The exhibitor bug got its teeth into Wes Temessl at a young age and it hasn't let go with the long-time exhibitor at the Sydney Royal Easter Show marking an important milestone this year.
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Mr Temessl has been showing pigs at Sydney Royal for 20 years and has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
He runs his stud, Spicers Creek, as well as a commercial operation from Wellington in the state's Central West and he has been involved in pigs since he was young.
"We moved from Picton at the end of 1998 to a couple of hundred acres at Gollan, between Dubbo and Mudgee, and we've had pigs ever since," Mr Temessl said.
"We got a few pigs and things progressed from there. It wasn't many, maybe two or three.
"We ended up getting a few different breeds of pigs over time, a few Wessex Saddlebacks, a few Berkshires and a few Tamworths."
He first caught the show bug more than 20 years ago after being part of a group of Wellington High School students that competed.
"I went down with the steer competition team," Mr Temessl said.
"I reckon I spent more time over at the pigs than at the steer competition.
"I knew then that I wanted to show pigs.
"Out of the pigs we had, the only ones which were show quality were the Tamworths.
"We had a few Saddleback sows and a few Berkshires sows, but no boars.
"With the Tamworths we had a boar and I could breed something and go to the show next year.
"We started with some from Bruce Ranclaud at Limbri near Tamworth.
"His wife Lynn used to take the pigs down to the show."
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Mr Temessl said that over the 20 years he has been an exhibitor at the show, one memory stands out in particular.
"My best moment from being an exhibitor was in 2008 when my Tamworth sow was awarded supreme sow of the show," he said.
"It was a very good competition that had two very good and experienced judges in Paul Horswell from Victoria and Vince Tydd from Gunnedah.
"Unfortunately we were just pipped for supreme exhibit."
Mr Temessl is excited for this year's competition, especially after last year's was cancelled due to the Japanese Encephalitis outbreak.
"It will be great to get back and see everyone at the show this year," he said.
"Last year was very disappointing for everyone involved.
"There are three or four new exhibitors this year which is great.
"Hopefully we can build on that momentum and keep growing the show into the future."
Mr Temessl is unlikely to stop showing anytime soon.
