Duncan Vincent has provided a report of the Guernsey Island Show which he judged on 23rd July
2015 Royal Guernsey Society Annual Show
It was a great privilege to be asked to judge at the Royal Guernsey Society Annual Show. The weather was perfect and some fine animals paraded at Saumaraz Park.
Class 1- 6 yrs and over.
This class saw 2 very strong cows forward with St Catherine’s Zest showing better cover over the front teats and better teat placement to give her the advantage over the slightly more dairy Myrtle’s Sonata.
Class2- 4-6 yrs.
Four forward saw an outstanding cow dominate the class. Petite Croute Sidney had tremendous diary strength and very impressive mammary with great rear leg and set and strong fore udders. It was very close between 2nd and 3rd with St Catherine’s Isabelle parading strongly with better feet, legs and locomotion. Les Jaonnets Laredo’s Princess was also very dairy and had better condition than Le Cocq’s Mandy 4.
Class 3- 3-4 1/2 yrs
Petite Croute Lust stood top in this class, so far the best udder on show, with good width and strong fore and rear attachments. altogether a very dairy type and very clean boned. Petite Croute Jo Jo had a strong and wide frame with good locomotion. This gave her the advantage over her herd-mate Munchie who was just too freshly calved on the day. Her firmness of udder and body condition gave her the placing over the more stale Le Cocq’s Glisten 2.
Class 4- heifers in milk under 3 yrs.
This tremendous class of 4 very promising heifers could have seen any one win this class on their day. I gave it to the youngest Petite Croute Nerdena who showed a really tight mammary with fantastic rear and fore udder attachment. At just 2 yrs she was very dairy with fine bones but still showed width and strength. Robin Jamouneau’s Carla showed great strength and balance throughout to hold off Myrtle’s Foxglove who again had good capacity and width in the rump without losing dairy character. St Catherine’s Doreen completed the strongest class of the day who again had strength and dairy character but not the tightness and finish of the others in the group.
Class 5- Heifers in milk 3 yrs and over.
Petite Croute Blue took this class for her strength and balance and correctness of the udder over the strong but not so dairy Spirit from the same herd. Le Cocq’s Maddy was not so fresh but still showed strength and longevity traits who had the advantage over St Catherine’s Chrystal who didn’t show her potential.
Champion
A really top class line up of animal. I picked the 5 yr old Sidney from Petite Croute as a very worthy champion with strong dairy frame, a great top line and rear view of a tremendous mammary system with perfect teat placement. She also took the production trophy. In Reserve was Petite Croute Blue.
Thank you once again to the States of Guernsey for your hospitality and especially to Liz Naftel and her family for accommodating me.
Duncan Vincent
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