UNE Professor of Nursing, Kim Usher, has some new silverware – and it’s not what you might imagine.

When she’s not lecturing and mentoring students, Kim enjoys breeding Red Poll cattle on her property south of Armidale, and two of her beasts recently caught the judges’ eyes at the fiercely contested Melbourne Royal Show.

The first Red Poll she ever bred, 13-month-old Redrush the Witcher (better known as Geralt, after the omnipotent being in The Witcher series of novels and video games) was named best junior bull in the Red Poll feature event. Then he teamed up with Redrush Sherlock to take out best Red Poll pair of bulls under 20 months.

“I’ve never had a win like that at a Royal, and a Red Poll feature show at that, so it was very exciting, especially for Geralt’s big debut,” Kim said. “All six cattle I took to the Melbourne Royal placed.”

Kim has been showing now for a couple of years and boasts a herd of 25 Red Polls, after being encouraged by her neighbour.

“When I started breeding Red Polls I soon became hooked,” Kim said. “It’s peaceful being around the cattle and takes my mind right off work. I highly recommend it as a means of relaxation.”