Learning from Longhorns...Lessons for Life
| "Learning from Longhorns" Lester Galbreath and Glenn Dromgoole (Bright Sky Press) We bought this book recently and it has some wonderful (and true) Longhorn lessons from life... #5 Make a Lasting Impression "Even after more than thirty years of working with Longhorns, I am still awed by their majesty, their elegance, their beauty, their strength, and their individuality. The new doesn't wear off. They never become commonplace. I don't take them for granted. First Impressions are important. Lasting impressions are a testimony to true character." #7 Don't Toot Your Own Horn "It is impossible for a Longhorn to toot his own horn. We humans don't seem to have any trouble doing so." #8 Be Captain of Your Soul "If it hadn't been for the Texas Longhorns, the great cattle drives of the 1870's and 1880's would not have been possible. Only the tough Longhorns were capable of enduring the grueling thousand-mile treks to market. J. Frank Dobie called them "the cattle of the hour." He said, " They suited the wide, untamed land and the men that ranged it." I like his description of the physical and spiritual attributes of the Longhorn. No one ever said it better or more succinctly than Dobie did in this passage from The Longhorns: "With their steel hoofs, their long legs, their staglike muscles, their thick skins, their powerful horns, they could walk the roughest ground, cross the widest deserts, climb the highest mountains, swim the widest rivers, fight off the fiercest band of wolves, endure hunger, cold, thirst and punishment as few beasts of the earth have ever shown themselves capable of enduring. On the prairies they could run like antelopes; in the thickets of thorn and tangle they could break their way with the agility of panthers. They could rustle in drout or snow, smell out pasturage leagues away, live--without talking about the matter--like true captains of their own souls and bodies." #23 Never Stop Growing A Longhorn's horns never stop growing until the animal dies. Never stop growing: Good advice for us as well. #36 Don't Be Difficult Even though they once were wild, Longhorns these days are more likely to be rather gentle--unless threatened. I have found Longhorns to be intelligent, easy to handle, easy to work. In the old days, their wildness was important to their survival. They had to fend for themselves. These days, their docility is one of the reasons the breed has made a successful comeback. Longhorns have learned how to get along. #32 Embrace Variety and Individuality The Longhorn is the only breed that has the variety or range in colors that you find in people. Another reason why it is the All-American breed. No two Longhorns look exactly alike. They have different shapes and sizes of horns. They have, I know, different personalities--or should I say Longhornalities? And so it is with us. We are individuals, each of us unique in our own way, with our own unique qualities, interests, and abilities. We don't all look alike or act alike. Thank goodness. #28 Eat Lean Beef When he was a hundred years old, Isom Like--an old Indian-fighter and horse trader--was asked his secret for living so long. "Live temperately in food and drinks," he said. " Try to get your beefsteaks three times a day, fried in taller [tallow]. Taller is mighty healing, and there's nothing like it to keep your stumich [sic] greased-up and in good working order." I'm rather certain that modern medicine would frown on that diet. One advantage of Longhorn beef, which has made the breed more popular for health-conscious Americans, is that it is leaner and lower in cholesterol than most beef. Lean Longhorn beef, says Dr. Joseph Graham, a cardiovascular surgeon and a Longhorn breeder, is on par with skinned, boneless white chicken meat. Longhorn beef is not widely available. The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of American says it can be found in select supermarkets and restaurants or from breeders who market their own beef. #27 Don't Measure Your Worth In Money In the early days of the Republic of Texas, a hundred-dollar bank note pictured a Longhorn steer being chased by a horse and rider. Back then, cattle were actually worth more than the money they were printed on. The money was virtually worthless, but a cow and calf were valuable commodities. After all, you couldn't eat the money. Still can't. #20 Take Care Of Your Children Longhorn cows are great mothers. They staunchly defend and protect their calves. They can outrun and outfight wolves, coyotes, and other predators. They are great babysitters, coddlers, and nurturers. In cold weather, I've seen them round up their calves and stay with them. If you are trying to separate a cow from her calf, you had better be prepared to climb a tree if she catches you. A Longhorn cow will use deception to hide a calf. With other breeds, you can follow a cow and she will lead you to her calf. Not so with Longhorns. A Longhorn cow might go in the opposite direction of where the calf is to throw you off the trail, then double back when you get tired of following. If you thought your mother was fiercely protective, perhaps she had learned something from Longhorns. #22 Make A Comeback If you have ever failed at something--and who among us hasn't--it doesn't have to be the last word. You have the potential to make a comeback. Longhorns did. The breed, which had dominated the open range in the 1860's and 1870's, was on the verge of extinction by 1920. The closing of the open range, several brutal winters, changes in breed preferences among cowmen, and other factors had led to the Longhorns' decline. In 1927, Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming convinced Congress to appropriate $3,000 to preserve the Longhorn by establishing a federal herd at the Witchita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Will Barnes and John H. Hatton found twenty cows, three bulls, and four calves. The comeback had begun. In 1964, the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America was founded by a few ranchers who joined together to preserve the breed and promote its qualities. At the time, there were just a few hundred Longhorns worthy of the name. Today the TLBAA has 5,000 members and there are more than 300,000 registered Longhorns. #1 Be Proud Of Your Heritage One of the first lessons we can learn from the Longhorn is to be proud of our heritage. Wherever we come from, there is something rich and colorful in our past if we will take the time and trouble to study it, research it, and embrace it. The Texas Longhorn serves as a vivid example. Its ancestors can be traced back to Christopher Columbus, who introduced the Spanish cattle into the New World on his second voyage to Santo Domingo in 1493. The cattle made their way into Mexico and across the Rio Grande into what is now Texas in the late 1600's and early 1700's. Over the years, the Spanish cattle developed through survival of the fittest, absorbing the few herds of other breeds brought by the first Texas settlers. What evolved was a wild, tough, sturdy, long-horned breed that would become known after the Civil War as the Texas Longhorn. By the end of the Civil War, millions of Longhorn Cattle roamed wild, providing a marketable commodity for a devastated Texas economy. Over the next twenty years, more than ten-million head of Texas Longhorns were rounded up and driven hundreds of miles north over the Goodnight-Loving Trail, the Chisholm Trail, and the Western or Dodge City Trail to markets in Kansas. They were trekked to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, and Canada. The cattle drives energized the Texas economy, gave birth to the ranching industry which has had such a huge influence on the state's history and culture, and introduced forever into the international spotlight that other legendary Western icon, the American Cowboy. The point here is that if we scratch deep enough into our own family histories, we too can find stories that illuminate and enrich and give meaning to our lives. Be proud of your heritage. Lester W. Galbreath of Albany, Texas, developed a love for ranching heritage and western lore during his childhood in the Texas Hill Country. After graduating from college, he was employed by The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In 1972, he became manager of Fort Griffin State Historical Park and herd manager of the official State of Texas Longhorn Herd. www.brightskypress.com ISBN 1-931721-44-0 |
