Feltons Endurett was also purchased by us at the Feltons Dispersal sale in 2003.  She too was an established Dam of Distinction in the Felton's herd, but was passed in the sale by many breeders due to the fact she had a black calf on her side instead of a Hereford.  As I said before, the way I saw it was that she had a calf on her side, and that was good enough for me. Just because she had not taken the AI breeding in the previous season was no reason to pass on this female.  She is a daughter of Feltons Endurance 745 with excellent progeny averages. She calved a heifer to Feltons Leo in late spring of 2004 and she has moved up in her breeding ever since.  Her Leo heifer calf was sold to Willis
I.   HUMOR

"Snow enough to say when your wrong"

About 17 years ago I got this brain storm to take my wife snow skiing.  She had never been, so I figured it was something we could do to have some fun together.  Tina was more of a warm climated "water baby", and she could swim and water ski with great proficiency.  In fact, she usually showed me up when it came to water skiing!  I, on the other hand, already knew how to snow ski.  I was even decent enough to get through a few moguls and down the slopes at a pretty good clip, so I felt like I could help her pick it up pretty quick.  That way we could enjoy skiing alongside of each other, free to go where we pleased, instead of watching from the rear of a boat limited by the length of a rope.  We made plans, and I rented a cozy little cabin way up in the mountains.  We got to the cabin in the evening, so that first night we just unpacked and settled in to a nice cozy fire, a little wine, some cheese and fruit, soft lights, and moody music, if you know what I mean...:)  Things seemed to be going just as I'd hoped. 

The next morning we slept in, then we had a nice little breakfast before heading down to the slopes.  The report on the pack was good and there was a fresh snow falling, so it seemed like conditions were going to be great for skiing.  I fired up the truck and off we went.  I was excited, but Tina was a little more apprehensive.  I had hoped that since she was such an avid water skier that she would have no problem tackling the snow.  I could tell she was nervous so I decided to be funny and turn the truck into the plowed snow bank which stood up 3 feet on either side of the narrow road leading away from the cabin.  I figured she would get a big laugh and loosen up when the snow went flying into the air.....but it didn't.  I suppose the bank had been there for longer then I thought, and it had seen a few thaws and freezes as a result.  When I turned the truck into the snow bank it met with a loud crunch and a sudden stop!  Uh oh!  It was solid as ice and only appeared to be soft, masked by the fresh fallen snow.  I guess it was a good thing I was going slow or we could have been seriously hurt.  My wife had nothing to say other then "what were you thinking" and "that was stupid".  I didn't agree.  Instead I just made an excuse for what I thought should have happened.  Well, after a quick assessment of the bent quarter panel, broken signal light, and bruised ego, we were on our way again...:)

At the slopes we made our way through the ski fitting and rental, then we headed for the bunny slopes and Tina's first introduction to snow skiing.  Dang, there were no available lessons that morning, so I had to assist her with some basic lessons myself...:)  She seemed more uncoordinated then I had anticipated.  No matter, a few lessons and we would be off to the lifts...she would pick it up easy enough...:)   After my "very" brief lessons we headed up the slope.  I guess I forgot how intimidating being on a 10,000 foot mountain covered in snow can be...especially when you have never been on one, and your only way down is on a pair of skis you have only had familiarity with for the past couple of hours!  First, she fell getting off the lift, and almost got "skied on" by everyone else who was exiting.  Embarrasment is not a good motivator.  Once we got to the starting point, it took some strong convincing to get her started.  As she began her descent, she seemed to fall over every 30' or so (almost as if on purpose....like she was afraid to build up speed).  My encouragement (and my laughing) wasn't making things better as her frustration grew and her fear became more real that this was a little more then she planned on.  I was getting frustrated too in that I was geting to ski for a hundred feet then wait on her for 5 minutes and so on, and so on.  I suppose I wasn't the only man on the slopes that day that had more confidence in his wife then had sense in her ability...:)  I think it took about an hour for her to get halfway down the slope....and for her to take a fall that wiped the smile clean off her face! 

Meanwhile, my encouragement had turned into stern direction in hopes of motivating her to show me up just for the sake of proving me wrong.  I think that works with Marines, and the majority of men, but it doesn't work for women (in general), and it certainly didn't make things better for me.  Her face was growing red, and it wasn't from the cold wind.  Just my luck there happen to be another couple struggling down the slope about the same time we were. Actually, the struggle for them had just ended and the women had removed her skis and was walking down the slope, mumbling something under her breath to her significant other.  I guess that helped Tina's cause, and aided with her decision, cause she made friends with that women in about the wink of an eye (as women can do), and off her skis came too!  I guess they figured they could walk down the slope faster then ski.  Well, since they seemed to make each other feel better (and I know this cause I heard Tina mumbling under her breath to the other women too), then there was no reason why the men couldn't do the same right?  By the time the women made it ("marched") down the slope (this included 10 more minutes of last ditch apologies and encouragement by us two husbands), we had made another trip up and down the mountain...:)  So, the girls drank hot chocolate on the deck of the lodge, and us guys went and enjoyed ourselves....feeling guilty the whole time...;)  I never could convince her to tackle the slopes again that day, and 17 years later we still haven't been back.  We spent one more day in that cabin enjoying each others company and licking our physical and emotional wounds (hehehe), then we headed for the beach and spent a couple days on the ocean intstead!  This year, for our 25th wedding anniversary, we are going to the slopes again...:)
             

The moral of the story: 

Marriage is like skiing, it's a difficult skill to master.  The joy it brings does not come without hardwork, challenges, falls, and bruises, but once mastered, it can give you the ability to seemingly walk on water, or tackle the highest mountain.

