What Makes a Full-Blood Texas Longhorn?
“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT ANYBODY SAYS, there’s less now than there have ever been the real, old-time Texas Spanish-blood Longhorns,” says Fayette Yates. “When the Fayette Yateses, Maudeen Markses, the Lawrence Wallaces of this world start saying that, some one ought to listen,” says Don Davis, rancher and president of the Cattlemen’s Texas Longhorn Registry. It’s hard to know how many full-blood Texas longhorns there are. But one thing is certain, they are diminishing with each new generation as the industry trend to change and “improve” the longhorns continues, with bigger horns, bigger bodies, and more varied colors to meet the latest trends in the show arena. What, exactly, is so great about these full-blood Texas longhorns? Davis answers: The naturally evolved genetic traits of Texas longhorns most commonly attributed to the breed, and which separate them from other breeds of cattle are: resistance to disease and parasites, longevity calving ease, fertility, hardiness, early sexua
