Months of work and preparation come together this week as Red Bend Catholic College's cattle team goes to Sydney Royal Easter Show.
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Twelve students and 10 steers are competing at this year's big event, expected to be a busy time for the team including four new members.
Monday and Tuesday will consist of setting up and getting the steers use to the showground as well as washing the animals.
On Wednesday the steers will be weighed and scanned and organised into their weight categories.
On Thursday the parading competitions start, with the College well represented in these State finals.
Year 12 student Lachlan Haynes will be competing in the school parading competition.
Three other students have also qualified through local shows for the state final parading: Alana Haynes and Charlie Spry, along with Jack Smyth who is travelling with another stud.
The steers will be judged live on Friday, with the hook or carcase competition to follow.
Each of these steers has been prepared through the College's feed program, broken in and prepared for parading by the students.
But they're particularly proud to be taken one of the steers they have bred, Bushwhacker, down to show.
Bushwhacker is from mother Kimberly, who is on the Red Bend farm, and father Ionesco through AI.
He's now 17 months old and 650kg.
"We're really excited because it's really nice to have your own steer which you have bred at Sydney Royal," Red Bend Cattle Team teacher, Susan Earl said.
The other steers were purchased from surrounding studs Warramunga Limisons, Righttime Farms, Kat Gelderman, Toll Cattle and David Knights.
The steers have been at the farm since August and preparations began straight away for all to be ready for Sydney.
The steers were introduced to their feed, began getting used to humans and the students broke the steers in, teaching them how to walk and then parading them.
"They were clipped this week, it's just a matter of hoping our program puts on the right amount of fat cover that fits in what the competition is wanting," Mrs Earl said.
The steers are a range of lightweights, middleweights and heavyweights and are all named after rodeo bulls.
We wish the best of luck to them team as they compete at the Sydney Royal.
