3/10/99

In search of the perfect Texas Longhorn Sire

Several years ago, I was in search of semen on some of the bulls that had been AI certified but were now "out of production". I wanted bloodlines that were not just a passing "FAD", true genetics that can be traced to respectable heards. I wanted the elusive perfect Texas Longhorn bull to match up with different types of young heifers that I had in my stable. I did not want to raise freak cattle with horns that had no curves or shapes. I like the larger bodied, feminine in appearance animals. I wanted horns with big heavy base, height and twisty shape. I prefer to measure the horns on my animals on one side , hairline to tip. This eliminates the knots in the tape measure or the pipe on a chute that is included in the measurements. I prefer a female that produces excesses in the areas milk or beef or number of calves in her lifetime, features that will always be of value and have always been.

I knew there was not, one single sire that could be matched up with all types of cows, that could enhance their qualities. I was in search of several different bulls to be used in my AI program. In my search, I wondered if the animals with excessive horn lengths were products of many generations of excessive horns, or were they produced when two bloodlines "clicked"? I found animals such as "Delta Diamond" who is in the records with upper 60" tip to tip measurements. Her sire is Monarch, he had 60" of horn and he produces lots of horn…. But her dam, PEARL, had no more than average horn. She was a very small black "WR" cow that Mr. Johnnie saw something in her he liked. That man had an eye for Texas Longhorn cattle. Mr. Johnnie, purchased WR2844 (PEARL) from the Wildlife Refuge and registered her as PEARL on 12/2/77. She was born 3/71, her sire was WR2308 , her Dam was WR1306.

There was WIDESPREAD who neither parent had excessive horn, but this sire had adequate horn and produced quality horn with length and heavy base. There were several examples of cows that produced excessive horn when bred to select sires. There were bulls that produced a large amount of horn when bred to select cows. Since I had some excellent young heifers, that were products of some of the best (my opinion). What I needed was to cross these bloodlines with some proven horn producing sires, without loosing the milking abilities, beef conformation, etc. that I already considered "the best". I did not wish to produce animals that were of unknown parentage. Someday, I would be forced to market their offspring. It seemed only logical, to pursue some of the bloodlines from well respected heards. John Hoffman and F.M. Blackie Graves were undisputed tops in this category.

I spoke with John Hoffman and asked if he had any sire that was special enough to have been AI certified, who had produced above average horns, and yet wasn’t related to "Classic", "Monarch" or "Bold Ruler"? A family line that would be unrelated to the bloodlines I was using, without being of suspect origins. He came up with a bull that Blackie Graves had raised and both of them had used for a short period. Robert Harrell had purchased "NICK" and had semen collected and AI certified. "NICK" was a full brother to the "Dodes Classic" bull that had done so much for the 7T heard of Johnnies. Since "Dodes Classic" was never collected (no semen existed), Johnnie supplied me with some "NICK" semen that he had been saving.

Dr. Dave Sward also had some semen on "Nick" and several other "UNSUNG SIRES" that Robert Harrell had used in his AI and ET program. Dr. Sward had acquired a large quantity of semen from the Harrell & Sons Investment Co. collection.