Shorthorn historians... help pic updated###

[kiblercattle]

So I was going through old pics the other day and I ran across a picture of a roan bull that my grandparent bought from Colby Smith from Hamilton MT. His name was Kamaiah Jude and at the time was an extremely thick bull with a weaning weight of 775 which they thought was incredible for the time. I was curious if anyone knew who this Colby smith was or about the breeding of this bull. His sire was Ronan discovery. Any info?

 

[aj]

I remember Dad had a cow sired by maybe (Hey Jude) in the early 70's.......maybe late 60's. All I can remember she was horned.

 

[justintime]

I remember the year that Colby Smith showed up in Denver with two Shorthorn bulls. One was a bull named Hey Jude and he got everyone's attention and ended up being Reserve Grand bull in the show. This was probably back in the late 70s or possibly the early 80s( some of those years are blurred together in my mind). The two bulls had amazing performance both for their ages, and for the genetics that they were supposed to be from. Their entire pedigrees were older genetics from the 50s and 60s that were much smaller cattle. The other bull may have been Kamaiah Jude, but I am thinking he may have been a bull Colby had there the next year. There was lots of rumors going through the barns that these cattle were part Maine, and off aged, and I have no idea if this was correct or not. They were pretty colored up cattle, mostly red and white, which did not suggest the older bloodlines that were supposed to be their heritage. Colby came back the next year with a couple more animals but they were not as impressive as Hey Jude was. I never heard of him again, and he disappeared as fast as he had appeared. I also never heard of any progeny of Hey Jude, not sure what happened to him. I have heard about some descendants of Kamaiah Jude, possibly from your grand parents.
I remember some of the older breeders saying that they remembered the sire of Hey Jude, Ronan Discovery, and he was a smaller belt buckle bull similar to others in the 50s and 60s. That may be where the rumors got started about him being part Maine.

 

[beebe]

They had a bull named Juda Ben Hur that the Wertz Bros. of South Dakota bought and use for several years.  I believe he was a son of Hey Jude.

 

[GM]

Any photos?

 

[oakview]

Lots of photos of those bulls in the old Shorthorn magazines.  I have them in my stack, just need to find time to post them.  One of Mr. Smith's ads had a statement from his county extension agent regarding the accuracy of his cattle's birth dates.  Lots of cattle back then seemed to "stray" from what was on their pedigree.  Most of them also seemed to end up in a winner's circle somewhere.  I know of a Milking Shorthorn breeder that raised two National Junior Show champion females.  One of them had a straight beef pedigree.  The other one was at least registered out of a dual purpose bull.  We showed against an obvious half-blood Maine at our county fair in the mid to late 70's.  She ended up winning the $5.50 purple ribbon and went on with her job of raising 3/4 blood Maine calves.  On the other hand, we were forced to show a Red Alert daughter (registered with a GREEN 7/8 pedigree) in the purebred Shorthorn class at our county fair in the late 80's because the beef department declared her a purebred, over my protests, because she had a pedigree.  The appendix classes were not well known at the county fairs at that time.  We showed her in the commercial class at the state fair and she was the champion commercial heifer.  Lots of crazy things happen at county fairs.

 

[GM]

Imagine an outsider showing up, winning banners, and not facing rumors, gossip, or unsubstantiated scrutiny.  Now I'm really curious to see the pictures.  Those years pre-date my subscription. 

 

[phillse]

Imagine an outsider showing up, winning banners, and not facing rumors, gossip, or unsubstantiated scrutiny.  Now I'm really curious to see the pictures.  Those years pre-date my subscription.

Yes, that is the case with any group or organization.

Case in Point, Hangin' Tree Black Bear and his owner Gary Ericson it was so bad he left that breed and started a new breed the Hangin' Tree Cow dog.

 

[GM]

Very interesting!  Just researched the story of that dog.  Hadn't heard it before.

 

[kiblercattle]

bump

 

[mark tenenbaum]

So I was going through old pics the other day and I ran across a picture of a roan bull that my grandparent bought from Colby Smith from Hamilton MT. His name was Kamaiah Jude and at the time was an extremely thick bull with a weaning weight of 775 which they thought was incredible for the time. I was curious if anyone knew who this Colby smith was or about the breeding of this bull. His sire was Ronan discovery. Any info?

///// He really looks like a huge scotch Shorthorn id almost guess he had some of the Great Big old  Hereford or Charolais X  in him rather than maine-he doesnt show a Maine body type or head at all. O0

 

[kiblercattle]

I would agree mark looks to me like a big scotch bull can't see anything that says he influenced by any other breeds.

