The Cornwall YDP workshop took place on the 5th of August at Kea, Truro. 
The hosts were Phil and Roger Laity and the training line up was all female for the first time ever.

One of the young enthusiasts who was attending was Kian from Launceston. 

Kian has been kind enough to share his account of his day at the farm:

5th of August 2017

“I attended the Cornwall YDP workshop which was the 3rd workshop I had attended this year. 

I really enjoy the workshops as Gayle provides a variety of trainers and its great to be able to learn something new from each of them. There was a small group of us here about 10 and of various ages and it was great to mix with and meet them all. 

We started the day off with washing the cattle with 3 new trainers that I had not come across before and they all gave great suggestions in how to get to know your animal etc. Fortunately the cattle were washed well and we managed not to get too wet ourselves.

After they were washed and dried we went on to dressing with Bernie Stacey. We learnt about the various products and what to use on different types of coat, there is so much choice now and it was good to see what worked best to get the coat to hold and give the best appearance. 

Clipping was demonstrated by Gail Ellis, (this was the highlight of the workshop for me) I learnt so much from her on how to approach your animal for clipping. She also demonstrated taking the clippers apart and how to care for them, something we can all easily miss yet is a very important part of keeping your expensive equipment in a good working condition.

We then moved onto stock judging, again I really enjoyed this session. Liz Bunkum took this and she was great in showing us what to look for and how to put it into words. I found this really helpful as I am doing more stock judging with my YFC club and its great to get as much knowledge as possible and to be able to put it into practice.

Finally we ended with the showing, we had a mixed range of cattle some Angus and some South Devon’s. Again It was great to pick up new tips from them all. How to make your animal stand out more for the judge, where to place yourself and we could learn in a great environment with no pressure.

Id like to say thank you to Gayle and everyone involved in the YDP programme for giving us such a great opportunity, I really enjoy the workshops and since this one I will have attended another. Its a great way to meet like minded people with the same interest in a no pressure environment and I have learnt so much from them all-this is my third year of being involved with the programme and I look forward to many more years. “

We’d like to thank Kian for sharing his experience with us. We’d also like to thank all the other participants who contributed to making this another great YDP workshop. Finally, a big thank you to the hosts and trainers as without them these events would not be possible. Keep an eye out for the latest updates from the remaining workshops throughout the year!