IN an era where led steer judging rings are dominated by well-groomed British and European breeds many onlookers were left glancing twice when a shaggy steer presented in the ring of the heavyweight open steer competition.
Exhibited by Frensham school, the steer was purchased from nearby breeder Susan Elder to compete at the Sydney Royal Show.
The steer, known as Tigger, was sired by Blackadder of Durness DUR4W and out of Sibella 9th of Durness DUR4S weighing 518 kilograms with rump and rib fat depths of 17 and 10 millimetres.
The school are no strangers to exhibiting Highland cattle, with parader Xanthe Hart confiding that their head mistress had quite a liking to the breed.
She said getting the steers up to weight had been a challenge.
"We got him from a breeder near school about two years ago and we have just been practicing and teaching him how to do it the last two seasons," she said.
"Last year we had them at school but they didn't get into Sydney Royal because they weren't big enough, fat enough, so it's taken two years to get him here but once they do, they have really good fat scans and weight."
Tigger competed in a class of 24 head but didn't make the top line under judge Ben Davies.
Highland cattle are a Scottish breed usually featuring long horns and wavy wooly coats to help withstand weather conditions in the Scottish Highlands.
Males only grow up to about 120 centimetres but their meat is popular due to its lower cholesterol levels compared to other breeds.