Smithfield Wedding
There's always a lot to remember when planning a wedding, but for one Herefordshire couple, five show cattle and all their accessories come as part of the package.
Neil Lloyd and Sally Burnett are already a team running a cattle livery service called Black'n'Blues, based at Stoneycroft Farm at Luston, near Leominster. But as they present five prestigious show cattle at this year's Royal Smithfield Show, perhaps the highlight of their Smithfield appearance will be the blessing of their wedding in the main arena on the first day of the Show. Their marriage takes place at Hammersmith Registry office on Saturday.
Sally excitedly explains: “We've definitely got the go ahead now, I've just had the details from Smithfield.” The fact that the next enthusiastic statement announces that ‘Miss Royal' will be part of the entourage explains the fervour behind this cattle livery business. Miss Royal is one of their most successful show cattle, owned by Derek Winney, a loyal supporter of the team.
Although the couple have been showing individually for many years, it was just four years ago when they established the Black'n'Blues team, and since then they have had many successes at some of the most prestigious shows around the UK. They have now set their sights on the Royal Smithfield.
Neil says: “For us showing has been a hobby, but it's now become a business. It's quite a unique service, there's only about a dozen of us in the country that offer this sort of expertise.
“There are people who have an interest in showing, but maybe haven't got the knowledge of presenting the animals or training them to lead. They can send an animal to us like you might send a racehorse to a trainer – either for a month or two, just to train it for them – or it can come to us right through, for us to show for them as well.”
The team is willing to take on any breed of cattle as long as they feel that the animal has the potential to become a champion.
“We've got to be showmen and judges really. You learn over the years what to look for in an animal and you get to know what the judges like and follow that trend a little. It's quite a large responsibility taking on somebody else's stock.”
Sally adds: “A good animal is just born to show, it will just stand right, come to the show and love to show, if they don't want to do it, you can't make them.”
As well as shows the couple also prepare bulls for the various sales. As there are not the facilities for large quantities of bulls at the farm, the animals stay on their own site until the sale.
Neil adds: “Showing is a lovely side to the agricultural industry. The agricultural show is the shop window of the farming community and when the general public come through the gate, we've got to try and demonstrate that we're in business and that we're probably the finest country in the world at what we do.”