Many people think of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as a premier concert event or as the richest regular-season rodeo. But many forget that the Show is also the world's largest livestock exposition. One of the reasons why the livestock exposition deserves this title is the sheer number of cattle shown or sold at the Show. In 1931, when the Show was founded, many of the men who established the Show were cattle breeders who bred Brahman, cattle virtually ignored by the Fort Worth livestock show, which focused primarily on European breeds. To have a place to exhibit their livestock, these founders formed the Houston Fat Stock Show. When it was created, emphasis was placed on Brahmans, as well as the Hereford and Shorthorn breeds. Through the years, other breeds that have gained popularity have been included. However, the Houston Open Show is still dominated by Brahmans, with 1,100 Brahman cattle entered and 700 animals making it to the ring in 1998. Because the cattle industry played such an important role in the inception of the Show and its enduring success, a basic understanding of the many different breeds exhibited at the Show is important. A breed of cattle is defined as those animals genetically pure enough to have similar external characteristics of color and body shape so that, when mated together, they produce structured offspring with those same characteristics. A breed may have arisen naturally or as the result of crossbreeding. Modern-day cattle are descendants of two ancient bloodlines, Bos taurus and Bos indicus, animals first domesticated during the Stone Age in Europe and Asia. The European B. taurus line was acclimated to temperate climates, while the Asian B. indicus was better suited to tropical areas. Descendants of the Asian line are easily physically identified by having a hump across their shoulders and by being more resistant to heat and parasites then European breeds. Although all modern cattle are descendants of these Stone Age ancestors, the breeds found at the Show can be further divided into two general categories: beef cattle and dairy cattle. Beef cattle are raised with the primary purpose of converting feed into high quality meat for human consumption. Dairy cattle are raised with the primary purpose of converting feed into high quality milk for human consumption. Simply put, beef cattle provide hamburgers, roasts and steaks, and dairy cattle provide milk for butter, cheese and ice cream. While there are many cattle breeds, only 28 breeds of beef cattle are exhibited or sold at the Show. Some of these arose naturally in Europe. Examples of naturally occurring European lines are Angus, which are black and naturally polled, or hornless; Hereford, which are easily identified by red bodies with white faces; Red Poll, which are hornless and red in color; and Shorthorn, which are either red, white or a combination of both colors, having short, inward curving horns. Other naturally occurring European breeds seen at the Show include Charolais, Limousin, Maine-Anjou, Simmental, Braunvieh, Chianina, Piedmontese, Romagnola, Gelbvieh and Pinzgauer. Not every naturally occurring breed originated in Europe. Two breeds found at the Show arose naturally in the United States: the Texas Longhorn and the Brahman. The Texas Longhorn descended from the animals of Spanish origin, brought to the New World on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus. This breed is easily identified by its large, long and wide-spread horns. The Brahman breed, developed in the United States from animals imported from India, is readily identified by its long face, drooping ears and large hump over the shoulders, and an abundance of dewlap, or loose skin, hanging underneath its neck. The Brahman is quite similar to the naturally occurring Asian breed, the Zebu, also seen at the Show. Breeders also have developed new lines to emphasize certain desirable
characteristics found in one breed of cattle, which in time have resulted
in the creation of a new and distinct breed. Two examples are the Red Angus,
similar to the Black Angus, but red in body color; and the Polled Hereford,
which lacks horns.
Sometimes the creation of a new breed of cattle is intentional, by crossing different breeds until a distinct third breed is formed. Numerous animals exhibited at the Show are the result of crossbreeding. The Beefmaster originated in Texas as a crossing of Brahman, Hereford and Shorthorn bloodlines. The Belgian Blue was derived from a combination of English Shorthorns and Dutch Black Pied (spotted) bulls with the local red and white pied cattle. Crossing the Brahman and Hereford breeds has resulted with the Braford; Brahmousin arose by crossing Brahman and Limousin; and the Brahman and Angus combination is called the Brangus. A cross of the Brahman and Red Angus derived the Red Brangus. The American Brahman, crossed with the European Simmental, produces the Simbrah breed. Senepol originated by crossing West African humpless longhorns with Red Poll cattle. And claiming to be the first original American breed, the Santa Gertrudis was created in Texas on the King Ranch, where Shorthorn and Brahman animals were crossed to produce a hearty, independent, heat-resistant line suitable to survive the harsh South Texas environment. Dairy cows may be outnumbered at the Show by beef animals, but five of the six major dairy breeds are represented in Houston. Dairy cattle shown or sold at the Show are: the Brown Swiss, which have dark brown hides and black-tipped horns; Guernsey, which are usually white or yellow with white patches, with a cream-colored nose and well-arched horns; Jersey, the smallest in stature, which are cream, fawn or light brown in color, with or without white patches and having well-arched horns; Holstein, the famous black and white dairy cows; and Milking Shorthorn, which are strawberry roan or red and white in color with short horns. It is no surprise then, that with these many different cattle breeds represented, the Houston Livestock Show is recognized as the largest and most prestigious in the world. Enjoy the concert and rodeo, but also take time to see this incredible array of cattle breeds.
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