Brushed, washed and shorn, Hactalis is preparing to leave Combourg, in Ille-et-Vilaine, to join the exhibition center in Paris for the agricultural show. “We also prepared his little suitcase, a wooden trunk, where we put buckets, brushes, halters.” That first participation in the competition, Mélodie Horvais, 32 years old, dreamed of it for a long time. His cow is selected in two categories, including “best dairy”, with very strict criteria: “If she has good legs, good udders… And if she has aged well because she is going to be 10!”
We will think of something other than milking, the price of fertilizer and fuel oil!
This old lady of around 850 kilos has a very special relationship with her owner. “It’s a cow that I bought at auction six years ago. I came in front, I flashed on her. She has always been well ranked. She is a cow that walks well and gives us back happy every day.” Hactalis takes part in the competition on Sunday noon, in the category of cows in sixth lactation, “so she is one of the oldest cows of the Norman breed present at the show”.
– Melody Horvais
“The usual champion for three years is absent”, slips Mélodie Horvais, who crosses her fingers to return to Combourg with the first prize plate. For the one who created the Instagram account “@ma_vie_dagricultrice”, this salon is the opportunity to interact with consumers and meet up with operating friends. “For two years, there have not been many gatherings, we have not really seen each other again. We will talk a lot about agriculture and we will also think a little about something other than milking or the price of fertilizer and fuel!”
She took over the family business with her sister and brother
In the family farm taken over two years ago with her 28-year-old sister and her 27-year-old brother, Mélanie has a lot of work. She will be satisfied with a quick visit to the living room, Saturday and Sunday, for the competition. Hactalis will remain there for six days. “There are those who play football or dance, me, it was competitions. It’s been 14 years since we started competitions at departmental and national levels. It’s a passion to take your cow, then to find all our friends in Paris who have cows in France of the same breed. It’s also nice to meet breeders from other regions. We’re going to talk a bit about genetic progress, bulls, cows. A bit like coaches at the Olympics, we each come with our athlete and we hope that he will be better than the other!”
– Melody Horvais