DENVER, Colo. — Every year, Rodney and Tanya Hollman make the 21-hour trip from their ranch at Innisfail, Alta., to Denver, Colorado, to enter the National Western Stock Show.
This year paid off when their bull, RWG Right Combination 5506, was named grand champion Gelbvieh Jan. 9.
“It is worth it every year, but it was extra worth it this year,” said Tanya.
The couple owns Royal Western Gelbvieh and places well every year, but they have missed the brass ring in the championship drive.
This year they also won reserve intermediate champion bull and reserve two-year-old female.
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“We had a good week. We have been in the hunt. His sire was champion senior bull in 2015,” Rodney said about RWG Right Combination 5506.
The bull, which is co-owned with Fladeland Livestock of Gladmar, Sask., was also grand champion Gelbvieh at last year’s Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.
It will go into stud at Bow Valley Genetics, and decisions will be made later as to whether it will be shown again.
The Hollman’s next big show is the Canadian Bull Congress at Camrose, Alta., Jan. 27-28.
However, there will be little time to rest on their laurels once they return home. Both have off-farm jobs and need to be back at work immediately.
“We go home Wednesday and I will be back in the shop on Thursday,” Rodney said.
Tanya is a nurse at the Innisfail hospital and will be back at work soon.
“When everybody else has summer vacation, I take it in winter to show cattle,” she said.
Another Canadian, Scott Severtson of Innisfail, won the reserve champion two-year-old Balancer bull and had the two-year-old champion purebred bull plus several class winners.
The National Western Stock Show runs from Jan. 7-22.
