Northern Ireland HYB members set to compete at UK-wide competition

The three-day event will see members from clubs from every corner of the UK come together and compete in a variety of competitions, as well as herd tours and team building activities.

Each year the event is hosted by a different club, however, the Weekend Rally has not taken place since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Northern Ireland HYB last hosted the event in 2017. This time, it is the North Eastern HYB club who will be welcoming members to Durham for the 2022 event.

Members will compete in stock judging and linear assessment competitions on the Saturday, whilst the Sunday sees the hotly contested ‘Field to Foto’ competition.

The ‘Field to Foto’ competition sees members working in teams of five as they prepare a calf from ‘the field’ right through to the show ring - clipping, washing and taking a professional photograph. Back in 2019, the Northern Ireland club were victorious in the ‘Field to Foto B Section’ event.

Clubs put forward two members in each age group for the national judging competitions. These two competitors are decided as a result of the qualifiers which were held earlier in the year, with the competitors’ top two scores from three events being taken for their total.

The judging events were kindly hosted by J and N McCann, Bangor, the Orr Family, Ballymena and the Fleming family, Seaforde and were kindly sponsored by Lely Center Eglish.

The linear assessment qualifier took place at the Wadsworth family farm, Lisburn.

There was a bumper turnout at the events this year, which saw some tough competition in order to acquire a place at the coveted national finals. These will take place at Belaw Farming, Northallerton, on the Saturday.

The qualifying team for the stock judging competition is: Junior section – Max Watson, Coleraine and David Hamilton, Bangor; Intermediate section – James Patton, Carrowdore and Harry Orr, Ballymena; Senior Section – John Mclean and Matthew Mclean, Bushmills.

The linear assessment qualifiers for the junior section are Jack Orr, Ballymena and Ben Reid, Drumbo, with Ryan McKnight, Drumbo and Callum Reid, also Drumbo, representing the club in the intermediate section.

Robert Stewart, Portaferry and John Mclean, Bushmills qualified for the senior section.

Club Coordinator, Andrew Patton, from Newtownards, commented: “We have a great team of qualifying members heading across the water next weekend who we hope will stand a great chance of bringing home the silverware.

“It is very encouraging to see such a great turnout at the events this year, and we must also thank all the parents who bring the young members to these qualifying heats, that make them so successful. We are also indebted to Lely Center Eglish for providing much-needed sponsorship for the events this year.”

All in all, there are 27 members representing the Northern Ireland club next weekend and the club wish their members all the best for the competitions. Keep an eye on the social media pages next weekend for all the results.