Two sisters are making serious strides in the show ring, with ribbon-winning heifers and state-level honours to prove it.
Lilly and Beth Eagles have both notched up impressive achievements at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, showing not just their skill with dairy cattle, but a deep passion for their breeds.
Lilly, a Year 9 student at Forbes High, has been named runner-up in the NSW dairy parading championships and will go on to represent the state at the national finals in Adelaide this September.
Her heifer, Savvy Deluxe Blossom, also stood out at Sydney, earning a third-place ribbon.
Lilly is a big fan of the Ayrshire breed of dairy cattle, with Deluxe a stand-out for her overall structure and how she tracks.
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“She’s a well-balanced heifer, with a beautiful wedge shape,” Lilly said. “She’s long through her body.”
Even better when it comes to the show circuit, Deluxe is “the sweetest cow ever” – and she’s already experienced in shows from Cowra’s calf day to Dairy Week.
“Ayrshires are my favourite,” Lilly said.
“I just like everything about them, they don’t get massive and they’re pretty sweet.”
At nationals, though, Lilly and the other competitors won’t get to parade their own cattle.
Organisers of the Adelaide competition will select a group of similar heifers and competitors will pick a number from a hat to be matched with the animal they'll lead in the competition.
It will be very different, Lilly said, but she’ll be working with a whole range of cattle with a range of experience and temperament at school in preparation for local shows to gain experience.
Lilly also stepped up to compete in the dairy cattle judging at this show, representing extremely well in a competitive field of older, experienced young judges.
Beth, in Year 7, is building her own legacy with a blue ribbon win for her heifer, My Little Rarity, in the four-to-six-month-old Jersey class.
Seeing her called forward in the final five of the championship class was an especially proud moment for Beth, who started her stud at just eight years old.
“I just fell in love with (Jersey cattle) and mum got me two, and it just grew from there,” Beth said.
She’s hoping My Little Rarity, who she mostly calls Apple around home, still has a long show career ahead of her as a heifer and hopefully as a cow once she calves.
“She’s very correct in her structure, she’s got a lot of depth and her ribs are perfectly set out,” Beth said.
“She’s got good angles and she walks really well on her front and back legs.”
But the seven-month-old has given her young owner a bit of work in preparing for show: she proved a bit stubborn when it came to learning to lead.
“Surprisingly she’s really nice to lead after a lot of work … and help from mum,” Beth said.
The family had a wonderful experience returning to Sydney Royal and their proud mum Rachael now can't wait to take them on to Adelaide.
