Texas Longhorn


The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to over 70 inches tip to tip for bulls, and up to 100 inches tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows. They are descendants of the first cattle introduced in the New World, brought by explorer Christopher Columbus and the Spanish colonists.
Descended from cattle that thrived in arid parts of Southern Iberia, these cattle have been bred for a high drought-stress tolerance. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring, and can be any color or mix of colors, but dark red and white color mixes are the most dominant.
Registries for the breed include the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, founded in 1964 by the Kerr County rancher Charles Schreiner, III; the International Texas Longhorn Association, and the Cattlemen's Texas Longhorn Registry. The online National Texas Longhorn Museum displays the diversity of horns found in the breed, stories about notable individual cattle of the breed, as well as a gallery of furniture made from cattle horns.
The longest recorded total-horn-length marks is 129.5 inches, the spread of longhorn M Arrow Cha-Ching. This longhorn is owned by Richard Flip, who lives near Fayetteville, Texas. The second longest on record is 3S Danica of Tallgrass Cattle Company, who measured 100 inches tip to tip on September 13, 2018.
Due to their innate gentle disposition and intelligence, Texas Longhorns are increasingly being trained for steer riding, including being used in parades.

History of the cattle

Genetic analyses show that the Texas Longhorn originated from an Iberian taurine lineage descending from the domestication of the wild aurochs in the Middle East and with some admixture with the European Aurochs, and later was crossed with "indicine" cattle, descending from the domestication of aurochs in India, 85% and 15%, respectively by proportion.
The Texas Longhorns are direct descendants of the first cattle introduced to the New World. The ancestral cattle were brought by colonizer Christopher Columbus in 1493 to the Caribbean island that would become Hispaniola, to supply food to colonists. Between 1493 and 1512, Spanish colonists brought additional cattle in subsequent expeditions. The cattle consisted of three different breeds; Barrenda, Retinto and Grande Pieto.
Over the next two centuries the Spanish used the cattle in Mexico and gradually moved them north to accompany their settlement. They reached the area that would become known as Texas near the end of the 17th century. The cattle escaped or were turned loose on the open range, where they remained mostly feral for the next two centuries. Over several generations, descendants of these cattle developed to have high feed- and drought-stress tolerance, and other "hardy" characteristics that have gained Longhorns their high reputation as livestock.
Early Anglo-American settlers in east Texas, then part of Mexico, obtained feral Mexican cattle from the borderland between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. They bred them to their own eastern cattle. The result was a tough, rangy animal with long legs and long horns, extending up to seven feet. The interbreeding produced changes in color of the breed. The varieties of color ranged from bluish-grey, and various yellowish hues, to browns, black, ruddy and white, both cleanly bright and dirty-speckled.
Portuguese cattle breeds, such as Alentejana and Mertolenga, are the closest existing relatives of Texas Longhorns.

Decline and revival

As Texas became more densely settled through increased migration after it was annexed by the US, the frontier was developed for crop farms and ranch lands. The leaner beef of the Texas Longhorn was not as attractive in an era where tallow was highly prized. The breed's ability to survive on the poor vegetation of the open range was not as important as the range was enclosed.
Other breeds demonstrated traits more highly valued by the modern rancher, such as the ability to gain weight quickly for marketing as beef. The Texas Longhorn stock slowly dwindled, but in 1927 the breed was saved from near extinction by enthusiasts from the United States Forest Service. They collected a small herd of stock to breed on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Lawton, Oklahoma. The breed also received significant attention after a Texas Longhorn named "Bevo" was adopted as the mascot of The University of Texas at Austin in 1917. The animal's image became commonly associated with the school's sports teams, known as the Texas Longhorns.
A few years later, J. Frank Dobie and others gathered small herds to keep in Texas state parks. Oilman Sid W. Richardson helped finance the project. The Longhorns were cared for largely as curiosities, but the stock's longevity, resistance to disease, and ability to thrive on marginal pastures resulted in a revival of the breed as beef stock and for their link to Texas history.
In 1957 Charles Schreiner III began creating a longhorn herd on his ranch, the Y O, in Mountain Home, Texas. This was done as a tribute to the ranching legacy of his grandfather, Captain Charles Armand Schreiner, and the longhorns he ran on his ranches. Schreiner purchase five heifers and one bull calf for $75 each from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, Oklahoma. In 1964 Charlie founded the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America. The YO herd were the first cattle registered with the Association. To draw attention to the longhorn and its new association, in 1966 Charlie organized a trail drive of longhorn steers from San Antonio, Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. The drive was promoted as a centennial commemoration of the earlier Chisholm Trail drives. Always a stickler for authenticity, Charlie arranged for an Indian attack as the steers were crossing the Red River at Doan's Crossing. The attack was so authentic that the steers stampeded with cowboys in close pursuit. It was four hours before the herd was reassembled. In 1976 Texas Tech University in Lubbock persuaded Charlie to stage another trail drive to celebrate its new Ranching Heritage Center.
In 1995 the Texas Legislature designated the Texas Longhorn as the state mammal.
In the 21st century, Texas Longhorns from elite bloodlines can sell for $40,000 or more at auction. The record of $380,000 on March 18, 2017, was for a cow, 3S Danica, and heifer calf at side, during the Legacy XIII sale in Fort Worth, Texas. Commercial ranchers cross-breed Texas Longhorns with other breeds for increasing hybrid vigor and easy calving characteristics. Smaller birth weights reduce dystocia for first-calf heifers.