The Stanthorpe Show....part two.

The last Blog featured the kids and sideshow alley at our annual show.
This Blog will concentrate on the activities occurring in the grounds of the Showground.

And the photo below, for me, captures the essence of country shows. 
A yarn. with a foot on a fence rail, to another farmer, with arms spread on the top rail, and mum and daughter, and another female, having their own conversation.....with a can of Coke sneaking its way into, what would otherwise be, a typical rural scene.

Stud Cattle:

This year young people, between 11 and 16, were encouraged to participate, with the long-term aim being to interest the young in futures on the land. These youngsters were the stud cattle handlers.

They showed, or exhibited, the cattle to the judges of the Stud Cattle Committee.
The judges allocate marks for presentation, performance, behaviour and preparation of their cattle.

Obviously the animals are much bigger and heavier than their handlers, but the youngsters carried it off with aplomb. I doubt if I would be as calm and collected as they appeared to be.

Cattle in their stalls, patiently waiting for their turn to be "shown"

And look at the size of the white bull.....he is HUGE! Fancy being its handler???

"Well, its head is up, but how do I get him to walk to the other end of the paddock?"

Each handler carries a long rod which is used to encourage the beast to hold its head up high. This is a criterion which is judged.

Lining the cattle up ready for the judging. Heads are up.

"You've also got to keep them calm, which depending on which animal you've got, can be easy or difficult.    And you don't want them moving too much because then the judges can't see them properly" said one young handler. 

I can't tell you what breeds those cattle in the photos are, but they are all very healthy looking specimens, don't you think?

Horses in the Ring.

I don't know much about horses either,  but the three classes at this show were hacks (over 15 hands); galloways (between 14 and 15 hands) and ponies (14 hands and under)

All riders were expected to wear correct dress i.e. jodhpurs, shirt ,tie and riding boots.  Helmets were mandatory.

Putting the horses through their paces before the actual competition begins.

And here is a competitor in the jumps.....it looks so graceful.

The horses must be cleaned before competing.

The Sheep.

Sheep, and their products, were judged in at least three categories.
There was a Prime Lambs class; a Coloured Sheep class, and then fleece/wool was judged.


PRIME LAMBS:

facing the judges must've been hard work because all these sheep look plumb tuckered out!

COLOURED SHEEP:


These were judged in sub-classes.....best coloured ram, best coloured ewe, and best coloured wether. (a castrated ram)

I have no knowledge of sheep either, so the photos are just of "coloured sheep", of unknown sub-category.
 

Well, one is obviously chocolate-brown, and the other may be....what?.... silver??

A second chocolate-brown sheep, with thick fleece...and an empty water/food container! No wonder it is looking bored!

This sheep, in the Coloured Sheep section, looks as if it wants to be like a Dalmatian.

FLEECE:

There were a lot of fleece on display, and the odour of greasy wool, and lanolin, was pervasive.
Fleece could be ultrafine OR superfine OR fine.  (A fine line of distinction here????)
Fleece could be from Merino ewes, or Merino wethers, or Merino rams.
There were many sub-categories.

A small section of the fleece display. Some of the prize winners are seen.

Here are some of the criteria used in judging fleece.

Criteria for judging.

Chainsaw Competition.

I am sorry to say that I missed the Wood chop  events, but I did see some of the chainsaw competition, which was held at the same arena.

The logs are cut, longitudinally, along specific lines. Then the log is levered into its constituent parts.

There were post rips where great logs were sectioned by the chainsaws, and then prised apart into their final pieces, using levers. In the photo above you can see some of the separated parts of the logs, after chainsawing.  The logs are very hard, and are iron bark. (the name says it all doesn't it?)

Judging in progress.

The "guarders" of the logs! Seen at the side of the wood chop arena.

I also saw the Disc Stack competition, where the competitors cut pieces of trees into discs. I gather that the results depended on speed, i.e. how many disc were cut within a certain time, AND accuracy.....because the discs were evaluated on their appearance.

Setting up the timber cylinders for the Disk Stack.

And to finish, a few photos of  interesting rural objects around the grounds.

i) Rural parking.

Was the driver illiterate? Probably not....just totally independent, with a "stuff you" attitude!

ii)  Fancy poultry cage/s

A one-up-manship chook house?? Your chooks can be better housed than those of your neighbours.

 How about this chook house? Two stories. Own entrance. Probably has its own en suite!



iii) Water tanks are essential on many farms.

The tanks are not removed from the trucks, but displayed as they are.

 Because practically all rural properties are isolated, they have no reticulated water, and have to rely solely on stored rain water.  Here are 4 tanks to think about.....2 large plastic-based tanks on the truck's tray, and 2 smaller ones, including a stainless steel model, on the trailer at the rear.


And that's all for this part of the Show. In my next Blog, we will visit the pavilion, which was full of many arts and crafts and hobbies.


And one more photo to finish off.......country shows.....horses, cattle, sheep, farmers in broad-brimmed hats, woodchop events. Love these days!

Farewell, Stanthorpe Show.