Food and Farming is continuing to follow Vicky Sloane-Masson as she prepares stock for this summer’s agricultural shows.

Two calves have been picked out for Vicky’s daughter, Rhian, and son, Alec, to show.

With only a month to go before the Southern Show it was time to try a show halter on them and try leading them out for the first time.

Honeybee, who will be shown by Alec, was born in October so is now eight months old.

She looks typically Holstein with her large, bright eyes, ears carried alertly and feminine appearance. At birth she would have weighed 90lb (six stone, six pounds or 41kg) or more. By the time she is mature she will weigh around 1,500lb (107 stone or 680kg) and stand 58ins tall at the shoulder.

Showing dairy cows and calves is not just about looks for their own sake. A cow which is physically correct, well grown for her age, long-bodied and deep ribbed with a straight topline and clean set of feet and legs, has the potential to perform more easily the function for which she was bred.

In addition to her physical attributes, Honeybee has a lovely temperament.

She submitted happily to the halter fitting and then took her first steps around the yard with Vicky leading her. But, whilst it may be all very well doing this somewhere that is familiar to Honeybee, how would she cope with all the strange sights and sounds and excitement to the two big shows?

Vicky says: ’We try to have as much noise and things going on as possible when we are training here.

’We keep them in the shed where they can see everything that’s going on throughout the day, tractors, dogs running about their feet and just throw everything we can at them, to prepare them for it. And cows aren’t as flighty as horses. You’ve got to keep calm on the day as well because you can pass it on to them if you’re not calm, they think: "Oh there’s something wrong here".’

It must work because Vicky says that they have never had a cow behave in a spooky manner at the shows. ’But we did have one that really didn’t think she liked being shown: she actually reared up and Neil had to take her in. She did win though.’,

Next week Vicky will start the process of trimming and clipping Honeybee’s which currently still retains patches of fluffy baby hair. Four weeks before the show she will be clipped all over, then a few days before she will have a ’show clip’ which means Vicky using an experienced eye to trim back the coat in a way which accentuates and improves the calf’s conformation.

Neil will then trim the feet and make sure they are level so that they can stand properly.

Vicky says: ’She’ll have several baths before the show to make her coat shine then on show day the final prep will be another bath and I’ll trim her top line.’

l This year’s Southern District Agricultural Show is on Saturday, July 31, and Sunday, August 1, Orrisdale Farm, Ballasalla.

The Royal Manx Agricultural Show is on Friday, August 13, and Saturday, August 14, at Knockaloe.