The Highlanders are coming
The Highlanders are heading to Oban this weekend for their 121st autumn show and sale
The action will be at the United Auctions Oban Livestock Centre with the autumn show on Sunday October 7 and the sale on Monday October 8. New for this year at the event, under the auspices of the Highland Cattle Society, will be a commercial Highlander sale of unhaltered, non-pedigree Highlanders after Monday’s pedigree sale. Promoters say the 2018 event is not to be missed. Some of the top UK breeders will be there. Both days start at 10am. David Soutar will be the show judge with Jimmy Laing taking on the role of chief steward. Trophies, prizes and awards will be presented to the winners at the society’s ceilidh dinner and dance at Oban’s Royal Hotel on the Sunday evening. As part of this weekend’s event, Queenie Strickland is holding an open day for the Cladich Fold at Cladich Farm, Dalmally, on Saturday October 6 from noon to 5pm. Refreshments will be provided. All members and visitors are welcome. Highland cattle are instantly recognisable throughout the world with their long horns and flowing coats. In the British Isles, herds of Highlanders, known as folds, are found from one end to the other from the slopes of the Sussex Downs to East Anglia’s Fenlands and the windswept machars of the Outer Hebrides. Highland cattle societies have also been started abroad in Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Holland, Finland, France, Switzerland and Norway. There are also Highlanders in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, USA, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Faroe Islands. Highland cattle can even be found foraging 10,000 feet up in the Andes. Breeders, experienced and new, who have travelled from all over the world to buy new stock, will be invited by Raymond Kennedy of United Auctions to put in bids. A post on the Highland Cattle Society’s Facebook page said: ‘All visitors are welcome, buyers and enthusiastic spectators. With helpful staff and hundreds of knowledgeable members of the Highland Cattle Society in attendance, there is no better place to discover all you need to know about this iconic breed.’