LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) – At this year’s International Texas Longhorn Association Championship Show, from steers to cows, big and small, ranchers across the country brought out what they hope will be their best cattle.
“This is over 113 inches from tip to tip. This is just measured tip to tip,” said Jon Moxley, a contestant on the show who came all the way from Maryland.
He and his wife, Suzanne, take their cows to shows in their hometown and are willing to make the 22-hour drive to Lufkin to show off their 6-year-old steer, Lobo.
“It’s always good to repeat and it’s always good to get some big wins,” Moxley said.
Lobo has already won the grand champion steer of the show earlier in the day, but ITLA judge Brad Westmoreland says you never know what you’re going to get when judging a horn measurement contest.
“You won’t find anything better than what you see here today anywhere in the country. There will be some great ones, but these will be first-class,” Westmoreland said. I did.
Of the more than 500 cows on display at the show, more than 70 participated in the horn-measuring contest, Westmoreland said.
Horns are measured tip to tip or total horn for horns with different twists.
“Modern steers are over 130 inches from tip to tip, so that’s not that unusual,” Westmoreland said.
The ITLA Championship Show features youth shows, non-halted shows, futures and more. Everything Westmoreland says supports ITLA’s goal of promoting Texas longhorn cattle.
As for how he wins measurement contests, Moxley says it’s just luck.
“It’s genetics. You just breed the right animal to the right animal and you get the right results and you get a good animal,” Moxley said.
The ITLA Championship Show continues Saturday with the Championship Youth Show beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the George H. Henderson Expo Center.
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