The Shorthorn cow who terrorised our farm
Some Shorthorn herds still survive and are valued for both their heritage and their production value in today’s farming world.
I must confess to a love affair with the Yorkshire Dales. I am not sure where it originated but I know it has been reinforced by watching the television programme, . Maybe that old-fashioned representation of farming life reminds me of childhood and the animal breeds that populated our fields in times past. Chief among these animals was the Shorthorn cow; a warm, good-natured and productive creature. Indeed, the Shorthorn has so many endearing qualities.
Back in the days of James Herriot, the heritage breeds held sway. Breeds of cattle, sheep and poultry that had emerged from the Agricultural Revolution. By today’s production standards, these breeds fail to make the cut, but back then, they were the best any progressive farmer could hope to own.
The Shorthorn breed was developed from Teeswater and Durham cattle. In the late eighteenth century, the Colling brothers, Charles and Robert, started to improve the Durham cattle using selective breeding. The breed formed into an easily fed animal with a nice temperament that soon endeared it to dairy farmers throughout Britain and Ireland. It later became very popular in America and Australia.
The breed was originally seen as a dual-purpose animal, suitable for both dairy and beef production. However, certain bloodlines within the breed always emphasised one quality or the other. Over time, these different lines diverged, and by the second half of the twentieth century, two separate breeds had developed – the Beef Shorthorn, and the Dairy Shorthorn. All Shorthorn cattle are coloured red, white, or roan, although roan cattle are preferred by some, and completely white animals prized by others. The Shorthorn Society of the United Kingdom leads boldly with the following glowing endorsement of the Dairy Shorthorn.
The Irish Shorthorn Society provides additional information about the breed and its development here over the decades.
The importance of the Shorthorn breed in the development of other cattle breeds is huge, and Shorthorn genes have been used worldwide in the development of over 40 different breeds. The breed has a very long and distinguished history, and recent developments have gone a long way to ensure that the breed also has a very bright future.
When my father was farming, his main income came came from dairying. He hand-milked up to 12 cows, a hodge-podge bunch of misfits but they evidently had enough dairy genes in their makeup to justify selection on the team. They were quiet, docile beasts and while not the most productive cows on earth, they did provide enough milk to bring in a good milk cheque each month.
He always kept an eye out at the local fair for a “nice heifer calf.” Such a calf would be lovingly reared to the stage where she could be put in calf and eventually be promoted to the first division; a place in the cowhouse alongside the elder lemons – no pun intended!
One such heifer calf, that my father fancied and bought, was a Shorthorn. She was, concerningly, a bit gangly and long in the face when compared to the breed standard. From the start, she was flighty, again unusual for a Shorthorn. The thinking was, however, that hand-rearing and pregnancy and birth and the daily routine of milking would calm her down. That was the thinking. Of course, she was some kind of feral beast, with only a passing resemblance to a true Shorthorn. To say that she was highly strung was the understatement of that decade, but my father retained high hopes for his roan darling.
She eventually calved and so, her time as a milker began. From the very start, she persecuted my father and mother, the two main milkers in the house. Her telling kicks were not her worst attribute; her unpredictability was her trump card. She could kick with lightning speed, without warning and with devastating effect.
My mother came to hate the cow, and she was a kind-hearted woman when it came to most animals. My father, on the other hand, kept faith and hoped for an improvement. It never came. I remember one evening meeting my mother coming out of the cowhouse in a daze, drenched in new milk and fighting back tears of rage. She still retained in her hand the battered bucket that the wilful cow had buckled beyond recognition. The long-legged, long-faced interloper had struck again.
Our dog at the time was Rover. He was a harmless old collie but also quite deranged. He had the unique distinction of having castrated himself in his youth while leaping over a barbed wire fence. His method of bringing in the cows for milking was to attack them from behind, barking madly and rushing them towards the gap that led from the field.
One early summer morning he took to the field to gather the herd. As usual, he stole up behind the sleepy cows before he commenced his attack. Maybe he was not fully awake himself that morning or maybe he was just off the pace but the first cow he picked on was the wily Shorthorn. Roused from her relaxation – and she was seldom relaxed - she delivered a ferocious kick to the dog at close range. Instantly defeated, Rover slinked home with his tail between his legs. Afterwards and for several weeks, he whimpered painfully with every movement. The truth to be told, he was never the same Rover again. Oh, how that Shorthorn left her mark for the few years she was on our farm.
Some Shorthorn herds still survive and are valued for both their heritage and their production value in today’s farming world. The Fox family from near Oranmore in Co Galway still maintains a herd of award-winning dairy Shorthorns. On trips through that part of the country over the years, I was often delighted to be held up at their road crossing point as they slowly walked from pasture to parlour. Stone walls, green grass, morning sunlight and a stream of Shorthorn cows making their way to morning milking – a sight to behold.
As we speed towards meeting the food demands of a growing world population, I hope there will always be a place for heritage and beauty… and how better to display it than through the Shorthorn breed of cattle, whether in the Yorkshire Dales or the high fields of the Ox Mountains.
I took a photographic trip a few years ago through the Ox Mountains. In a field near Attymachugh, I noticed a Shorthorn cow, lazily passing her day in a high field that overlooked the plains of Mayo. She fitted so perfectly into the scene, comfortable and timeless. I must pass that way again in the hope of seeing her.
