RHAPSODY FAMILY IN THE UK T
Following the rise in fame of the Rhapsody family in the show ring, Katie Davidson has looked in to their history and consistency across many herds for generations
he Rhapsody family is one
that has been consistently
breeding functional, productive cows dating back to 1881, in recent years family members have risen to stardom in the show ring in the UK . Originally
imported to the UK by Lynden Bustard, Mark Nutsford then purchased the embryos to implant. The resultant
success of the line is something of a miracle, embryos purchased by Raider and out of the EX92 No Na Me Fond Matt daughter Pinehurst Rhapsody resulted in one heifer calf. Mark explains: “I had watched the success of the Rhapsody family in the United States and went to Pinehurst with the hope of investing in this family. There were three record production cows in the pedigree which impressed me, in 1921 Nooksack Jewel Fayne was World champion yearling for production, followed by Audrey Posch who set a National record when she produced 1000lbs of fat at 11 years of age and went on to classify EX93 at 19 years of age. Hayseen DV Audrey was the first cow in the breed to complete three records over 1000lbs of fat. “When I enquired about embryos I was informed that Lynden Bustard already had embryos in the UK, so on my return I purchased four embryos from him. With only one resulting heifer calf born in 1994, Topmark Raider Rhapsody was the start of the Rhapsody line in the UK. A maternal sister to Raider Rhapsody, Hall Over Hill Lodgic Rhapsody was born in the UK, but didn’t develop a family line. However, the Raider was almost lost as a maiden heifer due to stomach complications. Thankfully due to the good stockmanship of Dennis and Marlene Hughes rushing her to Liverpool University the complications were sorted out and she made a full recovery and went on to breed 16 EX and 16 VG daughters who have with their progeny gained her 55 brood cow stars, as well as classifying EX92 herself with her best yield 12,485kg at 4.99%bf and 3.13%p.” Dennis Hughes sold his share to Paul Rawcliffe and she was developed under the guidance of Paul Rawcliffe with Mark retaining his share. Daughters of Raider Rhapsody were born in
15 different herds including Riverdane, Almond, Almondene, Holmland, Bricknell, Ridgefield, Clarkestown, Denmire, Llanbedr and Clayden.
ABOVE Vreda the 23rd dam of the first Rhapsody in the UK, Top Mark Raider Rhapsody.
RIGHT The first Rhapsody in the UK, Top Mark Raider Rhapsody.
Her progeny classified in the top two grades by Prelude, Starbuck, Rudolph, Storm, Outside, Rubens, Cousteau, Mtoto, Stormatic, Igniter, Leduc, Astronomical and Talent.
Riverdane MS Rapture is her highest classifed daughter, scored EX95-4E she has four stars and a lifetime production of over 90T. She bred two EX and six VG daughters and was sold with the Riverdane herd to Willsbro.
At the Ribblevalley Invitational Sale in 2003 Almond SM Rhapsody EX90 sold as a maiden heifer for 3200gns to Yasmin Bradbury. As a heifer she had a heifer calf by Shottle before the Stormatic was sold for 4800gns in the Sterndale Sale in 2005. The Shottle was flushed to Goldwyn as a maiden heifer which resulted in three heifer calves; Peak Goldwyn Rhapsody EX96, Peak Gold Rhapsody EX94 and Peak Golden Rhapsody EX92. Yasmin Bradbury describes them: “As heifers we really didn’t think much of them, they were just your ordinary sort of heifer, so we used all three as recipients for embryos! As a calved heifer Peak Gold Rhapsody showed some style and was halter broken.”
All three Goldwyn daughters were served as milking heifers to Scientific SS Dusk, which resulted in each calving a heifer calf. The heifer calf out of Golden Rhapsody was sold at the Northern Lights Sale and Goldwyn Rhapsody’s heifer calf given to Yasmin’s granddaughter Millie who has always been very keen to help on the farm.
84 THE JOURNAL FEBRUARY 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132