By Fiona Sloan

After a show season that most of us only dream of, the Clements family have decided to retire their famous show cow Darsham Kit Kat. 

Darsham Kit Kat

Few people would have failed to recognise this marvellous cow as she sauntered into the Show rings around the country and caught the eye of every Royal Show judge in the 2005 season, winning the Royal Highland, The Royal, The Gt Yorkshire and the Royal Welsh shows. She was also part of the Reserve Interbreed winning teams at the Royal Highland and the Royal and topped it off by winning the overall Interbreed Pairs at the Royal Welsh with her sometime partner for the season, Sundial Lewis.

Everyone knew her name and before I knew the names of many of the members, I knew who Darsham Kit Kat was.  It was obvious that everyone appreciated the style and quality of this great cow.  She loved the show ring and when she lifted that great head of hers as she walked around no-one could argue that she made the show ring her own.

As well as being a show star she bred a calf every year which was shown with her each season. One of her sons, Darsham Playboy is away being collected for semen for export and the home market.  One of her daughters, Darsham Real Treasure was shown at the Staffordshire Primestock Show 2005 and was Champion Simmental. Her latest calf Darsham Sefton and his handler Harry Woods were seldom out of the papers through the season.  They were captivating together and Kit Kat’s legacy will live on in her calf who, together with his young handler, will be seen all over the world as the emblem for the 2008 World Congress and the future of the breed.

Cows like Kit Kat don’t come around very often but in my first year in breed promotion with the Simmental Cattle Society she made my job a lot easier!

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