19 young handlers of whom only four had had previous experience of the All Britains, were competing at Stoneleigh on the 7^th October, against Ayrshire,Jersey and Shorthorn handlers most of whom had much more experience.

Beforehand I had said that if any of our handlers were too finish in the top five then that would exceed my expectations.

The Judge Mrs Jill Zeilon from Sweden gave a demonstration of what she would be seeking from the Showmen and how she would expect the calves to be presented too her.

Class 1 12 years & Under had 49 entries and so was split with 21 ten or under contestants and we were represented here by Katherine Waters and Bethan Senior and both young ladies gave assured performances and both were placed in the top 15, and thus were guaranteed a place in the Guernsey Showmanship finals.

Katherine

Bethan

Class 1 B Over 10 –12

There were 4 Guernsey competitors in this section

U10 handlers

and Jessica Hall was placed in 8^th position, whilst Stephen Waters was placed in 14^th position whilst Morgan Senior and Jack Hawkins also did very well in the first season of competition.

Jessica

Stephen

Morgan

Jack

Class 2 had 6 Guernsey competitors in the 13-15 age group and to our delight Kate Bowsher was placed 1^st and Edd Hosking was placed 3^rd after the Judge had asked that the Class was divided as the ring was not big enough to accommodate the 40 entries.

Kate & Edd

Class 2 B found Jamie Greenslade placed in 4^th position whilst Amy Jasper was also placed in the first rank.

Jamie

Amy

Class 3 for those aged between 16 and 20 found 5 Guernsey competitors and Emma Greenslade was our highest placed competitor here with Rebecca Humphries also making the first rank.

Class 4 for Mature handlers up to age 26 had 2 Guernsey competitors Emma Ogden and Robert Evans and these young handlers were made to work very hard having to swap calves and show their paces and again it was with great pleasure that we were able to celebrate a second class win when Robert Evans was placed 1^st with Emma in 5^th place.

Robert winning his class

The first and second highest placed competitors then contested the Guernsey handling Championship

Guernsey Handling Championship

and Kate Bowsher who had given a confident performance throughout was placed as Champion

Kate the Champion

with Jamie Greenslade as Reserve Champion Handler and Emma Greenslade as Hon Mention.

Jamie & Emma

Kate and Robert as Class winners then entered the Coloured Breed Championship ring which was made up of 1 Ayrshire, 1 Shorthorn both of whom had placed second , with our 2 Guernsey handlers and 6 Jersey handlers 3 of whom were Class winners.

11 year old Claire Daw who had won the second division of Class 1 was made Champion and she and her Jersey calf were a true partnership which gave her the advantage over 14 year old Kate Bowsher who won Reserve Coloured Breed Champion handler and  who was leading a fancy Easby Rowan daughter from Andrew Waters who knows Kate through his involvement in the South East Holstein club.

Robert Evans helps his namesake Colin Evans with the Hilcol herd at Carmarthen and has presented 6-8 calves at a time to keep the South Wales Calf show classes open in the last two years. He was showing an O H Dividend from Instead that carries an illustrious name being a daughter of C Clarissa 32 twice a Royal Norfolk Champion.

So to have four competitors placed in the top four,and two of them Edd and Jamie competing at their first All Britain was a wonderful achievement and I am really looking forward to tomorrows Calf Classes, in which 24 calves will be competing.