Attention now turned to handling where, like Lucy, Izzy looked totally at ease in front of master judge Iwan Morgan. All the work Izzy had put in on ‘Moose’ bore fruit as the calf behaved for most of the time, although she was startled by some distracting noise from the crowd when Izzy was setting her up for the judge. As the tension mounted in the crowd, Izzy kept her cool and found herself pulled into second place again in the initial line-up, this time behind Switzerland’s Salzmann Franz and, as before, ahead of her Belgian rival. A quick calculation showed that Izzy would take the Senior Championship if the places stayed the same, and there were many breaths held in the crowd as Iwan took a last look. Magically, he left Izzy in second, and the Championship was hers, much to her surprise. Iwan commended the top five, saying that they all had the advantage over the rest in head carriage, and he awarded top spot to Salzmann for his calm and relaxed manner. Describing Izzy’s second place over third as close, he said she was quicker to set her calf up and never lost her concentration.
As Senior Champion, Izzy saw the Union Jack appear again on the
giant screen to the strains of God Save The Queen, before Marco Quaini returned to the ring to compete with Izzy for the Grand Championship. Naturally, all the Brits at the ringside knew the outcome they wanted, but the important decision rested with the three judges and the home crowd also felt their boy was the correct choice. Monique again acted as master judge, and after much consultation with her colleagues, awarded the title to Izzy. It was a fitting climax to the competition and one that Izzy fully deserved, and Marco was gracious in accepting the result as were the home crowd as the UK contingent celebrated to the now familiar National Anthem. And so the competition concluded and the calves were taken back to the lines via the photography area of leading Italian cattle photographer Georgio Soldi. The AGAFI crew had prepared a small celebration back on their stand and Izzy and Lucy started to relax as their achievements began to sink in. With the pressure off, the girls were able to enjoy the All-European Championship held the following day, with the spotlight now on John Gribbon instead. I would like to pay tribute to both girls for the way in which they represented HYB and Holstein UK during the competition. They threw themselves into the event, were friendly and welcoming to other teams and were diligent in the amount of work they put into their calves. I could see from the word go that other teams were keeping a close eye on what they were doing and it was obvious that they were regarded as ‘contenders’, but it was a tag that didn’t trouble them in the slightest. I would have been proud of them if they’d both finished last, but there was never any chance of that and to come away with the result they did is a brilliant advert for what we do in HYB as well as testament to the individual skills of Izzy and Lucy. The next All-European Championship will be held in Switzerland in 2013, and it’s expected that the Young Breeder’s Showmanship will form part of the event again. Until then, both girls can claim a European title and the rest of us at Holstein UK can bask in their reflected glory.
TOP The tension is plain to see on the faces of the many UK support- ers in the crowd as the Supreme Championship is decided.
ABOVE Izzy and Lucy take an interest in the literature on the AGAFI stand. AGAFI is the Ital- ian equivalent of HYB.
THE JOURNAL DECEMBER 2010 83
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