We are back again bringing you the latest news from YDP workshops happening up and down the country. It is always great to see youngsters coming together to attend our YDP workshops, giving them the chance to develop their skills and meet likeminded people. This week we were lucky enough to catch up with sisters Molly and Ruby Astley aged 14 and 10 as they share their experience at the workshop. The workshop was held on the 30th of June in Penistone at Liley Farm which was kindly hosted by Ben Marsden – we would like to thank Ben for offering up his farm and giving the youngsters this opportunity.
Firstly, we hear from older sister Molly Astley, aged 14 on her experience at the workshop:
“On the 30th June I visited an Aberdeen-Angus Youth Development course in Penistone, at Ben Marsden’s farm. I learnt a lot throughout the day, under the expertise of Andrew, John, Mary, Terry, Ben and Gayle.
The day started off by being taught how to clip cattle ready for a show by Terry Ives. Terry taught us how to keep safe around the cattle, as the sound of the clippers can be quite daunting for the cattle. Once we had finished with Terry we then moved on to washing the cattle with Ben Marsden. Ben helped us give the heifer a good scrub and by the end she was glistening; he also taught us how to swap halters when showing and how to tie the cattle up safely at a show. We then moved onto stockjudging with Andrew Shufflebotham, where he told us where the different cuts of meats are, he then let us judge the animals and gave us feedback on how we did. Once we finished stockjudging we moved on to dressing the cattle with John Reynolds. John told us all the different sprays and soaps to use when preparing an animal for its time to shine in the show ring. As the day drew to an end the last activity was showing the animal, Mary Reynolds gave us all the tricks in the book to get that red rosette. All of us got a chance to show off what we had learnt throughout the day.
I would recommend this course to anyone who enjoys being around animals. Even if you don’t have cattle on your farm this course gives you the confidence to work with cattle. If Gayle Bersley never told my YFC about this course then I would never had known about it. It was definitely an opportunity that I would try again, as it was a very enjoyable, informative day!”
Younger sister Ruby aged 10, gives account from the YDP workshop:
“On Saturday the 30th June 2018, I attended an Aberdeen Angus Society Youth Development Programme at Liley Farm (Penistone) about preparing cattle for a show and showing cattle at a show.
The day involved me and many others learning how to handle, wash, clip, dress, show and stock-judge cattle. It’s great because you do it with real animals and it helps you build your confidence around the cattle.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day and I would love to do another one. I would recommend this to young people who want to learn more about farming, animals and showing. A truly enjoyable day for anybody with a passion for stock farming.”
We would like to thank both Molly and Ruby for sharing with us their experience from the workshop, we are glad that you both managed to learn new things and were able to build your confidence around cattle. If like Molly and Ruby, you would like to come along to a workshop with your friend or family member then we fully encourage you to do so and you can see the full list of workshops on by clicking here, make sure not to miss out!
More images from the workshop are shown below:
