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Cactus Rose Longhorns
"Longhorns and Live Oaks along the Lavaca"
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Where are you located?
Cactus Rose is located on the Lavaca River near Edna, Texas.
What is the name of your ranch and how did you arrive at that name?
The name, Cactus Rose, came from a line in an old John Wayne movie we saw in high school. We toyed around with that as a name, but when Danny found a prickly pear in full bloom in the fork of an oak we knew for sure. Cactus Rose Longhorns was born.
How long have you been raising Texas Longhorns?
We started in December, 2005.
How did you get started?
The venture started with a Christmas gift and took off quickly after that.
Tell us about yourself, (i.e. hobbies, family, and other interests)
We began as educators and later started an independent insurance agency in May, 1985. We both enjoy the outdoors, so working with the longhorns and on the place makes perfect sense.
We have three children that we are very proud of. Lacie works for Texas Parks and Wildlife in intergovernmental affairs. Will is a student in Austin after serving in the Navy for five years. Clay, our certified welder, has been very helpful in getting chutes, pens, cattle guards, etc. built. We guess our babies will be four legged with horns from here on out.
What breeder(s) or individual(s) were instrumental in getting you started?
We bought our very first animal from the Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wissel of JCTexas Longhorns. We later bought heifers and bred cows from the Roushes of Splash of Color Longhorns. When we bought the cows, there was a big drought and Kay had to sell some great stock very cheaply. We didn't realize at the time what good animals we were able to purchase at unbelievably low prices. Now that we have recently endured two hot summers of drought ourselves, we realize what a hardship it was for those having to sell off their animals without much profit.
What breeder(s) do you consider the most influential in the world of longhorns and why?
We feel the most influential breeders are the ones who are in it merely to improve the breed.
Tell us about your breeding program.
We use two bulls in our natural breeding program. We have also begun to use AI and have our first calf to show for our efforts, Warpaint's Olivia, a Wyoming Warpaint daughter.
We originally started with a tri-color brindle bull named Peso that we loved dearly. We would buy him back in a snap if he was available.
He gave us every color, every pattern imaginable and calves with excellent dispositions.
Today we are using two young herd sires and the AI sires. These were all chosen with specific cows in mind to make what we feel is really good even better.
Who is your main herd sire(s)?
CR Sand Shadow is a Peso son--jet black, very beefy, extremely handsome with huge horns. He inherited his papa's gentle disposition and many nice traits from ancestors such as The Shadow, Phenomenon, Impacts Rear Admiral and Deigo's Hot Shot.
Our other young herd sire is Cactus Jack KCC a brindle bull from Kimble Cattle Company. He is bringing height into our herd as well as lots of Overwhelmer and Overwhelmer Jack. We are really suckers for brindle.
What do you consider the most importand traits for longhorn bulls and cows?
We feel conformation is right up there at the top. We also think disposition is a key trait. We have been blessed to have such gentle animals.
The one thing about Texas longhorns is that there are so many admirable traits. It is hard to narrow it down.
Which of your cows is your favorite and why?
We like them all. If forced to pick a favorite, we would have to go with three that most people would agree are really nice cows.
HL Shadows Sand Plum: gorgeous black cow, 76+ horns, built well without giving up her femininity. We think highly of her calves and have kept all of them.
Over Appeal is a Overhead daughter with striking twisty horns. Her babies are big with unbelievable gains. Her pedigree is also celebrity packed. Her daughter Chex Appeal is as good or better which is what it is all about.
Beyond the Stars is a Smoke Jumper and Too Sexy for My Socks daughter.
Her calves have great height and extremely long horns. We have kept her daughter Sobre and are watching her last bull calf, Poco Mas. He is grulla and is a favorite of ours.
There are others in our hearts that we feel are personal favorites not because they are the biggest or the best. For different reasons, we just flat love 'em!
What if your philosophy on raising longhorns?
We want to take good stock and have improved offspring through planned matings. We enjoy researching and finding out about bloodlines, family traits etc.
After the research, we let nature take its course.
What goals and plans do you have for your herd as you look towards the future?
We just want to continue doing what we are doing. We have the pastures to run three separate herds which is more than we have ever had. It is an exciting step for us.
What is your favorite thing about being a Texas Longhorn breeder?
Our favorite thing is working with the animals. Each baby born is a big deal around here. We are a small operation so we appreciate each new baby and give each one special attention.
We also enjoy measuring horns twice a year. We anticipate and guesstimate for months before as to the growth amounts.
What is the most important thing you want people to remember about you?
We hope people share our enthusiasm about the breed and enjoy having met us. We like to visit with other breeders and people who are just curious about the breed. It seems people are always excited to find that we raise longhorns.
Any other information you'd like to share?
Please visit our website at www.cactusroselonghorns.com and enjoy the candid shots in the scrap book and meet the whole herd.
Better yet, let's get together and visit!
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