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Our cows…
…are built around the great English cow Tilbrook Cashtiller. She won three consecutive national grand championships and a host of ribbons and silver. And to top it off three of her sons were the top selling bulls in the annual Devon breeders sale. We’re indebted to Tibrook’s Gavin Hunter…who again today is serving as president of the British Society …for permitting us to flush Cash twice! TDA 7 was out of that first flush 12 years ago and not showing her age. Her sire was another British champion, Cutcombe Jaunty. Cashtiller is gone now but we have several of her daughters and granddaughters and other descendants in our herd…and some…
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Our bulls…
…have become an increasingly important part of our operation…not only joining herds from Canada to Louisiana but as leased sires to smaller farms that can’t justify a full-time bull. Right now we have eight bulls at work for Thistle Hill…and a dozen more in the development stage. Our bull pen is still headed by Highwayman, sired by the English bull Millennium Falcon. The dam was from the Goldings herd of the legendary cattleman Ivan Rowe. Ivan gave us the pick of his herd and smiled a rare smile when we selected Norah. It was the only pedigree that he had carried in his pocket. Ivan judged many breeds in his…
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The happy marriage…
…of two great English herds at Thistle Hill. TDA 31 is an embryo heifer from Goldings Farm in Cornwall and Ashott Barton Farm in Somerset. 31 is Exhibit A in what we hoped to achieve with our pursuit of pure traditional English Devon genetics. We would be hard-pressed to find some way to improve her. The dam was Goldings Norah who we discovered in Ivan Rowe’s pastures at Lands End. Ivan told told us to select any cow we wanted from his herd of more than 100 Devon. He’d wait for us back at the house. Wooz and I trudged back and forth in the rain all afternoon before settling…
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Passing of a giant…
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PS to TDA 35…
……in the previous post “Introducing TDA 35” (see below)I talked about a moment 10 years ago when I first saw the young bull’s dam. Moments after posting I recalled Wooz was handling the camera at that moment. So I dug into the archives and sure enough there it was. Ivan Rowe, my Cornish mate, pretty much owns all the pastures around St. Just…right down to Lands End at the southwestern tip of England. The cow is Norah 14…and his herd contains 100 more just like her! Ivan gave us the pick of the herd and we chose her to mate with Millennium Falcon. Read the next post to see one…
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Here comes the judge….
….our good friend from Cornwall, Ivan Rowe, was out on the show circuit again this week…judging the Launceston show. And our Cornwall lass Juliet Cleave was there, too, and snapped this picture. We would guess Ivan has judged more cattle and more breeds than just about anyone. And for the story of his own herd, read “Recharging our batteries – 5” just below. Both Ivan and Juliet are also cooperating breeders in Traditional Devon America™. Actually, three more of our partners are also certified judges in England: Gavin Hunter, Brian Drake and Margaret Elliott.
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Recharging our batteries – 5
….and if this won’t do it, you need a new one. We usually wind up our English tours at the tip of Cornwall…not only because of the cows and the scenery but because this is where our search for pure traditional English Devon first began five years ago. I used to say this was “Doc Martin country”…but now I guess I should say “Poldark country”. And the lovely thing is the people aren’t much changed from those times. My mate, Ivan Rowe of Goldings herd, is a case in point. But all the attention we’ve paid him has made Ivan something of a celebrity. One of the days we were there…
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Tilbrook Cashtiller, R.I.P…..
The great English champion Tilbrook Cashtiller has been put down. She was the prettiest cow I have ever seen. Cashtiller campaigned in British shows for several years and was never beaten. A great moment came at a Royal Cornwall show where she was named not only champion cow but Grand Champion. Her ribbons, silver trophies and plates could fill a room at owner Gavin Hunter’s home….and do. When the partners of Traditional Devon America saw Cashtiller first in 2010, they nervously broached the subject of flushing her for embryos….but Gavin quickly and generously agreed. “Cash” more than cooperated, providing us with 25 embryos. Right now we have 7 of her…
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A few of my favorite…..
….People! My mate, Ivan Rowe, braving a gale to judge a Devon show at Camelford, England recently. The steward for the show was our Cornwall lass, Juliet Cleave. Our English project is all the stronger for the fact that four of our seven partners have been judges in Devon circles for many years. If Ivan tells you a cow is “fit”, take it to the bank. It’s an integrity he took to people judging too, as a former Queen’s magistrate.