Our west Texas ranch has been in my family for more than 100 years – and Kim and I are the fourth generation to operate it. The Triple R Ranch, located 45 miles west of San Angelo, consists of 6,400 acres of shallow soil limestone hills and a few narrow bottoms with deeper soils. Besides the native grasses that grow here, the red-berry cedar, prickly pear and mesquite dominate our landscape. The ranch historically raised Herefords, Rambouillet sheep and Spanish goats. We added a lone Texas Longhorn steer in 1990.

Since that time, drought conditions have eliminated the Herefords and sheep, but our Texas Longhorn herd has now grown to around 100 head. Coming from a commercial cattleraising background, we value a medium-framed cow that is thrifty, has adequate milk, brings in a good calf each year, and breeds back quickly. From the Longhorn breed guidelines, we value strong conformation, longevity and horn with a nice twist. Finally, pedigree plays a very important role in most of our breeding decisions.

Our first TLBAA-registered Longhorn cows came from the YO Ranch. Following that first purchase, we traveled to sales for a year or so studying what we liked – and what animals sold well. During that time, I also read an informative article in the Texas Longhorn Trails about the Butler family and bloodline, its history, and the article mentioned the upcoming Louisiana Purchase Sale.

We made our way to that event and brought home our first herdsire, Ace's Medicine Man, a young straight-Butler bull along with two straight-Butler females. Between studying that article and watching the cows at the sale, we were hooked on the Butler bloodline and have been breeding straight Butler and Butler-influenced cattle ever since. For us, the Butler bloodline has enriched our Longhorn experience because by participating, we have become part of its ongoing history– perpetuating something bigger than just our own breeding program.

In an effort to document that special history, the Butler Breeders group began an informative and educational website several years ago compiling all of the published articles about the Butler bloodline, as well as developing the “Butler Herdbook,” an online database of Butler Texas Longhorn information, animal names and photographs. You can visit that website by logging on to www.butlertexaslonghorns.com. We have been involved in the research for this effort and the group has also archived the various Butler Breeders Invitational Sale catalogs for online viewing. Last September, the Butler Breeders Association celebrated a 10th successful sale.

In January 2007, it was our good fortune that our breeding program received national recognition. We were extremely honored to have been named the Dave Evans Breeder of the Year for 2006 by the TLBAA. The variety of marketing possibilities for Texas Longhorns have made them invaluable to our ranch business plan. We have been very fortunate selling at public auction in sales like the Red McComb’s Fiesta Sale and the Butler Breeders Sale. Moreover, we have been successful in commercial sales with Longhorn crossbreeds, have developed bulls for first calf heifers, sold ropers and trophy steers, and some females by private treaty. Our ranching experiences with Texas Longhorns have proven they can be both fun to own – and profitable.