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 progeny on the ground, three more on the way and eight embryos awaiting implant.

She was 11 years old and never lost her figure.  This was Cashtiller at an early triumph.

And there’s a “back story” in the picture.  The judge with the steely eye is our dear friend, Ivan Rowe of Cornwall.  Ivan and Gavin Hunter are from different generations, different parts of England and with different approaches to breeding.  But it was Ivan, the judge, who gave the “winner’s slap” to Cashtiller and sent her on her way to an unbroken string of championships.

Nothing makes me happier than having brought these two great English breeders together under the Traditional Devon America tent.  We can’t wait to see them both in England again this Spring.