How long have you been working with Longhorn Cattle?
I moved to Buckinghamshire in 2013, I was drawn to David’s (my boss) enthusiasm so I knew it was the right decision for me to come and work with a breed I hadn’t worked with before It was a challenge to get to the top. It was also a great opportunity for me to shine, with the backing and support to get where we wanted to with the breed.

Where do the Longhorn originate from and what is their history?
History is being made by me!... The Longhorns are beef cattle that originate from Craven, in the North of England. The breed was initially used as a draught animal, which its body is well suited for; the milk was also collected for butter and cheese because of its high butterfat content. The notable long, curved horns that serve to distinguish this breed from others can make an individual appear aggressive, although by temperament they are usually friendly.

What would you say the most attractive attributes of the Longhorn’s are?
People seem to see a lot of negatives to the Longhorns, the horns are probably one of the first things to put people off. People need extra space because of the horns and they carry the negative stigma of many native breeds of being slow finishing. However, with the improvements within the breed this is no longer the case, if farmed correctly. There is such improvement in the breed now people look past the horns and see a good suckler cow. They have a strong maternal instinct, easy calving, high milk yield; they flesh out well with the right food. They will finish on grass (turning grass into flesh) better than a continental, and finishing quicker than most native breeds.  Higher profit margins within a beast, with not as much supplement feeding.

How many Longhorn’s do you now have in the Pointer herd?
We have 42 Longhorn cows, 15 two year old heifers which being introduced to the bull this spring. 5 bulls, 2 bought in and 3 homebred and all working. As well as the Longhorns we have Highland cattle. We have 5 different breeds of sheep; Hampshire Downs, Coloured Rylands, Exmoor Horns, Greyface Dartmoors and Valais Black Nose and finally... Middle White Pigs. All pedigree!

Back to the Longhorns...You are in the middle of calving at the moment; do you find the Longhorns to be good mothers?
Yes, excellent mothers and good temperament, but I am always cautious and I treat everyday like a new day every time I see them. As my temperament changes daily, so does theirs.

What do you do with your young stock; do you sell them on to other breeders or retain them for your own breeding stock?
We do a bit of everything, we wean all our young stock at 9 months then go through them all and work out what we want to be kept back to reintroduce in the herd. These are chosen for specific attributes, I am looking for length, locomotion (keeping fit and healthy on their feet), and decent growth rates. You start to understand what cows are breeding what! Anything that doesn’t make the grade has their horns removed and males will be castrated. These are then sold as stores straight away. The ones that make the top 25% are retained and haltered and any we don’t keep ourselves are available to buy both privately and at society sales. 

​Do you sell your Longhorn beef locally, if so what feedback have you had?
Our boss keeps a few for himself, just for his own private functions and events. Otherwise we sell the young stock as stores so not finishing them ourselves.
 
You show your cattle, what do you look for in a show animal?
I am looking for conformation, something that is stocky not fat but well fleshed. Length is important but you can’t always get flesh and length together. For the cows I want a nice feminine head and a bull to have a strong masculine head. I want width for easy calving and something, which walks well.  The horns are irrelevant, with this breed the horns do not have to be symmetrical and can go any direction, the horns are irrelevant to the butcher! 

Why do you feel showing is important for you and your cattle?
I think it is more important for the breed, whether it does me a favour or not because I have a good cow. It does a favour for the breed, which has had hard, times but is now on the up! It is a great selling platform for both the breed and me. It is even better when you are winning! Nothing better than your hard work paying off. 

​What is your favourite thing about owning cattle?
I am just addicted to cattle since my Grandfather introduced me to them. I couldn’t think of anything better than being with him and his beloved Dairy Friesian cows. I bought my first Highland cow with money I got from the Government to fund my college, but I realised my money would be better spent on a cow which I paid off £25 a week for a year! Now the rest is history!

