Soaking Up Some Local Color: The Red Poll Cattle Show!

Let's go to a cattle show!  It will be fun and interesting, I promise.  Red Poll cattle are the oldest breed of cattle in my region-- Suffolk, England.  They are popular for not just being gorgeous, but because they are also exceptionally useful-- raised for both meat and milk.  They are named for their color and for the fact that they are naturally polled, or de-horned.

There was a show a few weeks ago at a local estate, and a friend invited us to come check it out with her.  We are always down for a new cultural experience, and I found it especially curious that they were offering barbecue-- cattle shows and BBQ sound so distinctly Southern, that I looked forward to seeing the English take on it.  The differences were immediately apparent-- this was the setting:

The show was very small.  Everyone was welcome, but I think the attendees were mainly the families of those who were presenting their animals.  It was so fun to see all of these lovely animals all gussied up for the show!

Each cow waited its turn to be shown, and those inside the tent were getting their beauty treatments.

I guess some take three stylists to get ready! One of my favorite things was the way the tails were groomed.  Faaan-cy!

I enjoyed watching this young lady gently and meticulously grooming her heifer.

While we were there, we spoke to a man that was showing a heifer for the first time.  He has a full-time job working for the county's veterinary service, but keeps a herd of Red Polls and a large flock of sheep on the side.  He said that he sort of inherited his cattle from an 80 year old woman who had been milking 30 of them by hand for years! 

And now for the showing part.  I haven't been to any 4H competitions or anything like that.  The closest thing I've seen is a dog show.  This was kind of like that-- an owner doing their best to lead their animal around a ring and look like they are in control of their creature.

This wild-looking pair was my favorite.

As much as I enjoyed the seeing the beautiful Red Polls, my favorite subjects were the judges themselves.  They took their jobs very seriously, and were so very quintessentially English.

After being walked around the ring a few times, the contestants were lined up and inspected.

Belly scratches were administered to patient beasts.

And then there was this, which made me giggle.

Ribbons were awarded, people clapped, and then the contestants were lead out of the ring, to be rewarded with something to eat.

As for the barbecue... It wasn't a big part of the event-- there was some meat being grilled, but not nearly as enticing as American Southern-style barbecue might have been.  We went for a traditional Sunday Roast at the restaurant on site instead.  All in all, it was fun, and I enjoyed the fact that it was a small show-- a low-key experience of something very English.

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