Locals to take part in Texas Longhorn Cattle Show
WALHONDING – Longhorn cattle don’t just roam pasture fields in Texas.
The Morris family of Walhonding, which includes Andrew, Abby and their children Cole, Josie and Lane, has close to 100 head of them.
“Next year we expect to have 50 calves and our numbers should increase the next couple of years,” Andrew said. “Our goal is to have 200 brood cows.”
The family started raising Texas Longhorns after Andrew took a chance on one that no one was interested in at a sale.
“I got 10 calves out of her in a row and she was over 20 before she died,” he said. “Their life expectancy is a lot longer than English breeds like Angus.”
Andrew also likes Longhorns because of their temperament.
“People assume that because they have horns they are aggressive, but they’re not,” Abby said.
Josie said they are actually very gentle.
“Some of them are so docile,” Andrew said. “You can walk right up to them and they won’t move. The kids help me a lot though so if we do get an aggressive one it’s gone.”
The family also enjoys the uniqueness of their cattle.
“There’s not that many of them around,” Andrew said. “I also like to just look at them. Their coloring is so varied. You don’t know what color your calves are going to be until they hit the ground. One that is speckled now was solid white when he was born.”
The Longhorns even draw attention from people who travel past the family’s home.
“We’ll even have Harley guys stop and want to look at them and take pictures,” Abby said.
Other traits of the breed that the family likes are: Calving ease, good mothers, hearty, disease, insect and predator resistant and that they are naturally lean.
The Morris family sells only 100 Percent Grass Fed Texas Longhorn Beef.
“It’s lower in fat than chicken, lower in cholesterol and higher in Omega-3 than salmon,” Andrew said. “We haven’t advertised in a couple of years and we still sell out quite frequently. You can eat this everyday if you want and not feel guilty because it’s all natural beef.”
The family also breeds and shows their cattle at places like the 17th annual Ohio River Texas Longhorn Assoc. Cattle Show. The show is free to the public and will be held Saturday, July 19, at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Wooster.
Some of the greatest Texas Longhorn cattle to have ever lived, some with horns that will measure more than 80 inches from tip to tip, will arrive in Wooster for this one day event to be judged by June Cohron D.M.V. from Stuarts Draft, Va.
“We have a bull that is 80 inches tip to tip,” Andrew said. “The world record is just over 90 and there aren’t many close to that.”
The horns on the animals, however, are as varied as their colors.
“The industry likes them wide and flat so you can get the best measurements,” Andrew said. “My personal preference is the twist, but there are even some that look like goal posts.”
The Ohio River Texas Longhorn Show will start at 9 a.m. Saturday with the presenting of the colors by Gail Beach from Huntington, Ind., while she rides her Texas Longhorn steer Oliver.
“We put a saddle on one of our bulls and Lane road him around the corral,” Andrew said. “He was on him for 15 or 20 minutes and the bull didn’t care.”
Cattle will be shown in haltered and non-haltered classes during the day with the show starting with the pee wee class for youth 6 years old or younger.
“The non-haltered class is for Longhorns that aren’t broke to lead,” Andrew said. “They are loose in a pen and judged in their natural state.”
There will be a silent auction during the day, and Bovine Bingo, where the lucky Bingo winner will go home with a prized one year old Texas Longhorn Steer.
The Morris’ have attended shows in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.
“By doing it a couple times a year you get the chance to get your confidence back if you didn’t do so good at the last show,” Lane said.
The family had a bull place second at last year’s world show in Oklahoma City, Okla. and has already qualified to return to the event.
“I’m looking forward to getting started on my own heard eventually,” Cole said.
You can learn more about the Morris family and their cattle company by looking them up on Facebook or e-mailing morrislonghorns@aol.com.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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