Tri-Day Ashlyn

From legend to legacyShow ring legends – we all have our favorites! Cows that made an indelible impression on us as they stood in the middle of the ring. Cows with that big-time magic are rare and that’s why they’re so memorable. Even more rare is the legendary show cow that goes on to create a legacy for herself through her talents as a brood cow.

Tri-Day Ashlyn has done just that. She’s one of the first cows you think of when it comes to extending her name beyond the show ring and into the history books as a matriarch of a powerful family. Ashlyn died in January, 2015 at 18 years of age, but she left her legacy with over 400 offspring registered in the United States and Cana-da. Currently, she has over 50 EX daughters scored all the way up to EX-96 with approximately 40 younger heif-ers yet to calve.

Tremendous statsAshlyn hit all the marks of success you could expect from an elite Holstein female. She scored EX-96 2E and attained Gold Medal Dam and Dam of Merit status. Her top record of 4-09 365d 43,090lbM 4.8%F 2079F 3.3%P 1422P shows exceptional production ability. Ob-viously, with 400 offspring, she was a prolific reproductive cow. And, of course, she dominated the show ring in her prime. Ashlyn was the All-American and All-Canadian Four-Year-Old in 2001 and was Su-preme Champion at the International Holstein Show, the Royal Agri-cultural Winter Fair and the Eastern National Show that year.

Bred by the Curtis Day family of Pennsylvania, Ashlyn’s pedigree was not particularly deep – an EX-92 2E Dreamstreet Odyssey dam and a VG-86 Glen-Valley Star granddam – but it was a pedigree that got ‘wide’ rapidly. Marcrest Encore was the magic cross with her Odyssey dam. That mating resulted in 14 Excellent full sisters, of which Ashlyn was not even the first famous show cow. Her sister, Tri-Day Adeen EX-93, was already a four-time All-American by the time Ashlyn took her first steps into the show ring in 1997 as a fall calf. Adeen was owned and campaigned by Oseeana Holsteins of West Virginia, who quickly recognized that lightning had struck twice when they pur-chased Ashlyn as calf in the summer of 1997. She had a notable show record as a heifer, being named Reserve All-American Fall Calf in 1997 and HHM All-American Fall Yearling in 1998.

Ernest Kueffner of Maryland bought into the cow after she calved as a two-year-old and she hit her stride as a show cow as a three- and four-year-old.

Ernie Kueffner“She really knew she was going to win. She loved

the ring and always carried herself with pride and confidence, yet she was so gentle and grace-

ful for a big cow. It was tough to beat her."

There was a strong demand for embryos out of her after her Supreme Champion campaign in 2001. German breeders in particular wanted

Ashlyn Feature.indd 10 9/8/15 1:49 PM

Storm embryos, one of which resulted in the popular type sire EK-Oseeana Storm Alert at Masterrind.

The matingsErnie thought the Storm cross to Ashlyn was a good one and decided to flush her to the Storm son, Comestar Stormatic, for more embryos. In those pre-genomic days, Ernie used the bull fairly early. Stormatic had just received his initial proof in February, 2002 and shortly after, he was used as a flush sire to Ashlyn. “I wanted to give her more dairy character, open up the rib a little and protect the teat size a bit,” reflects Ernie. Surprisingly, these embryos didn’t sell as well as he anticipated. Siemers Holsteins bought a few, but in the end, Ernie ended up im-planting them for calves himself.

Of course, as we now know, that Stormatic cross to Ashlyn was one of the most successful in breed history. From that early flush came:

EK-OSEEANA AMBROSIA EX-95 3E - Reserve All-American 4-Year-Old 2007 - Reserve All-American Junior 2-Year-Old 2005EK-OSEEANA APHRODITE EX-95 2E - Nominated All-American 125,000 Lb Cow 2010 - Member All-American Best Three Females 2007 & 2009EO SIEMERS ASHLYNS ANGEL EX-96 3E - Reserve All-American Aged Cow 2010 - Reserve All-Canadian Mature Cow 2010 - Nominated All-American 4-Year-Old 2008 - Reserve All-American Senior 2-Year-Old 2006 - All-American Winter Yearling 2005

A later result of Stormatic x Ashlyn yielded Kingsmill Ashlyns Audrey EX-94, who was nominated All-American Junior Two-Year-Old in 2010. From the embryos nobody wanted came four full sisters all scored EX-94 or higher and all attaining All-American nominations or awards! Certainly, it’s a rare, rare achievement in the Holstein breed.

Of course, with her extreme type and exemplary show ring record, other embryos were exported to Europe. Smiddiehill Durm Ashlyn EX-90-UK, the result of an Ashlyn x Durham embryo that landed in the UK, was the Intermediate Champion of the National Holstein Show in 2010, taking the family show ring success global. This Ashlyn

has also proven herself to be quite a brood cow. Her Goldwyn daugh-ter owned by Sterndale and Peak Holsteins, Sterndale Gold Ashlyn EX-91-UK was the All-Britain Champion Junior Heifer in Milk in 2010. Her full sister, Riverdane Gold Ashlyn, is scored VG-89-UK for her owners, Willsbro Holsteins. Durm Ashlyn’s most famous daugh-ter, Riverdane Talented Ashlyn EX-93 EX-94-MS, is one of Talent’s finest daughters in Europe. She has collected numerous champion-ships for her Riverdane Holsteins operation including being named the All-Britain Intermediate Heifer in Milk Champion in 2012. She is bred back to calve early next year to hopefully compete at the Euro-pean Championship Show in France. Owner Mark Nutsford thinks highly of his Ashlyns as a group.

