International Dairy Week (IDW) is all about making sure the cows walking into the ring look glamorous, and what better way to achieve this than to give them hair extensions?
In between weather reporting and being a part-time dairy farmer, Casey Treloar has discovered a niche pursuit: tail hair extensions designed for cows.
“It all came about because, for show cows, you want a nice big fluffy tail in the show ring.”
“(At) the dairy farm where my cows were, they cut the tail hair off the bottom because it’s a bit of a hygienic thing, a lot of dairy herds do it.
“But when it comes to the shows, you want to put a good tail on.”
Ms Treloar grew up on a dairy farm in South Australia and has been fitting cow tails for the better part of 15 years.
“Over the years, I’ve amassed a bit of a collection of fake tails, and I thought I’ll bring them over to dairy week, and if anyone needs a hand, I’ll happily fit them.
“I put a post up on Facebook, and within 24 hours, I’d had several requests.
“Since then, over the years, the word has got around, and sometimes I get messages months before the event going, ‘Hey, we’ve got this cow, can we book you in for a tail?’”
When Ms Treloar’s not fitting cow tails, she works as a full-time weather reporter for Channel 7 in Adelaide.
“All of my leave pretty much goes to cow shows, whether it’s our local shows that are at Royal Adelaide Show, IDW, or local country shows on weekends, things like that,” Ms Treloar said.
“It is definitely my full-time hobby.”
Ms Treloar also does more than just fitting tails at IDW.
“I am an exhibitor, I’ve got my own cattle here,” she said.
“I also do media coverage for the (International) Dairy Week team, everything from live tours of the show to interviews (with) the judges (and) the owners of the champion cattle.”
The tails are made from authentic cow hair and are purely for aesthetic purposes in the ring.
“It’s kind of like the mascara that a supermodel might put on,” Ms Treloar said.
“It gives the appearance of a complete cow.”
- For expansive International Dairy Week coverage, see the January 23 edition of the Country News inside the Shepparton News.