Texas Longhorn: the owner of the longest horns in the world and a nasty character

The results of crossing different breeds of animals may be the most unexpected. For example, on the American continent there is a breed of cattle, whose representatives have incredibly long horns. Their range reaches 2 meters, but even 2.5 meters is not the limit. Today we will talk about the Texas Longhorn - a breed of bulls with very long horns and a rather aggressive character.

The origin of the breed Texas Longhorn is closely connected with the history of the development of America. Livestock arrived along with people on ships from different parts of Europe. As shown by genetic analysis, the Texas longhorn comes from Iberian hybrid cows, which derive their pedigree from the cows of the Mediterranean region mixed with the blood of cows from distant India. Representatives of this breed were the first to appear in the New World, and they managed to adapt as best as possible to the conditions of the Wild West. Texas longhorns tolerated long migrations in search of pasture and even gained weight. For stamina, fertility and unpretentiousness, the cowboys were ready to forgive them for one significant drawback: the longhorns have a very aggressive disposition.

The breed was incredibly popular, and huge herds of these animals roamed on the endless plains of Texas. But the redistribution of land and competition between farmers for pasture has led to the fact that the maintenance of Texas longhorns became unprofitable. They began to be massively crossed with other breeds in attempts to obtain more rapidly growing and complaisant animals. As a result of the fall in popularity by the 20s of the last century, Texas longhorns are disastrously few. And if not for the enthusiast Willy Barnes, who saved the breed and organized the maintenance of these animals in the protected area, the Texas longhorn today might not have happened.

Despite their rather complex nature, Texas longhorns are used as riding animals, and breeders note their high immunity and level of intelligence. The horns of these bulls grow up to 1 meter, and sometimes even more, and can have a different shape, from almost straight to winding. The weight of adult animals reaches 700 kilograms, and these animals grow, like their horns, up to 9-10 years. The record holder for the length of the horns is the bull Jay Er, whose horns range is 2 meters 77 centimeters.