Just shaving, brushing and combing out the tail: René Steltenpool from Obdam is busy. Tomorrow he will participate in the Easter cattle exhibition in Schagen with five of his double-muscled cows. After corona, this is the first year that the Market is full of cows again and the prizes for the most beautiful fat bottoms will be handed out again.
Since 2013, René can be found at inspections in Schagen and the rest of the country. But, unlike many other participants, René is not a professional breeder. He has been keeping double-muscled cows as a hobby for over thirty years, in addition to his own cleaning company. “I’m in shit every day,” Steltenpool laughs.
This year René is taking five of his ten double-muscled ladies to Schagen. “The smallest that competes in the up to five months category, then three in the five months to one year category and the last cow in the age between one and two years.”
In the video below, René explains which cow he thinks has a chance of winning and what the jury will pay attention to during judging (text continues below the video).
But the double-muscled cows must of course look picobello for the inspection. That is why René is already busy with the external care of his ladies the days before. “It takes a lot of work,” admits the cow enthusiast.
On the day itself, the alarm clock is set early in the Steltenpool house. The participating cows are already expected in Schagen in the morning. “We have to get up early to feed the animals. When they have their bellies full, we put the cows on the wagon and take them to Schagen,” René explains.
The chance is very small that the cows will be as clean after the ride as before, so René in Schagen will start cleaning the buttocks again. “Because on the way they shit on each other again”, René laughs.
Gain
Whether René will win prizes with his cows, just like in recent years, remains to be seen. He does have good hope. “You have to have very good cows if you want to be first. It’s all about the small details and of course what the turning master likes.”
Still, René has a lot of confidence in cow Grace, who also became reserve champion in Rhenen this year. But the cow enthusiast also knows that the inspector in Schagen Grace can judge very differently. “At home we all have a champion, but in Schagen there is only one.”