Post Script by Roy Largent III
In my (Heinz Gleich, website cooordinator) research for the origins of the correct Miniature Hereford Beginnings I came across many conflicting story’s. In my desperation, I decided to go to the original Breeder of Miniature Herefords, I was pretty sure of not getting a response. To my total surprise Roy Largent III took the time to check my articles, with this correction email below.
Corrections to the Point of Rocks Ranch Miniature Hereford story by Roy Largent III, with permission to print.
Hi Heinz,
So in reading the article there are a few minor corrections that might be made but over all it is a very good piece.
I was fifteen years old when I conceived the idea of breeding miniature cattle and since it was my task to do a lot of the butchering on the ranch, I though it would be great to have a beef that was 600 lb live wt. instead of 1200 lb live wt. We used to put our 1200 lb corn fed, really fat steers in a trailer and park it under a big oak tree. After shooting the beef in the head with a .22 rifle we would bleed it out and wench it up in the tree with a couple of com-a-long fence stretchers. After dressing it out we would cut the beef in quarters and drop it into the back of a pickup truck that was lined with empty paper feed sacks, to soak up the blood, and a clean bed sheet would be wrapped around it to keep the dust off of it on the trip back to the house where we had a walk-in cooler in our shed. Sometimes the front quarter would weigh almost 190 lbs and it would take myself and another person an enormous effort to get that hunk of meet hanging on the hooks in the cooler. It took a half-day to do the slaughtering and I would be totally exhausted and commented on more that one occasion that I wished that the beeves would be about half their size.
So it was in the summer of 1970 I convinced my father to let me have 5 of our smallest cows and a bull and begin breeding the miniatures. The breeding program was totally up to me in the mid 1980’s my father began to get excited about what I had accomplished in breeding my smaller Herefords. In the late 1980’s the exotic animal market was hitting its peak and at that time we had something that would qualify as an “exotic animal”? Well anyway we took advantage of the situation and with the guidance of a couple of exotic animal breeders learned how to market new and unusual animals. Since I was just a shy country boy I stuck to taking care of the cattle and the breeding program and my father took on the job of public relations and marketing the mini’s. Hence many people believe my father Rust (past away in 2006) was the founder of Miniature Herefords, which is ok with me, since it was his encouragement, and support that I was able to stick to the project for 19 years before selling any animals for breeding stock. Before that time I had just sent any cull animals to the packer.
You don’t have to include this info on your web site but it felt right to write this down, as I don’t think that I have ever written some of this information down before. My father had always done all the writing.
My father was never vice president of the American Hereford Association so he did not resign his position there. He was on the board of directors of the Texas Hereford Association and was president of the very active local Highland Hereford Association here in West Texas. In the early 70’s he had major heart surgery so was limited to the amount of public pressure he could take for several years.
There is a lot that I could write about concerning the bloodlines but do not have the time right now. Hope to do that soon. We had over 800 active animals in our herd in the mid 90’s and were working with 11 different bloodlines. One note the 5050 bull and the 5340 bull were born a year before 6150 and did not use them as much because they did not have the quality we were looking for. Another bull that contributed to our herd a lot is the LS MOUNT ROCK 1702, a 000 frame, which sired more calves (over 220 calves) in his life, than any other one bull that I have raised.
Well I need to run.
Thanks soooo much for buying and promoting Miniature Herefords! I am greatly honoured.
Roy
Roy Largent, III
Point of Rocks Ranch
131 N. Largent Ranch Road
Fort Davis, Texas 79734
website: http://www.minihereford.com
432-426-3591 office
432-249-0106 mb
To Roy
Thank you very much for your kindness, all the members of the AMHCA are greatly honoured and appreciative of the efforts and TIME you had given us selflessly.
Regards Heinz
on behalf of AMHCA Committee and members