Blaise and his wife, Deborah, milk 250-head (200 Holstein with 50 Ayrshires) under Sandyford Ayrshires at Charnwood Forest, at Loughborough (21 minutes from Leicester in the East Midlands of England). Blaise’s name fits like a glove, given he and Deborah have “blazed” their own trail throughout their career. Evie tells the story about how Blaise started showing at the bottom of the line through to winning the UK’s Premier Ayrshire Breeder five out of 10 years (from accumulated breeder points at the UK Dairy Day, Royal, the Royal Welsh, Agriscot, the great Yorkshire Dairy Event, the Royal Norfolk, Cheshire, the south-west Dairy show, and the Welsh Dairy). He has judged at nearly every major show in the UK, in addition to Australia, South Africa and Jersey Island. He is also known for being his own man - a breed leader. 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 Blaise was the 2020 recipient of the John Dennison Lifetime Achievement Award in the UK – an acknowledgement of achievement, sportsmanship, integrity, and character. Sandyford is of the most highly regarded Ayrshire breeders in the UK and the greater global industry – and is at the forefront of modern examples of the breed being shown up and down the country. Sandyford also notably bred Ayrshire breed icon Sandyford Clover 10 EX97 – who won most of major interbreeds championships across the UK during her reign. Her granddaughter achieved a new breed record of 14,000gns (NZ$19,576) at the Black and White sale at Borderway Mart. Blaise is well-known for supporting young farmers and helping them show animals. He has hosted Ayrshire rallies at his farm, offering calves and facilities and he helped organise both the Ayrshire and Holstein National Young Members Weekend. He also houses various cows for families who don’t have the facilities, but who want to learn more about the business. While Blaise is a third generation to farm under Sandyford, the journey has not been without its challenges. In 2010 Sandyford completed a stellar year winning Champion Ayrshire at the Royal Cheshire show, Ayrshire and Supreme Champion at the Royal Welsh, and Ayrshire and Supreme champion at the Dairy Event. They also collected Champion Ayrshire at the All-Breeds All-Britain calf show that calendar show year. However, life with animals can pivot quickly. Less than 12 months later they were forced to slaughter 201 of their herd – because of Tuberculosis – including 48 EX or VG two-year-olds. Clover 10 was saved because she had been isolated all year. She went on to give the family some solace, when she won Champion and Supreme Champion at the Dairy Event. They have since re-built, pushed through the loss and hosted high profile sales on-farm. 𝐑𝐄-𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆Blaise says he is looking forward to re-connecting with Kiwi Ayrshire breeders who travelled to the UK and Ireland for the World Ayrshire Federation Conference in June. Blaise and Deborah are supported by their three daughters, Evie (together with fiancé Ifan Wilson, who live in Wales), Annabelle, and Millie.