ITLA( International Texas Longhorn Assoc) is already working on EPD's-how far along they are I don't know. I see both sides of the coin-it would be nice to have these but then again this breed even though it is the original beef breed, is not widely bred and raised as a beef breed in most instances. Yes, they work well in a cross breeding program. Of course most folks overlook their good qualities, longevity, calving ease and heart healthy lean beef because they have horns and colorful hides. In my opinion EPD's for this breed will be a long time coming but I may be wrong.
What I'm going to say next may be taking this thread off subject a bit, it's not intended toward anyone on this thread, just my opinion which with 50 cents might buy you a cup of coffee.
I was at a show this past weekend and I along with some of my fellow Longhorn breeders and friends exhibited some of our cattle. Now, the heifers that I showed are correct, feminine animals with a good amount of horn. I of course had to compete with animals that were twice the size of my heifers and supposedly the same age. I won't name the folks who had the animals at the show. As a matter of fact, they didn't even raise these animals. They bought them, they bought them from a prominent Longhorn breeder who breeds show animals. They told us that they bought these animals strictly to win. These animals were beautiful animals. I definitely will not deny that. They had the color patterns of a Texas Longhorn, they even had a little bit of horn, not much but a little. I'm not accusing the folks who showed these animals of cheating-the folks who bred, raised and registered them I have to question. A true Texas Longhorn has never looked like that and never will. They will never be that size at that age nor will they have big bubble butts on them like a Limousin. A true Longhorn was not bred to look like that. Even with selective breeding they won't. These cattle had lost everything about the original breed except for some pretty spots and they still had the horned gene. A friend of mine asked me what I thought of the cattle across the aisle from ours and I told her that they were great looking Longhorn composites. I hate to see what these animals would look like if they were truly put out on the range to perform as a brood cow or herdsire. They would melt.
I placed fine with my animals especially when what I was competing with looks like another breed of cattle. A good friend of mine showed a young Butler Longhorn bull (this is a son of one of my big Butler bulls-this line is noted for exceptional horn growth) and won Senior Champion with him as well as winning Reserve Grand Champion Bull. The judge just happened to be from Texas and is familiar with the Longhorn breed. When he placed this bull like he did he made a very bold statement, boy the tongues were really wagging about this. He explained that he admired this breed and didn't like what he sees happening with the breed. Without coming out and saying anything about cheating he still got his point across.
My point is this: It's a crying shame that a breed of cattle has been corrupted to satisfy the greed of folks who will do whatever they have to just to win a show. By slipping in other blood the true breed is being diminished. After the show we found out that the judge actually has some Longhorn cattle and understands what is going on within the breed.
