“Saddle Cattle” A Big Hit For This Oklahoma Ranch

“Saddle Cattle” A Big Hit For This Oklahoma Ranch LIVESTOCK Beef Neal and DeeDee Strauss are not your typical Oklahoma cattle ranchers Instead of producing beef for meat production their family breeds trains and sells Longhorn riding cattle Some are used for work or parades while others are ridden at Western re-enactments A few have even made it into movies and TV commercials “About 15 years ago we needed a change from typical cattle ranching so we bought two Longhorn heifers to get started ” says DeeDee whose husband Neal is an experienced roper DeeDee learned how to raise and train the Longhorns from other owners and college classes Her background in quarter horses was excellent experience for halter training the heifers and breaking them for riding She also took classes in artificial insemination AI to learn how genetics could produce large strong and even-tempered calves Now they have 5 generations in their herd of 13 cattle “I just love working with the animals socializing them for interaction with people ” says DeeDee “They’re such a joy to be with and people love them ” The Strauss’ have purposely kept their herd small and easily manageable now using 4 saddle-broke cows as breeding stock Their real pride and joy is Astoria who’s known as the longest horned saddle cow in the country measuring 86 2/4 in tip to tip DeeDee Neal and sometimes their daughter Ashley do most of the training Calves begin their learning process at just a month or two old when they can be removed from their mother for a short time “The mothers trust us as long as they can see the calves and they’re able to nurse when they’re hungry ” says DeeDee “The calves are easy to work with because Longhorn disposition is highly inheritable and our momma cows are all very gentle ” Calves are first halter broken then follow leads and commands from the trainer walking beside them “We spend 4 to 5 hrs a week with the youngsters and they’re able to pull a training cart when they’re a year old ” DeeDee says “At this point the yearling saddle prospect could be sold for about $2 500 to another owner who will continue the training or we’ll continue to train them at our ranch ” At age two the animals are ready for a saddle The Strauss’s breed their cows to large sires so the offspring are eventually able to carry a 50-lb saddle and a 200-lb rider “We look for a sire that weighs about 2 000 lbs one that will produce stout steers with excellent minds beautiful horns and a strong frame and legs ” DeeDee says Over 3 years their fully-trained saddle steers have received several hundred hours of personal attention a major labor investment on their part that can bring $10 000 to $12 000 when the animals are sold “These steers are one of a kind ” says DeeDee “They can’t be mass produced ” Until a few years ago the Strauss’s purchased semen for breeding but now they have two bulls of their own with exceptional genetics “It’s been really exciting to see our breeding progam come to fruition ” says DeeDee Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Premier Longhorns 3306 West 80th Street Stillwater Okla 74074 ph 405 372-3862; www premierlonghorns com

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