 

[GM]

That's a pretty bad ass photo.  Notice the small ears, deep body, wide muzzle, and compact figure.  He doesn't look half or 1/4 maine at all.  In my opinion 1/4 main would look similar to what wee see nowadays (minus the irish influence).  This guy looks nothing like that.  And, his color pattern eliminates Hereford and Charolais up close.  Thanks for posting.  Please post more if you find them.

Still interesting to hear more about the barn talk.  I'm wondering how much dating, feeding, and grooming had to do with questions of purity.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

That's a pretty bad ass photo.  Notice the small ears, deep body, wide muzzle, and compact figure.  He doesn't look half or 1/4 maine at all.  In my opinion 1/4 main would look similar to what wee see nowadays (minus the irish influence).  This guy looks nothing like that.  And, his color pattern eliminates Hereford and Charolais up close.  Thanks for posting.  Please post more if you find them.

Still interesting to hear more about the barn talk.  I'm wondering how much dating, feeding, and grooming had to do with questions of purity.

 

[justintime]

My dad always told me, that you must be doing something right if people are starting to talk about you. When I purchased Ready Go, at a then record price at the Polled Congress in Louisville, I was devastated when rumours started coming back to me, that he was definitely part Salers to fullblood Salers. The Salers breed had just been introduced to North America just before this. When I told dad what I was hearing, he said " don't think of the rumours being a bad thing. If people are starting to talk about you, they are concerned that you may have done something right"  He also told me I better get some semen collected from Ready Go. As it turned out, he is the only bull I have owned that I have sold semen from every year since I bought him in 1973. The semen supply is getting pretty low now, but I am offering 12 vials in our sale on October 18th.

 

[idalee]

He could by a Mandalong Super Elephant son!

 

[mark tenenbaum]

My dad always told me, that you must be doing something right if people are starting to talk about you. When I purchased Ready Go, at a then record price at the Polled Congress in Louisville, I was devastated when rumours started coming back to me, that he was definitely part Salers to fullblood Salers. The Salers breed had just been introduced to North America just before this. When I told dad what I was hearing, he said " don't think of the rumours being a bad thing. If people are starting to talk about you, they are concerned that you may have done something right"  He also told me I better get some semen collected from Ready Go. As it turned out, he is the only bull I have owned that I have sold semen from every year since I bought him in 1973. The semen supply is getting pretty low now, but I am offering 12 vials in our sale on October 18th.//// Want some Salers influence?? Look no further than the Hilltop cattle-of Carvin Guy. They sure made some pretty cows way back when mixed with Shorthorn and Marq 4 and Enticer-along with the irish breeding and a shot of maine O0 O0

 

[mark tenenbaum]

That's a pretty bad ass photo.  Notice the small ears, deep body, wide muzzle, and compact figure.  He doesn't look half or 1/4 maine at all.  In my opinion 1/4 main would look similar to what wee see nowadays (minus the irish influence).  This guy looks nothing like that.  And, his color pattern eliminates Hereford and Charolais up close.  Thanks for posting.  Please post more if you find them.

Still interesting to hear more about the barn talk.  I'm wondering how much dating, feeding, and grooming had to do with questions of purity.//// Harold Hoskins had both and managed to get Shorthorn colors-it would depend upon how far back the Hereford was-thats more what the bull is made like than the others.He had a bull called Zorro who looked like a Shorthorn  but was a Charolais-Exclusives Carrie-reserve at the National JR Show and a huge light roan was out of a graddaughter of Zorro-she was a big White cow registered to AK Outlook (?) O0 O0

 

[shorthorngeek]

They had a bull named Juda Ben Hur that the Wertz Bros. of South Dakota bought and use for several years.  I believe he was a son of Hey Jude.

This is correct. Juda Ben Hur was the champion and $6600.00 record selling bull at the 1973 National Western Sale. He was an April 3, 1972 born spring calf sired by Hey Jude, the 1971 International Supreme champion. Juda Ben Hur weighed 852 pounds at 206 days and 1000 pounds at Denver. He apparently was not shown in the open show. The sale show judge was Wendell Lovely, a well-known breeder from Wilsall, MT.

Hey Jude, his sire, weighed 785 at 210 days, 1230 at a year, and 2120 at two years, according to the advertising of his breeders.

Kamaiah Jude, a full brother to Hey Jude, was reserve champion and second top selling bull at $5000.00 in the same sale. On "official test" Kamaiah Jude weighed 780 at 205 days, 1220 at a year, and 1710 at the Denver show. On the day following the sale, he was named reserve senior champion of the open show under judge W.T. Bennett of Connell, WA, another prominent Shorthorn breeder.

Reference: The Shorthorn World, February 1, 1973

 

[kiblercattle]

Thanks shorthorn geek that's cool info. Grandma couldn't remember how much they paid for him $5000 would have been a fairly big chuck of change back then!