Sophie Harvey Reserve Champion

Isla Soutter Junior Winner

 

Thursday 11th December 2014 saw the Young Limousin Breeders Club (YLBC) hold its Young Handlers Championships 2014 which took place at Borderway Mart, Carlisle on the eve of the British Limousin Cattle Society’s Red Ladies Day Sale. There was a tremendous turnout of 17 young breeders competing, and a great crowd to go with it.

YLBC Members with Chairman Kirree Kermode and Co-ordinator Annabelle Wint (640x384)
YLBC Members with Chairman Kirree Kermode and Co-ordinator Annabelle Wint

Judges were Avril Murray and Robert Aitken of the Lourie Herd, Methven, Perth who had the hard task of judging the young breeders on both their handling and preparation skills. The competition was split into three sections: Junior, Intermediate & Senior.

Competitors had 20 minutes to prepare their animal before showing off their handling skills in the ring. Robert Aitken judged the preparation, where the young breeders showed off their grooming skills and knowledge before taking the cattle into the show ring. With some brilliant performances, it was really hard to judge as competitors were of such a high standard.

YLBC Young Handlers Championship Group  l-r Isla Soutter, Sophie Harvey, James Graham
YLBC Young Handlers Championship Group l-r Isla Soutter, Sophie Harvey, James Graham

The competitors then took their animals into the ring where Avril Murray judged on the handling skills of the young breeders. Commenting, the Judge said: “I really enjoyed judging the Limousin Young Handlers Championship, the standard was fantastic and it was a tough job to judge. It was also nice to share judging the Overall Champion Young Handler with my Dad – making good use of a Father & Daughter team!”

Judges Robeert Aitken & Avril Murray with James Graham & Kirree Kermode
Judges Robeert Aitken & Avril Murray with James Graham & Kirree Kermode

With refreshments and mince pies flowing and great prizes to be won on the raffle including jackets from Cogent and Harrison & Hetherington, tickets to various shows in Ireland and a Christmas tree, everybody got involved and it was a great evening. The raffle raised £170 for YLBC funds.

Intermediate and Overall Champion was James Graham, 16, with Sophie Harvey (19) standing as Senior Champion and Reserve Overall, and Isla Soutter (13) winning the Junior Championship. Finlay Soutter received the Highly Commended award.

Annabelle Wint, Kirree Kermode & Kay Adam awarding points (640x427)
Annabelle Wint, Kirree Kermode & Kay Adam awarding points

Junior Class:

1st Isla Soutter

2nd Christopher Ewing

2nd James Adam

3rd Alan Lindsay

4th Finlay Soutter

5th Jane Lindsay

 

Intermediate Class:

1st James Graham

2nd Beth Harvey

3rd Charlotte Alford

4th Andrew Adam

5th Mollie Bowe

6th Craig Pattinson

 

Senior Class:

1st Sophie Harvey

2nd John Graham

3rd Andrew Ewing

4th Andrew Weir

5th Danny Escolme

New YLBC Chairman Kiree Kermode
New YLBC Chairman Kiree Kermode

 

On behalf of all the Young Limousin Breeders, I would like to thank our sponsors Cogent, Animal Signs, TL Bio Labs Limited, Natural Stockcare, British Limousin Cattle Society and Harrison & Hetherington; the Judges Avril Murray and Robert Aitken; all stewards, spectators and cattle exhibitors. Thank you also to Gareth Scott who presented the young breeders with a talk about Cogent and their Signature Beef range. Overall it was a fantastic event and could not have been a success without all your support.

 

Annabelle Wint

YLBC Co-ordinator

annabelle@limousin.co.uk