Birth of a Breed
Roy Largent owns a significant Miniature Hereford herd in the United States and is generally considered the founder of the breed. He shares with us his story. Miniature Herefords today owe their existence to one stubborn family and over 35 years of careful, selective breeding, It all started at the Denver stock show back in 1970 when for the first time in history the judge was allowed to carry the entries height/iweight inforrnatron in hand while judging the class.
R Rust Largent, Jr “Grandpa” was not impressed, for in his opinion, you weren’t much of a cattleman if you had to look at numbers, to tell which cow was superior to the other. When the judge of that show went on to place the class strictly by height, Grandpa was so disgusted he nearly ruined his good hat! But, instead of bowing to the new fad of the time he chose to buck the ‘bigger is better’ mentality and continue breeding the stocky, easy keeping, small Herefords he always had.
Later that year. his son, Roy R Largent lll decided to try breeding for Miniature Herefords. Everyone else seemed to be breeding for the ‘largest possible bovine, why not see how small the same breed could get?
This idea was due in part to the rise in popularity of small acreage farms or “ranchettes”. So many people were leaving the big cities to live on 5-15 acre country homes they would want a small, gentle animal as a pet agricultural tax exemption status and the more adventurous may even want to raise their own beef. The average Hereford was getting too large for one family to consume in a year and certainly too difficult to handle without proper equipment. Also. a minimum number of cattle was usually required before agricultural exemption can be obtained With the small acreages and limited pasture land, the large Herefords would be overcrowded. Small animals would eat far less than their modern- sized counterparts, and thrive in smaller environments.
And so. beginning with five cows and one bull the Largents began a major breeding experiment. Of difficulties and discouragement there were plenty. But in 1981 the first true Miniature Hereford bull was born His name was LS REAL MT 3 (Herd ID# 0015) and he is present in the genealogy of almost every Miniature Hereford alive today.
During the 80’s, the Largents had built up a nice herd of Miniatures, but because they were the only breeder, there were no outside genetics available to increase the numbers and quality of their little herd.
Fortunately, they discovered a ranch in Kentucky that had been line breeding Herefords for over 40 years These cows were of the old chunky style prominent in the 60s, and were a valuable addition to the original Largent herd An initial purchase of 20 heifers provided unrelated genetics to complement the quickly growing herd of Miniatures.
Separate bloodlines or “Cow Families” were developed to ensure quality genetics even after years of close breeding The original families are designated with a colored tag, the newer lines are designated with a letter in the ID number.
The first private treaty sale of any Miniature Hereford was in 1989. The cattle were sold to a family in Illinois who declare it was the best investment they ever made. Interest was quickly sparked. and people began to want the Minis for their own. Shows specifically for Miniature Herefords were organized, and entries competed against each other.. The animals were not judged merely by height but by the individual’s quality, thickness, depth, stockiness and other traits that once were synonymous with the word Hereford.
Then in 1996 LS MT OAK 6150 “Toughy” was born. and is considered the ‘King of the Largent Miniature Herefords”. He gave balance and quality to the 000 sized cattle, and was used extensively at Point of Rocks for many years until his death in January of 2005.
One year later two herd sires of the 0000 size were born namely, LS Mt Oak 5050 ‘Half-Pint” and LS Mt Oak 5340 “Max”. Both these bulls had the conformation necessary to begin breeding for the next step smaller in size.
The Largent’s latest advance in decreasing height is with LS Tough Curls 3950 “Curly”, Measuring a whooping 36″ tall at 2 years of age, Curly may very well be the smallest Hereford in the world.
Down though the years, the Largents have considered quality and conformation above all. Breeding for a smaller size is fun and challenging while trying to maintain that quality, and we are excited to see what tiny babies each new calf crop produces.