Mark Nutsford, Riverdane“They are one of our best families.

Good udders are a given and they have great power and strength coupled with

capacity and openness of rib – traits that are hard to come by in this genomic era!”

High-end homesIn the fall of 2003, Kingsmill Farm II of North Carolina, the eventual breeder of Audrey, purchased Ashlyn from Oseeana Holsteins and Ernie Kueffner. There she entered an intensive IVF program and over the next seven years made over 150 offspring with the Kingsmill pre-fix totaling 21 Excellents and 49 Very Goods to date. In addition to Audrey, Kingsmill Ashlyns Aisha (sired by Wilcoxview Jasper) and Kingsmill Ashlyns Ashore (sired by Goldwyn) are also scored EX-94, the highest scored cows to date from the Kingsmill group.

When it became clear in 2010 that Kingsmill would be dispersing their registered herd, Tim Abbott of St. Jacobs/ABC bought Ashlyn for their female program which emphasizes making offspring out of high-profile, high-type cows. Ashlyn certainly fit the bill and she made over 30 Very Good and Excellent daughters sired primarily by St. Jacobs bulls including Aftershock, Resolute, Fremont, Destry and Perseus. In July of 2011, Ashlyn changed hands for the last time and found her final home in Wisconsin at Siemers Holsteins.

Siemers had previously purchased embryos out of Ashlyn including,

EO Siemers Ashlyns Angel EX-96 3E GMDFour-time All-American nominee

Kingsmill Durham Ava EX-93Durham granddaughter of Ashlyn

Siemers Alisha Gold Ava EX-95 2E GMDHolstein Association USA Star of the Breed

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Ashlyn Feature.indd 11 9/3/15 2:46 PM

Sterndale Ashlyns Valentine VG-87-UKGranddaughter of Tri-Day Ashlyn

as noted in her name, EO Siemers Ashlyns Angel EX-96 3E, who was born and raised at the farm. Another daughter, EO Siemers Ashlyn Alisha (sired by Gibson), was the Reserve All-Wisconsin Spring Year-ling in 2004 and flushed to Goldwyn as a heifer. While Alisha was lost at calving, her Goldwyn daughter, Siemers Alisha Gold Ava, eventu-ally scored EX-95 and continued the family tradition of show ring glory. Nominated All-American as a Spring Calf, Spring Yearling, Ju-nior Two-Year-Old, Five-Year-Old, 125,000 Lb. Cow, Ava was also named the Holstein USA Star of the Breed in 2012. She was, inciden-tally, Braedale Goldwyn’s very first All-American nominated daughter and went on to make an incredible record of 56,330M 4.1%F 2301F 3.3%P 1865P at 5-03.

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to give Ashlyn a great home. She was a special personality and always loved attention,” says Sherry Siemers-Peterman. The Siemers flushed her primarily to high-type genomic sires. Those first daughters are calving this year and they still have many yearlings and calves on the farm sired by Defiant, Atwood, Brokaw, Wood and Armani among others.

Sherry Siemers-Peterman“We feel she’ll be one of the most recognized cows of all time. If you are a cow connoisseur,

you’ll know who Ashlyn is!”

As the family continues to grow and expand around the world, the members keep doing what they do best: excel in the show ring. Kingsmill Atwood Alison EX-92, a granddaughter of Ashlyn out of Ernest-Anthony Alison VG-86 (sired by Gibson), was the winning

four-year-old and Reserve Grand Champion for Milksource Genetics of Wisconsin at the Midwest Spring National Show earlier this year. Nominated All-American Senior Two-Year-Old for Milksource in 2012, she is now owned by Jordan and Whitney Ebert of Wisconsin.

An Ashlyn great-grandaughter, Sahara Atwood Ambrosia 5, carries a max score of VG-89 in the UK and is one of Europe’s highest PTAT cows. Owned by Sahara and Wiltor Holsteins, she is an Atwood out of a VG-89 Toystory out of Ambrosia and was named Grand Champion at the 2015 Royal Welsh Show and the 2015 Celtic Dairy Showcase.

Ashlyn’s highest scored daughter appears to be her one of her best transmitting as well – EO Siemers Ashlyns Angel EX-96 3E GMD DOM, owned by Arethusa Farm of Connecticut. Her EX Durham daughter, Butz-Butler Durham Angel, is the dam of a perennial show ring favorite, Milksource Goldwyn Africa EX-95, nominated All-American Aged Cow in 2014 and a many-time champion for owners, Peter and Lyn Vail and Budjon Farms of Wisconsin.

And it’s due to Angel that this story comes full circle back to one of the people that helped start it. The Unanimous All-American Senior Two-Year-Old in 2014 was Arethusa Fever Almira EX-92, owned by Ernest Kueffner. Almira is a Fever daughter out of Arethusa Angels Affection EX-92, who herself was All-American Milking Yearling in 2009, then All-American Angel and All-American Ashlyn. Four generations of All-Americans – and Ernie had a hand in every mating from his early co-ownership of Ashlyn to his time at managing at Arethusa with An-gel to his outright ownership of Almira. “When Almira won her class last year that was probably the most satisfying win at Madison I’ve ever had,” comments Ernie. “It’s a rare feat to have four generations of All-Americans – and it all started with Ashlyn.”

12 | Hotspots

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