He called us up one day and said “That double heart heifer is in heat”, we had no idea who he was talking about.  So we went down to see. Alfair had two hearts on her face, a red heart inside of a bigger white heart.  So the nickname Double Heart or D-H stuck. John and I saw how special Alfair was and what type of a future the red heifer could have.   She was shown as a fall calf in Harrisburg, PA and won her class. The next year she was shown as a Fall Yearling at Harrisburg, PA standing third.  That was the extent of her show career as a junior female.  Her first show out as a Sr. Two year old was at Harrisburg, PA.  I saw her real potential and refused to take her to any county fairs.  She handled the Sr. 2 year old class with ease and went on to become Senior and Grand Champion.  We had never gone to Madison before and a friend of ours suggested we late enter her.   Over a lot of discussing and arguing, I finally gave in.  The biggest argument was that I was not trucking her myself and had to trust in someone else to care for her. Doug and Joan Seidel were who we sent her with and they took excellent care of her.  We thought we could sneak her in without anyone knowing she was coming, that didn’t work, they were waiting for her at the gate. She won the Sr. 2 year old class and was Reserve Intermediate Champion.  We then went onto Louisville, KY, where she again won her Sr. 2 year old class. The next year was the first year we went back to the New York State Fair.  While we were there, I always led the first cow to the Milking Quarter, as I was the only one to milk our cows.  By the way, at 4:40 a.m., our little parade was not very well received.  Alfair always wore a bell and as much as I tried to keep it quiet, it didn’t always work.  At the first night milking, again I led our little parade of 10 cows to the Milking Quarter, only this time, it was daytime, so I did not have to keep her bell quiet!  A lot of breeders and caretakers came to the center aisle to see who was making all the noise and our little parade turned into a big one.  As there was a lot of sudden interest in this big red cow.  Every day was the same, she had a following and yes, she was Senior and Grand Champion there.  She went onto Harrisburg and repeated her class win, as well as Senior and Grand Champion. And again in the trusting care of Doug and Joan Seidel, she went on to Madison.  She repeated her class win and was named Intermediate Champion.  That was 1996, the year she had Othello.  In 1997, it was a repeat of the previous year, winning New York State Fair.   It was that year, that a man said to his regional manager, “there was a big red cow in New York, that was owned by this lady and he thought they could get her bought,” this was during Eastern States Expo.  This regional manager then asked Doug Seidel if he knew anything about a big red cow from New York.  Doug said yes he did.  The regional manager said they thought they could “steal” this cow away from this lady, but they did not understand the connection that I had with Alfair.  Alfair was the daughter of Prairie-Pine WRS Big Time-ET, who was a Clayside Prince Bicenten son out of Innisfail Wild Rose 158th.   Her dam was Pinesedge E.D.T. Alfair 4E-E90 out of Pinesedge Alfair Carleen 3E-E90, who was Grand Champion at Harrisburg in 1981 & 1982 and was Grand Champion at Madison in 1982.  Carleen was by a home bred sire, Pinesedge Rythum, who was sired by McKees Matchless Dairyman out of Pinesedge Melody, a multi-E cow and who in her own right was Grand Champion numerous times in Harrisburg.  Alfair’s pedigree was spectacular, so it would have stood to reason that she would have been a great cow.   Alfair was one of only 12 cows to have been scored Excellent 95 in the United States Milking Shorthorn breed.  She holds a lifetime milk production record of 3,088d 200,838m 5,460f 6,487p!   Her highest single 305 day lactation record is at 11 years 7 months with 26,450m 737f 834p!  She provided us with nine calves.  Alfair delivered her last calf at 13 years 5 months old which was Mudslinger.  She was never flushed.  She had two notable sons, Kuszmar Alfairs Othello and Kuszmar Mudslinger E90.   Her son, Othello changed the breed!   He is the #3 sire of all time offspring registered in the AMSS database and held the title of World Dairy Expo Premier Sire for 10 consecutive years plus he was the sire of several Grand Champions at the International show.   He is known for his dairyness, body capacity, production and #1 bull for udders and stature.  He was the sire of Gold-Mine Poppy’s OT Kay 2E-E95, who is the all-time milk record holder for the breed with a 4/10 record of 305d  39,280m  1,415f  1,177p.  His offspring hold numerous All-Americans, Reserve All-Americans and various Champion awards at all levels.Her son, Mudslinger E90 has sired some incredible progeny also including Kuszmar Mercury 3E-E93 and Kuszmar Arkansas Mud EXP 4E-E96, who in their own right have built records in the milk barn as well as on the tanbark trail including Unanimous All-Americans, Grand Champion honors and Production Cow winnings.  Alfair not only was an incredible milk cow and brood cow, but she also stopped the show when she entered the ring.  Her show records include in 1995 Grand Champion at Eastern National.  In 1996, Grand Champion at New York State Fair and Eastern National; Intermediate Champion at International.  In 1997, Grand Champion at New York State Fair, Eastern National, Northeastern National and International – she was a Triple Crown winner before we had such an award.   Alfair was the All-American for Sr. 2 year old (1995);  3 year old (1996) and 4 year old (1997).   Also Reserve All-American honors for Aged Cow in 1998 and 2004.  We almost lost her in 1998, she showed in Harrisburg with a temperature of 104 degrees.  She lost her pregnancy but we saved her.  I chose to keep her on the circuit to better care for her and show morning in Harrisburg and Madison, Alfair told me whether she wanted to show or not.She was the big red cow that changed an entire breed.   Today, Alfair is buried on the Kuszlyk farm and one day, I plan to be buried beside her.    We hold a connection that few will understand.    PINESEDGE BT ALFAIR-EXP  5E-E95 was not JUST A COW!!