CATTLE IN THE BLOOD
Cloe to help prepare stock for Canterbury show
WHEN Cloe Wallace celebrates her 17th birthday, the young girl from Goondiwindi will be 2600km from home and the other side of the Tasman Sea.
Instead of a birthday party with friends and family huddled around a sponge cake, Cloe will be busily helping Rangiora cattle producers Phil and Kay Worthington prepare their lowline cattle for showing at the Canterbury A&R Show in November.
And it’s a birthday the budding cattle judge is eagerly looking forward to celebrating.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” the 16-year-old Downlands College student said.
That confident nature has grown since her modest start in the cattle judging circuit less than 12 months ago.
Although Cloe won the Lowline Plus Promotional Group trip to New Zealand after she received the highest individual points at the Heritage Ag Show last week, her start in the judging arena wasn’t as successful.
Her first time judging was at the Inglewood Show this year and, and in her own words, “didn’t go that great”.
“I guess I started out modestly,” Cloe laughed.
“My teacher at Goondiwindi, Vanessa Duffy, restarted the cattle show team this year and we were the first to go back to it.
“Past students and people I know have done the cattle teams and they said they enjoyed it, so I joined.”
Over the months, Cloe nailed down her judging skills and when she moved to Downlands College about seven weeks ago, she brought that keen eye with her.
The skills have taught her how to pick the best cattle in terms of meat density and stance, but she said it hasn’t been too practical on her parent’s property at Goondiwindi.
“We’ve got 1600 acres and run commercial cattle, not show cattle,” she said.
“The program is very hands on and everyone in the team has something to bring to the table.”
The November trip across the ditch won’t be the first time Cloe has headed overseas, but it will be the first time spending time on a property with more than three cattle.
“I used to live in Ireland for two years. My dad is Irish so we went over there to visit family,” she said.
“They had three cattle so I guess the big difference to there and home is that, when it came to moving cattle there, it would be walking three cows up the road.
“But at home, you would have to get on a horse and bring in 80 to 90 head at a time – that’s a big difference.”