What advice would you give someone looking to get cattle?
Don’t bother! No joking… it brings you great joys but sometimes it can be hard work and painful with loss but the good overcomes the bad and I wouldn’t want my life without cows in it!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Jamie, for taking the time to show we around the amazing Pointer farm. I had a fantastic morning learning all about the Longhorn cattle and being introduced to all the other breeds on the farm. I certainly learnt a lot and got a massive amount of inspiration for drawings and prints. If you would like to learn more about Pointer Pedigrees take a look at their website > www.pointerpedigrees.com and follow them on Instagram > @pointerpedigrees. 

These are my final hand stamped prints which I created from my pencil drawings. I take all the 'main' shapes from my drawings to create simple stamps from, which I then use to build up and create the coloured prints. I then work back into the stamped prints, putting in all the characteristics and detail. I am really pleased with how these prints have turned out, I think it is mostly because of the character and distinctiveness of the Hardwick breed. They also have such variety of texture and colour within their fleeces which really compliments the hand stamped technique. 

                     Arya, one of Helena's ewes due to lamb in March.

How long have you been interested in sheep and how did you become so involved with them?
I have been interested and involved with sheep from an early age, having grown up on a farm and working alongside Mum and Dad.

What made you choose the Norfolk Horn?
They are practical but a different and characterisitc breed, with their horns making them look nice.

​How many Norfolk Horns do you have now in your flock? 
I now have 17 ewes, all to lamb this coming season.

​What is the temperament of Norfolk Horns? Are they easy to handle with their horns?
They can be quite naturally unsettled if they are not looked over regularly enough, but once they know you they are calmer and easier to work with.

How many lambs have you had this year?
This year, I had 12 lambs for the 7 ewes that lambed.

What do you plan to do with this years lambs?
As this years lambs were Norfolk Horn x Charollais hopefully they will all be sold as freezer lambs in about two months time.

What are you looking for in a 'good' Norfolk Horn?
I always look for nicely shaped horns personally, but they should have a good conformation all round too.

Do you have Norfolk Horn Sheepskins made?
Yes, we have them back from the lambs.

​Do the Norfolk Horns make a good sheepskin?
Their sheepskins are very similar to the Suffolks and the Charollais sheepskins, being thick and varying colours from cream to more speckled and some darker brown, but they are slightly smoother usually. 

What is your favourite thing about owning sheep?
The satisfaction and pride at lambing time, especially seeing new borns.

What advice would you give someone looking to get sheep?
Choose a practice and relatively calm breed, to make handling them easier.

These are the hand stamped prints of the beltex sheep which I created from the pencil sketches that I did to begin with. It is always difficult doing an animal that doesn't have a bold colour, especially when it is white/cream and making it stand out. However, the Beltex is so distinctive and striking looking that I think that the portrait is really effective.

​How long have you been interested in sheep and how did you become so involved with them?
I had always wanted sheep and kept asking my Dad if I could have some lambs but on a particular day in March 2014 he said ‘yes!’. I started with five orphan lambs, I then sold the two male lambs to a local vendor and kept the three ewe lambs for breeding. This was the beginning my commercial flock. I bought cross beltex ewes and a beltex cross tup and I liked the lambs and this was when I decided I liked the breed. I then went on to buy three pedigree Beltex shearlings and two ewe lambs in 2017. As well running my pedigree flock of Beltex which MV accredited, I run separate commercial flock alongside. 

Why did you choose the Beltex breed?
I was first attracted to the Beltex because of their conformation and pretty heads. As well as this they are popular for the meat trade with their muscle conformation, producing lean meat which grades well. They do take a little longer to finish but there is more taste in the meat for the customer. I have found that using a Beltex tup on my commercial flock has been successful and produce better shaped lambs. The Beltex ewe produces a small lamb, which is strong and fast growing, they have good maternal instinct and make extremely good mothers. 

​How many Beltex sheep do you now have in your flock?
In my Beltex flock In total I have 6 ewes, 5 ewe lambs and 2 ram lambs, 2 tups and 10 shearlings to breed with this year. In my commercial flock I have 80 ewes, 4 tups and 170 lambs (I have already sold quite a few of the early lambs).
 
