Paula Hynes: Dreams really do come true
Owner/breeder Izzy Laird with Blythbridge Chocochip Reagie and Georgie Hynes.
Dreams do come true in life and it is even more special when your heroes become your friends.
Georgie won her junior showmanship class at the IHFA National YMA Finals in July this year under the watchful eye of judge Izzy Laird.
It was a huge moment for Georgie and as we attended UK Dairy Day she watched on as Izzy showed Mag Pandor to win a big class of milkers and go on to make the final five in the championship. For a little nine year old girl, Izzy was her peer who then became her hero.
We chatted to the Lairds that evening before we headed home to Ireland and Izzy and Colin headed back to Scotland where they own Blyth Farm, home of the Blythbridge herd.
An early morning phone call two weeks later, Izzy wanted to know if Georgie would be interested in showing Blythbridge Chocochip Reagie for her at the All Breeds All Britain calf show in Stoneleigh, as she knew we would be attending to watch Becky and our heifers compete.
There were tears of joy and pride in our kitchen as we broke the exciting news to Georgie — she knew the All Breeds is the UK biggest calf show, a big stage with even bigger competition.
Our little nine-year-old turned 10 but her birthday celebrations were being saved for the UK and we caught an early Friday morning flight to Birmingham.
Reagie, Izzy and Colin drove the seven-hour trip south and finally, Georgie linked up with the November 2022-born jersey heifer. A little under 36 hours to become friends, practise walking and bond for their big adventure together.
A tough task lay ahead, with 19 heifers in the class and some hot company, as she was going head to head with the supreme calf from the National Jersey Show less than a week earlier.
Judge Warren Ferguson travelled from New Zealand to judge the National Jersey Show and was officiating again with the Jerseys in Stoneleigh. Reagie is a stunning daughter of Avonlea Chocochip, ooozes dairyness and Georgie knew she would have to show foot perfectly to have a chance — the first lineup saw the duo stand second place but Georgie has learned to work a lineup, not one bit phased by the big winning heifer ahead of her.
As Warren asked the two heifers to walk forward, Georgie worked enough to help Reagie get tapped into first place. There were tears of joy outside the ring as the duo stood top of the line.
It was Ireland v Scotland the night before in Paris, but in Stoneleigh Ireland showed their strength when teaming up with Scotland and on handing out the red rosette Warren commented that he always loves to judge the one heifer he would like to take home and it was a joy to see her shown foot perfect.
Outside the ring, Georgie got an even bigger thrill in seeing what it meant to Izzy and Colin but the job wasn’t finished yet — Reagie needed a rest, with a three-hour wait to the overall Jersey championship.
With pulp nuts in the little bovine and ice cream in the little handler, the duo were prepped and ready for the final showdown — 10 of the best jersey heifers in the British Isles lining the centre of the main arena.
Reagie having all the style and Georgie having all the confidence to set her right, a packed ringside clapping as Warren Ferguson took a final look before walking the line and doubling back to high-five Georgie and in that split second Blythbridge Chocochip Reagie was overall champion Jersey, beating the best of the best heifers on the biggest stage.
Little did the southern hemisphere judge realise that he had made many dreams come true — for a little Irish girl it was a moment to cherish forever, for a breeder it was Izzy's first time breeding the All Breeds All Britain Jersey champion, a title she had won with Reagie's grand dam the year she purchased her and even sweeter that Izzy also bred the reserve champion.
For me as a mum, it was such a special moment to see my little girl team up with her peer, her hero, achieve huge success together and no doubt become two friends for life.
With all those dreams coming true, our own family dream this year was to qualify for the All Breeds All Britain with our heifer Panda Global Magic.
Becky did that in style, qualifying herself for the showmanship and Magic for the heifer class — it is a show where clubs have to work together, Becky is a member of the South West HYB club. In Stoneleigh, her team role was fitting all the heifers, no easy task for a 16-year-old who only started clipping this year.
As a mum, I stood back with an immense sense of pride watching her top and prep all her teammates' heifers while grabbing a moment to prep herself and dash to the ring. She had Panda Lamborgini Red on the halter and while Becky gave it all she had, for Lamborgini it was her first time in the show ring and the big stage phased her a little but a very credible fifth place for Becky in a class of the top 20 intermediate handlers from across the UK.
For me her professionalism shone through as she stepped straight out the ring, jumped into her overalls while grabbing a clippers to prep the next heifer for a teammate.
My sense of pride was even greater that my eldest daughter Chloe had stood up to the mark managing the farm at home for the weekend. Knowing I have three daughters who have the confidence to take charge, follow their dreams and make their own way in life is truly special.
As we headed back to Birmingham airport, I’m not sure Georgie needed the Ryanair flight to Cork, her success had her on such a high, but Millstreet beckons, with a team of eight to get ready heading for our National Dairy Show.