From a cattle raisers point of view:

The same objective for your long term breeding program can sometimes be achieved through more then one method.





II.   INFORMATIVE

"Long Term Goals"

In the fall of 2006 we passed our 10 year mark for raising Registered Polled Herefords in a performance based program.  That decade was marked with buying, breeding, socializing, learning, and a whole lot of family fun...mixed with some work...;)  Right about the time I expected our herd to start doubling and tripling in size, along came college mixed with a couple of dry years and losses of lease property.  For most breeders with my income and situation, just one or two of these things would have taken them out of the business.  It took allot of convincing to override the objections of my wife and her suggestion to just sell out and start over when the time was right.  I just couldn't bear not seeing something through, plus starting all over from square one didn't validate anything I had worked so hard to achieve.  The impact these last few years have had on our program all but eliminated where I wanted to be at this point...as far as numbers, but it didn't change my long term goal.  That goal has remained constant.  I had to redirect my operation a little, but the end result will still be the same.  Instead of generations of breeding to get where I wanted to be, I have taken a short cut to get me back in a shorter period of time.  That shortcut involved taking the cows who have proven themselves over time and flush them so that I can multiply the proven genetics by three fold in the next few years. 

I had a choice to make.  Buy more cattle, more hay, and pay for more lease property (which would take years to see a profit back out of), or put that money into the purchase and collection of semen and embryo's.  I chose the latter. Semen and embryo's don't cost near as much to keep.  When the time and market is right, I will purchase recipient animals to produce all the desired offspring within a few short breeding seasons.  Add this to continued growth through natural breeding along with a few purchases, and I should be back where I expected to be in no time....I hope!  The good thing is that although my herd is small, the quality remains and I have not lost ground in that respect.  We will still have a couple of nice bull prospects each year and a few females will sell, but the majority will be used in the rebuilding.  I hope this answers some of your questions as to why we have not been seen at the shows and sales like we used to.  I hope it also explains the limited use, and subsequent selling of several of our program herd bulls.  Another of which will be going up for sale within the next month.  Please stay in touch, and don't hesitate to ask if we do have anything for sale, cause we just might.  Even if we don't have what you are looking for we can always help you find it.    
In our short tenure in the business we have seen many breeders come and go for one reason or another.  I would suspect that most people who get started in this business don't even last 10 years before their initial goals are either reached or need to be reevaluated.  This is the point where many breeders either get out while the getting is still good, or they have to give up based on their inability to see their goals through.  The nature of the business with it's many hardships, it's competition, and it's expenditures can began to weigh heavily after a long period of time, especially if it is directly affecting your livelyhood.  If long term goals are made that are both realistic and practical, then their the impact will less likely result in you having to trash all or part of your program in an effort to salvage it.  A loss of a good breed program is not only a loss to the breeder, but it can also be a loss to the breed.  If our breed asociation bases their direction on long term goals for the benefit of the breed, then it only make sense for us as breeders to do likewise.          






III.  FARM NEWS:

Runner Up!  Tom was the runner up in recent elections for the TPHA District 6 Director.  Todd Williams and Tom had a run off election after they tied during regular voting.  Todd won the runoff. Congratulations Todd!

LLL Deana 2099 80E, a Donor cow for Double H farms, had really nice bull calf from Jedi this December.  He may be just what you are looking for...:)

DBLH Stewart 80E P35, our herd bull owned with Stewart Polled Herefords is currently for sale.  Look for him in an upcoming consignment sale.





IV.   CURRENT/ UPCOMING EVENTS:

Ft. Worth Stock Show, Junior Show - January 20th

Ft. Worth Stock Show, Bull Pen  - January 26th

Ft. Worth Stock Show, Commercial Heifer Sale, Select Sale, and Social -  January 27th

Ft. Worth Stock Open Show -  January 28th





V.  HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:


Feltons Endurett K14
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Winter 2007
Thanks, and keep coming back! 
This ten year old Dam of distinction is one of the several cows we lined up to flush in 2008.   She is typical of the many we have chosen.  She has proven her worth over the years in her production, and in her ability to remain problem free.  She is also backed up with generations of genetically proven animals.  These are the type cows we want to build our foundations on.
Polled Herefords, and her next calf out of DBLH Hoss sold to Oualline Polled Herefords.   Her third calf, a heifer, died of natural causes, and her fourth calf has become a breed bull for the Cox family.  She has been placed into our donor line-up, and we hope to see more embryo and natural offspring from her in the future.  She will be flushed two times following her calving in 2008, then we will probably use her until she is too old to produce.  We are happy to have one of 745's better daughters working in our program.  K14 was bred to calve this spring.  We are hoping for a heifer. 
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doubleh@vzinet.com
209 CR 4625
Cooper Texas 75432
903 395-2413