Absolutely beautiful! A few of my neighbors have some longhorns and Watusis, and man those are the most beautiful cattle I've seen. Seeing them in the fields during snowfalls and sunsets are so pretty. I never can get over the beautiful coats and horns!
Thank you for your question! 2 things, there are contests held measuring the horns...and people are involved. Even with the smaller horned longhorns, it still takes a long time and somewhat specialized equipment to do anything with them... So certainly not for mass production. Our business is a family business and so we had children involved in all stages of growing and working with these cattle. Temperament is a big deal! Let's just say that flighty or aggressive animals taste very good 😉. We work with our animals close at hand so sometimes there are bruises involved but they are normally an accidental thing and not on purpose. Generally speaking though because OUR horned animals have a different level of relationship with us, there is greater chance of injury caused by rude excited polled animals worked and pushed using fear or aggressive energy as a tactic. Many more longhorn breeders are like us than regular beef cow producers.
Thank you for sharing with me, as I am a very small beef producer in Ireland 🇮🇪 we are not allowed have horned cattle in sales yards. I do hope to visit some farms in the U S A sometime in the future.
No we cannot sell privately, but horns will not be allowed in the sales yards and vets won't treat dangerous horned cattle. Safe handling facilities are also a must. Burocacy has farming badly restricted in Ireland due to European regulations.
The cows sold at this sale are certainly a rich cowboy's hobby... However, longhorns are the least messed with breed timewise. Just look at what people have done with dogs! Or check out the sizes of the champion winning beef steers from 50 years ago... People definitely like to mess with stuff. This breed was forged by nature until the early 20th century. We wouldn't trade our longhorn. Mothers for anything.
It's a labor of love. They are a unique part of American culture, beautiful to look at, longlived, healthy and tasty to eat. They are smart, efficient and personable. Kinda like hand crafted by an expert vs cheaply mass produced 'Made in China'. They are not good for quick beef produced in bulk. Perhaps the best of both worlds is a homozygous polled bull over longhorn cows. Anyway...they're not for every program, but they are the ones for us. Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Not trying to convert you, but the TLH breed has a definite place in the market. It is a little like raising Race Horses or Fancy Poodles, not for everyone. This is near the high end of the TLH market and I hope that you enjoyed the video
Stab, not so much... but bruises, sure. The origins of the breed were forged in the wild vistas of Texas. A stronger and more adaptable animal you won't find. It's ironic, we call club calves poodle cows. Practically choked on all the hairspray that was used when stalled near them at shows! 😆
