Our philosophy and how our herd measures up...

We raise Texas Longhorn cattle in both California and Texas. Our goal is simple - to provide our customers with a selection of the very finest examples of the breed.

Our quest for the best began in 1995 with a fascination about the size and varied shapes of the horns of these magnificent beasts. As we have since expanded not only our herd but also our knowledge base, we have come to focus to the whole animal, making certain that our herd had more than just horn producing genetics and was in balance. As a result, we now have (we think) an outstanding herd of truly long horned animals that also have good frame size, thickness, depth and conformation, as well as calm dispositions, and lots of color.

We have always believed that a good herd starts (but certainly doesn't end) with a good bull. Bulls are, after all, responsible for 50% of the genetics of the offspring of each cow. Our philosophy has been to make certain that no cow on our property ever has a calf whose total pedigree we aren’t proud of. Obviously not all calves combine the best genes of both parents; however, we make certain that they all are conceived with a chance at greatness.

Currently our lineup of bulls includes the following:

1. Lakota Chex: Lakota is a son of Bob Loomis’ great bull, Farlap Chex, and he is out of Bob's great BL Night Safari, a 77" horned black cow. Lakota, who at 5 1/2 years old sports a tip to tip measurement of 71.5", adds a strong dose of Butler blood to our herd, and his progeny, nearly all of whom have huge lateral horn growth, are now highly prized;

2. Top Caliber: We are proud to own a partial interest in the longest horned bull in the breed. This bull, bred by Owen McGill, is a son of the great Hunt's Command Respect and is out of Hashbrown, one of Owen's best producing Roundup daughters. We have flushed Top Caliber to a number of our very best cows, most of whom have horn measurements well in excess of 70". We, and our partners, are expecting phenomenal results from this extraordinary bull. 

3. M.C. Joker: Joker is only 27 months old, but on his second birthday he had over 58" tip to tip. He is also a tall, beefy bull with a gentle disposition and excellent conformation. Joker is a son of M.C. Super Rex (71" tip to tip) who is, in turn, a son of Super Bowl (76"+). Super Bowl has had more 70" plus male offspring than any other bull in the breed, and it looks like Joker will, himself, comfortably exceed that milestone by the time he reaches maturity. For now we like everything about this bull and are anticipating spectacular calves beginning in the Fall of 2009.

4. Dancer Chex: Dancer Chex is another Bob Loomis bred bull who we own in partnership with Bob. He is just 17 months old, but at 16 months he already had nearly 51" tip to tip. He too is a tall and beefy bull who, like both his sire, JP Rio Grande, and his dam, BL Wind Dancer, appears destined to end up with horns measuring in excess of 75" tip to tip. 

5. Working Ranger: Working Ranger rounds out our current list of active bulls. His is still a youngster, born 2/25/08. At 14 months, his tip to tip measurement was 39.75", but it was the genetics that we were searching for. His sire, DH Red Ranger has 74" tip to tip, and his maternal granddam, Working Woman, is one of the very few elite cows to have made it to the stratosperic 80" mark. His dam, Working Lady, has over 70" tip to tip at just five years old.

We believe that the combination of these five bulls will take our herd to the next level of excellence. However, that couldn't happen without a stable of exceptional cows. After all, bulls may produce half of the genetics, but the cow is responsible for the other 50%. When one looks at the bulls we are using, not only does each descend from a spectacular sire, but also a common thread is the stature of each bull's dam.

In selecting the females for our herd, we have emphasized horn size, pedigree, disposition, and mothering traits. As a result of our search, we now have a core herd of fabulous cows who meet all our criteria. The pedigrees of our cows are, without exception, impressive and include such great sires as Phenomenon, Emperor, Dixie Creole, Diego’s Hot Shot, Monarch, Jet Jockey, BLNight Chex, Boomerang, Shadowizm, and several of our own impressive formerly owned bulls, including LL Wrangler, JK Creekmore, and Shadow's Reflection.  We own eight cows whose tip to tip measurements exceed 70" and 29 others who measure over 60" T2T. We also have a number of younger heifers whose horn will likely meet or exceed the 70" benchmark. Ours is one of the very few herds in the country whose average tip to tip measurement for our adult females (those four years old and older) approaches 66". We invite the reader to visit the “Core Herd” section of this web site to see photographs and backgrounds of some representative examples of the cows in our foundation herd.