Back To The Future

[r.n.reed]

O ver the weekend I was looking through an old file cabinet  for something and came across a folder that had some letters,pictures and misc info from one of the herds I had bought my foundation stock from.I had probably not seen that folder in 20 plus years and you can imagine my surprise when I found a picture of one of my current herd bulls Wolf Ridge Pioneer P108S X4111136.Well of course it wasn't him but one of his ancestors born about 1938 or 1939 I believe but the similarities were striking.Ive attached a picture of 108 and his predecessor.This the closest picture of 108 I could find to that pose and he is older and in pasture condition so he doesn't have the advantage of that show day fill.I think the old picture was taken at the International.

 

[Okotoks]

There are a lot of similarities. I think 108 is a touch longer and has a little more muscling. What is the name of the other bull?

 

[r.n.reed]

Dan,I agree with you but in fairness to the old bull if we had more of a sideview he might show more length and he is definitely show fat and might have looked a little more muscular after getting a chance to work some cows.The old bulls name is Maplewood Progress.The Maplewood and Meadowbrook herd were fairly intertwined as they used a lot of each others bulls.

 

[OKshorthorn]

Wow! That is really cool! They almost look like father and son! Thanks for posting this!

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Thats what I love to see Mr Reed. Im going to go out on a limb and say 108 has some prepotency behind him That is breeding cattle over the long haul to achieve your goals. Thanks for sharing. 108 looks great btw. How many generations are between the two? What a good example for all to see.

 

[OH Breeder]

Dan,I agree with you but in fairness to the old bull if we had more of a sideview he might show more length and he is definitely show fat and might have looked a little more muscular after getting a chance to work some cows.The old bulls name is Maplewood Progress.The Maplewood and Meadowbrook herd were fairly intertwined as they used a lot of each others bulls.

Did that old fella go by another name?  I wanted to look at his pedigree and I can't find it in the ASA or the CSA by the name listed above. I didn't see the old bull's name in the young bulls pedigree by that name either.

 

[r.n.reed]

Maplewood Progress is registered in the ASA but unfortunately their online records do not go back that far.I don't have all my pedigrees in front of me but there is a minimum of 13 generations between the two bulls.

 

[common sense]

Oh, that is REALLY interesting. Thank you for sharing. Does that say something about our cattle trends? 

 

[r.n.reed]

Julie N,These are the type of cattle I started with and have always tried to stay with this type even when adding outcrosses.This type has been out of favor at least 4 times while I have been in it.I think it could also point to the value of the extended pedigree.

 

[r.n.reed]

During the blizzard in between breaking up a bull fight that finally ended when 108 threw 4508 through my new 5 wire fence and getting a horse out of a snow drift,I had some time on my hands  so I did a little research.108 only has one great granddam,Wolf Ridge Polly 28th,and when I finally quit looking I had found that she traced 42 or 43 times to the grand sire of the old bull pictured  above.I've attached a picture of the bull,his name was Cornerview Marshall.

 

[Okotoks]

What would the breeding of Cornerview Marshall be? Nice looking bull.

 

[r.n.reed]

The breed was officially only about 30 yrs old at this time and basically was a combination of the Bates breeding from the original polled sports and some of the best scotch cow families.This Marshall breeding was the same line that put the Hultines,Teegardins,Hansons,Thiemans etc.on the map.I actually have the sale catalog from the first polled sale held in 1902.

 

[garybob]

During the blizzard in between breaking up a bull fight that finally ended when 108 threw 4508 through my new 5 wire fence and getting a horse out of a snow drift,I had some time on my hands  so I did a little research.108 only has one great granddam,Wolf Ridge Polly 28th,and when I finally quit looking I had found that she traced 42 or 43 times to the grand sire of the old bull pictured  above.I've attached a picture of the bull,his name was Cornerview Marshall.

What I've noticed about your genetics, is the extra length of body a lot of them appear to have. 4508 recieve any serious injuries as a result of the horseplay?
GB

 

[r.n.reed]

GB,Other than maybe his pride 4508 is fine.What is amazing is that he only broke  one wire and  one post. Based on that alone I can now confirm him as a true calving ease sire. ;D 108 is a long bodied bull and is passing that trait on.The calf pictured below at 7 1/2 mo.is by 108 and out of a 5/8 or better sister to 108.I've also attached a picture of 4508 so people could see what we are talking about.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

I have always tended to prefer cattle that are longer bodied. Just a type I like. What is in your opinion, the benefits to breeding cattle for some more lenght as opposed to a shorter type? Is there any advantage at all. Maybe stupid questions but Im curious. I sure like 4508. <beer>

 

[r.n.reed]

Trevor,There is no such thing as a stupid question,I regret now that I didn't ask questions that I thought at the time were stupid or I was afraid to ask.I would say that everything else being equal a longer animal should weigh more and everything else being equal and the animal met my criteria I would take the longer bodied animal.I never really sought out long bodied cattle to use in my herd but two animals that were very influential in my herd, Nelco Mcleod and Wolf Ridge High Level were very long bodied.A balanced animal that can produce with a minimum of inputs is my goal.This first calf heifer below who happens to be a maternal 1/2 sister to the calf on the previous page kind of fits the bill for me.

 

[Okotoks]

Trevor,There is no such thing as a stupid question,I regret now that I didn't ask questions that I thought at the time were stupid or I was afraid to ask.I would say that everything else being equal a longer animal should weigh more and everything else being equal and the animal met my criteria I would take the longer bodied animal.I never really sought out long bodied cattle to use in my herd but two animals that were very influential in my herd, Nelco Mcleod and Wolf Ridge High Level were very long bodied.A balanced animal that can produce with a minimum of inputs is my goal.This first calf heifer below who happens to be a maternal 1/2 sister to the calf on the previous page kind of fits the bill for me.

That's a really nice female!
Any chance of scanning a couple of pages from that 1902 catalogue?  It's interesting that most of the Shorthorn polled breeding goes back to those Bates sports.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Thanks rn reed! Im lookin forward to my visit in March.

 

[r.n.reed]

Same here Trevorgrey!Okotoks,I don't have that catalog with me but I will make work of getting some pages up from it,hopefully tommorrow.I remember old Clarence Forgey telling me that if I bred the polled cattle red on red they would start to yellow.Also remember in Sanders book'' Shorthorn Cattle'' that  the Bates herd was a yellow red in color with some white markings.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Im looking at High Level's pedigree, it looks as GAFA is a prefix you have used?  Looks like he has some okotoks breeding as well as alot of other well known Canadian breeders. What is High Levels story if you dont mind sharing. Any pics? The Mcleod bull goes back to when I was 2 ! Any pics of him or story you have? Im just curious on this snowy evening. I like looking back on older pedigrees of animals I never heard of.