What do you plan to do with this year’s lambs; will you be selling them on or retaining some for breeding stock?
I will keep all my Beltex ewe lambs to go to the tup in september 2019, I plan to sell the ram lambs as shearlings for other flocks. With my commercial lambs, I sell them all to a combination of local butchers and private customers as meat boxes. I started doing farmers markets in August 2017, I was approached by Hickling Farmers Market who were interested in having home reared lamb. Since then I have started attending more farmers markets including Stalham and Aldborough. Farmers Markets has been a great place for me to promote my stock and the home reared lamb I produce and has lead to a lot of repeat custom.  

​You have recently sheared your sheep, why is this important to do at this time of year?
I started to shear in February but this was purely just for my show shearlings, so that by the time the agricultural shows come about their fleece has come back. Otherwise I shear in May and this is important to prevent them from getting fly strike in the warmer weather. When a sheep sweats they can’t release the heat through their wool this is when the flies start hanging around and lay their eggs in the fleece, which turns into maggots which then begins to eat the sheep alive. This is a big problem with sheep in the Summer months and the main reason we have to shear them. 

You show your Beltex sheep, what do you look for in a prize-winning Beltex?
When I am looking for a good animal I want good muscle conformation, an animal that stands nice and square and walks well, an animal that catches your eye with presence in the field. Straight back and good width between the loin. Specific traits within a Beltex you would definitely want is a small head. 

What is involved in your show preparation?
To start my show preparation I have to halter train the sheep so I know that the can walk and get in and out of the ring with out too much embarrassment! When they are in the ring they are shown off the halter so you want to be able to catch them reasonably easily. Bathing is the main preparation to get the grease out their fleece and also trim their fleece so that they look shapely and well presented.

​Why do you feel showing is important for you and your sheep?
I feel showing is important as it is a chance to show my stock off to potential buyers, especially as I am hoping to sell my ram lambs onto breeders. It is also a chance to promote my meat as people get the chance to see the animals I am producing. 

What advice would you give someone looking to get sheep?
Have patience, they can make you very stressed! Sheep are idol, they always want to do the opposite of what you want. You have got to love sheep! If you want to get into them on a larger scale get a dog as this will make your life easier.

​What are your plans for your flock over the next few years?
I hope to expand my pedigree Beltex flock to 100 and to be able to take my stock to the larger sales to help promote my flock (St.Theobalds) and get my name out there. With my commercials I plan to get up to 500 breeding ewes, continuing to cross them with Beltex tups and continue to sell the meat both to butchers, markets and farmers markets. 

I am already looking forward to continuing to visiting more farmers with their livestock and creating more prints for future design ideas!

These 12 cards will be available to purchase on the website individually and in a pack of 12, take a look at the 'CARDS' section in the 'SHOP'.  

After visiting Zara's farm and meeting her Southdown and Texel Mule sheep, as well as her beautiful dogs I was really looking forward to getting back to the studio and looking through all the pictures I had taken. I haven't done any prints of dogs before, so this is a complete first since starting 'IzziRainey'. I really wanted the dogs to be part of my design's as they are an essential part of Zara's work, she shares such  a close relationship with them, especially Doug, 

These are the pencil sketches that I did of the ewe's and Doug and Fern. It was actually more difficult than I thought, drawing the dogs, I think I tried to draw them too small. There is so much detail, expression and personality in a dogs face.

These are the hand stamped prints that I created from taking the most simple shapes from my pencil drawings. I am really pleased with how they have turned out. Especially this print of Doug, Zara's 'main man' I feel that it really portrays Doug's loyal nature as he never takes his eyes of her. I like the way in the print he is looking away as I know when I took the photo he was looking at her, always waiting for his next job or instruction.

Another BIG thank you to Zara for taking the time to show me round her farm at probably one of the busiest times of the year!