Childhood memories flood back for judge Cherie Pagan in return to sheep pavilion

Walking into the iconic Wayville Showgrounds sheep pavilion on Saturday, during the Royal Adelaide Show, was like stepping back in time for Cherie Pagan.

The red-brick, sawtooth-roofed pavilion, with its wafting scent of lanolin in the nostrils and enthusiastic buzz of the sheep community on the first day of competition, was where Mrs Pagan spent much of her childhood.

A member of the Johnson family from Keith in the state's Upper South East, known for its Johnos Border Leicester stud and Hampshire Downs, Cherie grew up in a family with a passion for sheep coursing through their veins.

Once she'd completed school, a sliding doors moment for Cherie led her to a path she may not have envisioned, and one that now sees her living and farming more than 1100 kilometres away at Gilgandra, north of Dubbo in the Great Western Plains region of NSW.

"Initially, I was going to be studying a Bachelor of Agriculture at Adelaide University, but I was on my gap year when they canned that course," she said.

"My option was to do Ag Science in the city, which wasn't the direction I wanted to take, so at the very last minute I enrolled in a Bachelor of Business and Farm Business Management at Marcus Oldham in Geelong."

That was where she met her husband George, who was in the same class.

The pair and their two sons now operate a mixed farming operation at 'Ardmona', Gilgandra - 95 per cent cropping, commercial sheep and cattle, and the Cooinda Border Leicester stud.

Cooinda is the daughter stud to Johnos Border Leicesters, with a foundation flock of 160 stud ewes transported from SA in late 2016, along with a number of young and stud rams.

"Initially I was going to bring 40 ewes over from Dad (Neil Johnson), and then he put 160 ewes on the truck," Cherie laughed.

"What was going to be a little hobby became a stud and this year we lambed down 200 ewes and are selling Border Leicester rams up there (NSW)."

The Pagan family has been great supporters of the Gilgandra High School show team, and Cherie has done some judging tasks at local shows, and the Hampshire Downs at the Sydney Royal this year.

But, it was still a daunting and exciting moment when she received an invitation to travel back to her childhood domain and rule her eye over some of the best sheep in SA and Vic.

"I think there comes a time to step up. If you're exhibiting stock at shows, I think it's only fair you put your hand up to judge as well," Cherie said.

"It's a really challenging job, but I think it was time to get over my nerves and give it a crack."

Stepping onto the mat to take command of the Border Leicester and Valais Blacknose competitions, Cherie said there were plenty of nerves but she was soothed by the familiar surroundings of the sheep pavilion that she had not been back to since those childhood days.

"We showed here every year that I can remember," she said.

"Every year we'd come up to the Adelaide Show with multiple breeds so there's a lot of memories in this shed. It takes me back to my childhood coming in here, it's so familiar.

"It feels like nostalgia, but in person. Coming back, not much has changed and that's really nice.

"I feel like I've been thrown 15 years back in time, everyone still remembers who you are, all the kids from back then are now adults and have their own kids."

A warm welcome from faces from years past was soon put to one side as Cherie set about the task of judging.

For her, she follows a precise process each and every class to reach a decision she can be comfortable with.

"You always start with the basics and that's the same if you were judging sheep, cattle, horses, pigs - you've got those fundamental confirmational things you look at, then mouth, feet.

"Once you're happy with that you can step up into - depending if it's a dual purpose or a terminal - the muscle, the fleece, the commercial relevance of that animal.

"Once you're happy with that, if you're still finding it tricky to decide between placings that's when you look at the finer points of that breed type - black nose and feet for Border Leicesters, they're meant to be well-covered but not have wool in certain areas, all those sorts of things."

"It's a step-by-step process and I keep the same rhythm when judging - start at the head, work my way to the tail, have a look around the animal, and do the same process in the same direction down the line every single time."

Having completed two of her judging stints, and with the interbreed to come, Cherie was relieved to have accepted the invitation back to her childhood haunt.

"I think it helps you as a breeder (to judge) and I think it's really important to contribute to your breed and to showing if you're an exhibitor."