One of my biggest structural pet peeves in cattle is knuckling over or popping in the back pasterns. After buying ten straws last year on a new bull with awesome pictures and excellent performance, not to mention great EPD's, I had some serious buyer's remorse after seeing a video of him many months later. He does one. BAD. It's really hard to see it in his picture. We bred our best cow to him, and thankfully she had a pretty sound heifer. I am just getting to the point where I don't feel comfortable ever buying semen on a bull without seeing a video first. I've been watching videos on every bull I can find for months now, and just about 4 out of 5 do either to some extent. Some, terribly bad. Bulls from big-name breeders that sell for 30, 40, 50,000+! I would cull them from our herd, much less breed anything to them.
Do people just not know what good cattle look like anymore? Or does structure just not matter? Those are somewhat rhetorical. I grew up on the coast and didn't know a good cow from a bad cow until about 8 years ago, so I know people can learn if they take the time. I know it's just "the game" of the purebred side, but it's no less frustrating.
Glad I got that off my chest!
Do people just not know what good cattle look like anymore? Or does structure just not matter? Those are somewhat rhetorical. I grew up on the coast and didn't know a good cow from a bad cow until about 8 years ago, so I know people can learn if they take the time. I know it's just "the game" of the purebred side, but it's no less frustrating.
Glad I got that off my chest!
