Borderway UK Dairy Expo 2023 Showmanship Champion, Alison Lawrie (nee Hunter), 26, first started showing at just 9 years old, and has a star-studded career in the showring.
Throughout the years Alison has regularly attended Dairy Expo, with of course one of the highlights being crowned as the Showmanship Champion at Dairy Expo in 2023. Capping off a great record, having won the championship twice, achieving the reserve once, an honourable mention once and in the championship on another occasion, Alison was thrilled with the success of her final fling in the showring.
Now aged 26, Alison is just out of the age bracket for competing at UK Dairy Expo, and here she looks back on her years showing in the youth classes.
Alison has loved her time on the showing circuit, especially showing at UK Dairy Expo. “Being one of the first major dairy events of the season, it is a good chance to give the calves from last year a final send off or the new ones their first outing.”
Alison taught herself the rules and skills of the showring by reading books and by closely watching the experts, “I was very lucky, as The Scottish Holstein Club were very supportive, and there were many members who I was able to look up to and learn from.”
“The best advice I ever received was ‘little and often’, practicing your skills 10 minutes a day is much more beneficial than just an hour at the weekend. This would be the advice I would pass any one just starting out in showing.”
Success does not happen without its trials and tribulations, and for Alison “the greatest challenge I encountered was finding the time to practice, especially when working and during the dark winter months.”
“I have made lifelong friends from all over the world, having been fortunate enough to attend shows in North America and throughout Europe, and was delighted to scoop first prize in the Open Competition when showing in Cremona in Italy in 2018.”
Alison was brough up on the Hunter Family Farm in Lanarkshire, and today, alongside her husband Kevin she helps manage Myermill Farm in Ayrshire, where they milk 300 dairy cattle, a mix of Holsteins and Ayrshires.
The Lawrie family are also very competitive in the main ring, and last year took the Red and White Junior Champion, and Holstein Reserve Intermediate Champion, and are looking forward to showing the Holsteins, Red and White, and Ayrshire classes again this year.
Alison concludes; “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my extra time, after I no longer qualify for the showmanship classes, however, I’m sure my 18month daughter will keep me busy!”
