CREMONA 2010
CREMONA FIRST HAND
John Gribbon reports on his recent judging engagement
his year I had the honour to be picked by the European Holstein Breeders Confederation to judge the All-European Championship (and became the fi rst person
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to judge both Black & Whites and Red & Whites at this major event – Ed).
When judging a major show like this with so many ringside onlookers, it’s always great to start in a class with an easy winner. The fi rst class were the Red & White heifers with 16 entries and my fi rst placed animal was always going to be a winner from the moment I saw her; Bopi Talent Lotanie. This heifer looked so young, absolutely full of class and had a great udder full of veination and was always the winner. Second to Lotanie was another fantastic heifer with more body but just not the class and udder conformation of the winner. On refl ection after the show, the winner of this class was the animal I would have liked to have taken home.
The junior Red & White cows saw another class of 15 entries and the winner was another eye catching cow as soon as she came into the ring. Pepita is by Sir Ridgedale Rustler Red and again had a fantastic udder with great locomotion. The second placed animal also showed a great udder but was not quite as good over the rump as the winning animal. Further down the line in this class were some great young cows.
Next class was the intermediate cows and this was the most diffi cult class to judge in the Red & White show with four animals that could have won. Finally, I gave fi rst place to another Rustler Red, a cow with slightly more body depth and an advantage in udder conformation over the second placed animal by Talent. The third and fourth placed cows in this class were also great cows but just lacked the quality in legs & feet and locomotion of the top two. In the senior class, it was a much more diffi cult decision but I fi nally went for a Talent daughter because of her great style and fore udder conformation and teat placement. Second place went to Morandale Swatch Brittney, a cow having had six calves that also had fantastic body conformation and was a major winner in her native Switzerland. In front of a volatile crowd, I gave the Red & White Championship to the young cow in milk because of the reasons given above. Reserve champion went to the second prized animal in the junior cows, another cow with great class and fantastic udder. There were some fantastic cows right down the lines in theses Red & White classes. In the afternoon, with over 5,000 people trying to get a space to watch, the fi rst class of Black & White heifers came into the ring. Winner of this class was Baugosse Goldwyn Melodie, a Swiss heifer with a great udder and she had the advantage in her locomotion over another top fl ight heifer, by Decker, in second place also from the same country.
In the class of senior heifers in milk, we had an easy winner in Pess Farm Goldwyn Nevil, a heifer absolutely full of milk with an unbelievable rear udder. She had a big advantage over the second placed animal in this rear udder, bone quality and locomotion. The fi rst junior cow in milk class was led by Schoolfarm Jeremy
10 THE JOURNAL DECEMBER 2010
Juvenia, a young looking cow having great ring presence, udder and an easy winner. Second place went to a Durham Sam daughter, another cow with great open rib but slightly stronger in the bone than the winner.
The following junior cow in milk class was
watched by a very patriotic and volatile ringside representing many countries. The winner was the French cow Roc Veiling, another Goldwyn daughter. This cow had great length of neck, body and a great open rib. She was a handy winner from another from the same country, again by Goldwyn. The intermediate cows in milk, consisting of
second and third calvers, were led by an eye catching animal in the local M.E.Dal Stormatic Ilma. This cow had so much ring presence, style and was the winner as soon as I saw her. Her udder was absolutely full of milk and it was this udder, especially her rear udder, which gave her the advantage over second placed Badiola Goldwyn Kournikova from Spain, another top class cow. The next four places in this class also went to Goldwyn’s, and there were great cows right down the line. The winner in the next class was the biggest cow I have ever judged, Bonnyfarm Veronique from Italy, and she was an easy winner in front of a volatile ringside of spectators from the two countries in contention. When I pulled the fi rst two together, the expectation of it being very close certainly gave us an atmosphere that I have never experienced at any show in the world. Taking away the winner’s size, she had an absolutely fantastic wide rear udder full of milk and for such a big cow her locomotion was fi rst class. There was no other place for this cow but I take nothing away from second placed cow, another Goldwyn from Switzerland, with great dairy character and strength through the front end who was unlucky to be in the same class as the winner. Right down the line in this class, we had excellent cows.
The next class, of senior cows mostly having
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