holding their breath…
and then exploding into applause (or gasps of disbelief) as he grasped the winner’s hand.
It was a worthy performance…
Not the least because he chose
this cow …
…for Champion Female of the Show.
Go Brangus! You good thing!
We were so excited (this cow is not ours, but a fellow Brangus breeders’) – I think it’s the first time the breed has been recognised at this level at Beef Week.
A Hereford bull won Champion Male – but a lovely red Brangus was in the final line-up so we were beautifully represented. And just to add icing to the ‘cow cake’, I helped organise the launch of the World Brangus Congress the next day.
We decided it would be clever to
on a big black bull…
Viola!
Twitching bull hide and canvas – not the same thing. Just so you know.
The launch however went well and I understand the bull is still sporting his equivalent of a Beef Week tattoo!
…
Amongst the action, we also had to change motel rooms on the second-to-last day (imagine a weeks’ worth of clothing and paraphernalia for four to pack up… twice in 24 hours!!).
Fun, fun, fun.
So while we had a ball in our week away,
you can understand
when I say that this view was sight for sore eyes…
And this one very nearly undid me…
18 Comments
Woman in a Window
Wow. That last shot took my breath away for a sec too.
What a strange life you lead. Good strange, but strange.
Jayne
Welcome home, BB!
Looks like you had a great time 🙂
Family friends were up there, too, said they had a wow of a time 🙂
Pony Girl
Wow, what a time! Thanks for explaining how it all shakes down. I love the t-shirts you made for you little ones! Those last two pictures are truly breathtaking. There is no place like home! 😉
Leenie
Thanks for a letting us enjoy some of the glory. Glad to hear your breed did so well. Beautiful animals, cute kids and what a shot of home!
Reddirt Woman
What beautiful photos. I always love going to the barns and looking at the livestock at the local fairs. When I was growing up, the Herefords were the king in Oklahoma, then came the Angus and the first time I saw a big, blond Charolais. It was huge compared to some of the other bulls. Brahmas were way more famous for bucking stock at the rodeos than for their beef.
Thanks for taking us to the Beef competition. When somebody asks where’s the beef, I’ll tell ’em Australia.
Helen
A Novel Woman
Well, welcome home!
LOVE the second to last shot….it tells a story.
jeanie
Great shirts – and wouldn’t have shown too much dirt!
Anonymous
That beef show is very simular to the dogs shows I used to participate in!! this was very INTERESTING indeed!! Excellant marketing ploy using your cute kids as billboards 🙂 But i must agree, after a few days away from home there is no place like home……
signed
theresa in alberta
Debby
I think you caught the competitiveness of it, and the general ‘fun’ of it, and the work involved, all of it. Even though I wasn’t there, I got the ‘feel’ of it. Good job!
Bush Babe
If anyone has been wondering what happened to this post for the last hour – I have been trying to make the photos bigger… and only gone to prove that I am a terrible computer programmer (or whatever).
I went to this tutorial: http://photosbykaryn.blogspot.com/2009/03/tutorial-1-making-photos-appear-larger.html and got completely lost! Anyone with hints as to why the pics disappeared after I attempted the second change (the s400 bit) please email me!!! I need help!!
To everyone else actually commenting on this post: thanks. Its nice to be back – both at Granite Glen and this blog!! Missed ya!
🙂
BB
Karyn Kuniyuki
Sorry, couldn’t find your email address, my first guess is that you accidentily deleted one single letter or hyphon that you should not have. First, go back and start fresh and make double sure that you only delete what I specified. Any modification from that and the picures won’t show. Second, instead of changing the number to 640, try a smaller number like 500, experiment with the number. It may be that your blog layout is not going to accomodate a wider picture, but in that case it should just crop your image and the image would still show. Your right hand column is quite wide, so I am thinking that may be your problem. That is all I can tell you for now, I need to read up on Blogger to find more trouble shooting. -Karyn
Sabra
Welcome home. So good to see all the pics. How did the pup do while you were gone? I bet he grew enough for you to see a difference.
Kelly
Loved all the pictures and thought the tattoo was great (both, actually…).
The description of the finale reminded me of picking the Best in Show at Westminster! (my brain always gravitates to dogs… speaking of, was Axel glad to see y’all?)
Pencil Writer
Welcome home! Such comforting words! Great pics. Good looking livestock! I could almost smell the arena and remember going to the Astrodome in Houston, TX, years ago, for their annual livestock show.
Enjoy being back home. Know you will!
Kate
I had no clue that they had cow shows! It looks like a ton of fun…and work. All of those bulls together and no testosterone issues, amazing. I’m glad that brangus’s did well over all, they are so pretty. I love the shot of the kids leaning on your bull. I still am in awe of how docile they are, the bulls, not the kids tehe 🙂 And the bull with Australia on it? Brilliant! That should be permanent for sure. Those last two pics of home are amazing. If I were you i would never leave 🙂
Bush Babe
My deepest apologies for those subscribing to my posts – and who got this one about 10 times … I am trying to work out a way to get images to stretch across the width of my posting area, but am falling at the final hurdle each time. The lovely Karyn is trying to help me… but every time I try to resize, *poof* , my images vanish into crosses. Harummph!!!!
Please hang in there while I sort it…
BB
AKPonyGirl
Thanks for the tour of the show. Brought back lots of memories for me. I used to show cattle in Florida – Brahman, Charolais, Limousin, Santa Gertrudis. Now I’m teaching Livestock judging to the 4-H kids in Alaska.
If you ever get the chance, you need to come to the North American International Livestock Expo in Louisville, Kentucky the first two weeks in November.
chelsi
Thanks for the tour! IT looks like a lot of fun but I would be happy to see the quiet of home too after all the crowds. Brangus, is that Brahman and Angus cross? I dont know cattle well but here in British Columbia, Canada I believe we are known for our “Black Baldies” (Hereford x Angus). Your Brangus are pretty impressive looking and I love the idea of painting Australia on his side!