The gate is always open and the runway is always clear here at Bentwood Ranch, and you have a standing invitation to visit Richard & Jeanne Filip anytime! Jeanne and I began our journey into longhorn cattle in 2000 when she gave me a longhorn steer for my birthday to celebrate my years at The University of Texas (yeah Bevo). It wasn't long before our eyes always turned to the color and the unique
personality traits of Stormy, our longhorn steer, and the Charolais cattle soon became bland and uninteresting. Within two weeks, we dispersed our Charolais herd of cattle and began our fascinating and rewarding experience of raising Registered TexasLonghorn cattle. It has been exciting and rewarding finding just the right cross to produce that one-of-a-kind heifer, cow, or bull for a potential herd sire. Our quest for more "horn" will never end! Our goal is to focus on the complete package for our Texas longhorn breeding program. It is our vision at Bentwood Ranch to offer registered Texas Longhorn cattle for sale with maximum horn length potential, outstanding conformation, unique color, and size to produce heavy calves at weaning age. Our goal to breed exceptional, registered Texas Longhorns through years of strategic research into genetics of bloodline traits found in specific pedigrees. Understanding the genetics for the correct cross of the right cow to the right bull to produce the desired result is the key to the success of our Texas Longhorn breeding program. The mix of different genetics in our Texas Longhorn breeding program produce a diversity of eye-catching color, desired dispositions, correct conformation, and of course, maximum horn growth. Before we continue our discussion on the attributes of our Texas Longhorn breeding program, let's step back into history and take a look at the origin of the Texas Longhorn cattle. Over four hundred years ago, in 1493, Columbus landed in Santo Domingo with the first cattle destined for the new world. These cattle were descended from Andalusian cattle and evolved without the interference of man for hundreds of years. This began an evolutionary process that would create a breed of cattle unique to the Americas-a cattle breed that would forever change the face of a continent and symbolize an era unparalleled for its lasting mystique. Developed through natural selection, the Texas Longhorn cattle flourished to over 4,000,000 by 1860 in Texas alone, reaching a total population over 10,000,000 at their height. The history of the Longhorn cattle fostered many legends. An estimated 35,000 men trailed these 10,000,000 Longhorn cattle northward from Texas to Kansas and other distant markets between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century. They lived the legends of the drudgery and hardship of the long drives with unforgettable memories of raging rivers and unpredictable stampedes. Two great books on the history of these cattle drives are "The Longhorns" by J. Frank Dobie and "The Trail Drivers of Texas" by J. Less than fifty years later, driven to the brink of extinction by barbwire and the importation of European "improved" breeds, the Texas Longhorn cattle numbered a mere 2,500 in total. The Texas Longhorn cattle came closer to extinction than the buffalo or the whooping crane. With the number of Texas Longhorn cattle decimated and its popularity diminishing, six dedicated Texas Longhorn ranchers and the W.S. Parks and Wildlife Department decided to try and save what was left of these majestic and historic cattle. The seven genetic families are of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Milby Butler, Jack Philips, M.P. Wright, Graves Peeler, "Cap" Yates and Emil Marks. Without these seven genetic families it is not probable that the Texas Longhorn cattle would exist for our enjoyment today.
