EVERY show goer has their own highlight of the Royal Highland Show, and many of you may have a few, but if you’ve ever sat in the grandstands while the low rumble of cart wheels and horse shoes on the tarmac of the main drag from the north gate rolls ever closer, then the heavy horse turnout classes are sure to be one of those highlights. 
It takes a lot of time and dedication to prepare horse, cart and driver for the big moment – which is almost echoed by the build of single horse classes on the Thursday through to the six-horse teams on Sunday – and it’s a section steeped in tradition. But as traditions come, there might not be a team steeped in tradition such as three generations of the McMillan family from Greenan Mill, on the Isle of Bute. 
John ‘Speedy’ McMillan has been showing at the Highland for 34 years and has picked up the reserve supreme turnout honours twice, but it wasn’t until the 2015 show that the family was finally tipped for the overall with a twin-axle commercial dray pulled by Jack and Wallace with Speedy’s son, Jock, on the reins. 
“It’s such an adrenaline buzz to have the crowd cheering you on when you first enter the ring but to win the overall was an incredible feeling,” said Speedy, who was seen by many dancing a wee jig on the back of the cart during the lap of honour.
There was certainly cause for a celebratory jig as the Mill Clydesdales team went home with a haul of prize tickets last year, including red rosettes from the pairs and singles sections as well as a second prize in the unicorn class, to add to many others over the years. 
But you get the feeling that, bar last year’s result, Speedy’s favourite has to be the first he received driving a team of six – the only red ticket he’s ever won at the helm!
It’s certainly a family affair for the McMillans as while Speedy’s wife, Catherine, takes a back seat at home during the Highland, sons and daughter, Jock, Brian and Fiona, as well as grand-children Andrew and Keriin, are all fully involved and there can be no doubt about the pride they all take in turning out a team of Clydesdales. 
It all started back in the 1960s when Speedy returned from working on the mainland to find that there were no working horses remaining at Braes of Eskechraggan, where his father farmed, so in the following years he bought Eskechraggan Blossom at a dispersal, a name that can still be found deep in the pedigrees of the current Mill horses. 
Since then, the numbers were gradually built up and some crackers were bred, including the Cawdor Cup winner, Greendykes Benji, that sold across to Australia. 
But Eskechraggan and the following Mill prefix can be found across the world – a couple sold to Russia for the Budweiser draft team, several are in Australia and breeding champions, and, closer to home, members of previous Highland Show teams are down in England and across in Ireland. 
While mares may be preferred for showing in hand and geldings in harness, the breeding aim is the same, as Speedy explains: “A horse has got to have plenty breed character and that bit of showiness about them – a real spring in their step. 
“I’ve seen some fairly small, plain-looking horses come to life in the ring and look like they’ve doubled in size – that’s where they really shine. 
“Ideally, they’d all be a solid dark bay with four white legs, but someone once told me if you don’t have a bit of roan through them then you lose a lot of feather and you need that feather to be flashy and stand out in the ring.
“But, most of all, they’ve got to be sound and reliable for the job. The team of six we showed a few years ago was cracking and possibly one of the best we’ve had, but they all knew their job and got on with it.”
The team heading to the Highland this year with the hope of adding to the prizes hanging up in the tack room includes four horses for the cart – Mill Jack, Mill Wallace, Mill Wull and Keriin’s namesake, Mill Miss Keriin – which will take to two stud carts as well as the four-wheel dray that brought the McMillans success last year.
The yearling filly, Mill Duchess Kate, a Dillars Top Gun daughter bred out of Mill Lady Di, is also destined for the Highland and has already made her mark in the showring, winning the championship tickets at the Kilpatrick Foal Show back in January as well as at Kilmarnock and the Lothian and Borders foal shows. 
But it’s not just competition that gets the horse and cart off the island though, as Speedy and co have often been asked to attend weddings while, just recently on Sunday, June 12, the team gave the Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute, Patrick Stewart MBE, a lift to Rothesay to officially kick off the celebrations for the Queen’s 90th birthday. 
The Highland Show and the supreme accolades that are the real draw, but it’s the team spirit of the turnout teams in the Clydesdale lines that keeps the McMillans going back year after year.
“There’s a fantastic social side of the turnout folk and while everyone is out to try to win, there’s also plenty of help out there when you need it whether it be a missing bit of tack or even another horse to pull the dray, they’re always willing to help out” added Speedy, a thought echoed by the other members of the family who have been around the breed for years. 
If you join the thousands of spectators in the grandstand or even out on the banking enjoying the sunshine (forecast permitting) while the turnout teams enter the main arena and strut their stuff, you’ll feel that same adrenaline buzz that has kept the turnout tradition going for many years, and many more to come!