re: Getting into the cattle business

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But the horns went straight out to the sides like longhorns. HUGE horns

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A lot of people cross them to flatten the horns laterally, and increase base to support the tip to tip.

Pure bred longhorn breeders are on a perpetual witch hunt for people passing off giant horned crosses as pure texas longhorn.

They go so far as genetically testing them. European cattle are bovine taurus, while Indian and African cattle are Bovine Indicus.

So, hereford, angus, shorthorn, charlais, etc. are bovine taurus. Then you have bramah, zebu, and watusi type cattle which are bovine indicus.

That leads us to the Texas Longhorn, know for is vitality and surviability, the original Texas longhorns came from spanish explorers, but innerbred with other european stock (and some brahmahs which are indicus) on the free ranges in Mexico and Texas between 1492 and the late 1800's. Natural selection kept the best traits of all breeds as far as being able to survive on nothing.

When you genetically test a longhorn, the snoody breeders think anything higher than I think 16% indicus is unexceptable.

That backstory is why longhorns as a "purebreed" come in so many colors and horn styles. They are muts carved by hundreds of years of natural selection.

I could go on and on. They are some of the most interesting, historically relevent creatures in America. Much like the American Bison...

Thanks for posting that interesting reading I guess I need to study up on them some more. It ain't like I have anything else to do today so far I have 1 truck and 2 tractors stuck I was going tip post pics of his heifers but photo bucket ain't cooperating right now.