Tyler Smith chalks up a win for young studmasters

The young Victorian studmaster has returned home with the tricolour ribbon for grand champion Limousin cow or heifer for Cowgirl Zola’s Shadow.

The daughter of Wulfs Waldo and White Lakes Zola’s Shadow, the matron is a three-time visitor to the show ring at Brisbane, taking out third place in the under 12 month class in her first outing in 2014 before placing first in the over 20 month category last year.

This year, as well as being named senior and grand champion Limousin cow, she was in the top five in the Champion of Champions interbreed competition.

Tyler bought Zola as a 20-month-old calf at the 2013 PRL dispersal sale in Orange and said that as a calf, she was just a mini-version of the cow she’s grown into.

“Limousins have muscle, and she has softness to carry that through,” she said.

To add to her rewards, Tyler’s young heifer Cowgirl Wiggled won her class earlier in the day.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my Limos,” she said.

Judge Gavin O’Brien, himself the operator of Winchester Charolais Stud at Orange, NSW, said Limousins were in competition with the other French breed for market share and he thought the award winners would slot right into the top of the beef industry.

“I was really pleased to award a unit as strong as (Cowgirl Zola’s Shadow). She’s in good nick and doing a good job on her calf,” he said.

Eleven-year-old Kate McCarthy of Nobby was another of the female faces in the show ring, putting 636kg bull Lochinvar le Rouge through his paces. She’s one of the graduates of a Limousin youth camp, to be held again this year at the Pittsworth showgrounds in September. Over 100 participants of all ages take part in activities such as hoof trimming and show etiquette.