What a great weekend we have had. A weekend with a lot of cutting and herdwork. For some weeks ago, me and my dad saw a post on Facebook about a NCHA show on Fyn in Denmark. Annette and Torben Larsen was seeking helpers for there show the last weekend in July. We decided to go and help. Mostly because we want to learn how to handle cattle but also to get to know the Danish cattle horse people. One of the guys from Kumlegaard, Johnnie, went with us to also help at the show.
Friday the 27th of July, we packed the camper and went to Haarby at Fyn. A two hour’s drive. When we arrived, we went around to see the place, said hi to Annette and Torben and then setup the camper. We found out that there already where more people that we knew.
Torben asked if we would help him to pick up the cattle at a farmer’s place nearby. We had to pick up 50 cattle. 35 of then where for the show on Saturday and the last 15 where for training on Friday. I have never tried to handle cattle before, so it was very interesting but also a bit scary. But after a short time, I found out that they where more scared of me than I was for them. The riders were training for around two hours and then the farmer picked up the 15 training cattle again.
Our job for the rest of the weekend ware to take care of the cattle. Feed them, give them water and let them in and out. We also helped with other things that we needed. Doing the Saturday I got so comfortable with the cattle that I could walk around between them without a problem. We were changing the cattle Saturday evening so we also had the job to load the first cattle and then unload the next group from another farmer. We now know a lot more about cutting shows and how to handle cattle. Maybe a show or two more and then we are ready for our own shows.
We have had a great weekend with a lot of fun. It was easy to see that these people have done this for years, both riding and doing shows. It was also easy to get into this group of people, they were all very nice to us. If we have time free we will also go there next year.
Here you can see some pictures and a video from the show.