The Suffolk Show: The Suffolk Trinity; Red Polls, Suffolk Sheep and the Suffolk Punch Heavy Horses

British paratroopers hit the main arena
Some substantial gear and equipment was on display
Ray Bowler (Red Poll UK secretary), Richard and Virginia Dawes (Red Poll breeders from Olney) and Diana Flack, field officer for the Red Poll breed in the Red Poll tent
An English Red Poll bull with an Australian sire (Eurimbla Gladstone).
The cow in the centre of this shot hails from the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and the exhibitor was listed in the program as "HM The Queen". It was placed third in the class.
A sign that seemed to sum up the dual British obsession with regulations and paradoxes
Plenty of native-bred Hereford cattle on display
A British Blue heifer showing extreme muscling
A fine example of a Suffolk Punch heavy horse, and quite a reasonable example of a bowler hat

The Suffolk Show is held over 2 days in the beginning of June each year. This year saw almost perfect weather conditions, clear skies, 25 degrees and lots of sun. Being school holidays (half term) crowds were plentiful and noisy.

Suffolk County is the home to their Trinity: Red Poll cattle, Suffolk sheep and the Suffolk Punch heavy horse. All originate in the county and all have gone on to find significant places within their species on other continents. [My work colleague, Richard Wilkinson, is perhaps unknowingly on his way to completing the trifecta of the Trinity as he has Red Polls, Suffolk sheep and is showing an increased interest in horses!]

There were over 50 head of Red Poll cattle in the 500 plus animals exhibited at the show. Horse entries this year were over 1700, so UK shows mirror much of what happens at home. The Grand Parade is traditionally led by the heavy horse contingent and a great sight it makes.

Red Poll exhibitors at the show included Writtle College which is located in nearby Chelmsford in Essex. Students at the college prepared their Red Poll heifers for the last time this year, as management decisions have seen the Red Poll herd dispersed, with the show heifers the last to be sold. However, the breeding herd has been replaced by groups of Euro-cross steers and heifers to be used in nutritional, husbandry and management trials. More about Writtle College and the teaching staff in a later blog post.

The Queen's Red Poll cow, exhibited by Tony and Ann Barnett from the Sandringham Estate was placed third out of 6 in the mature cow class, prompting a ringside wag to suggest that the judge ran the risk of a few days in the Tower of London as payback for a lowly third.

The smells, sights and activities associated with showing cattle are similar all over the world, I guess. Animals bounding out of control, stewards attempting to organise exhibitors in a manner similar to herding cats, judges telling of their decisions by digging deep into the book of showring cliches, and a feeling that only one exhibitor in each breed would be satisfied with the events of the day.

Many fewer carnival rides, no showbag halls, lots of shooting jackets and flat caps for sale, wellington boots (almost all green in colour), and the by now familar bowler hats. I think we will stick by our Akubras and Stetsons rather than travel down the bowler road.

The British Army parachuting display team dropped in out of Apache helicopters as the main ring attraction. In something symbolic of the overall financial state of the UK, they actually run days for tandem skydives with the troupe, videoed and presented, in order to help finance their corps.