"breed" means little anymore. You can find CH that look like AN and AN that look like CH (besides hide color of course). More important is the "type".
[/quote]
If by "type" you mean conformation, I would agree. Most of the breeds look alike, and that is our fault.
I remember conversations in the early 1990's of people wanting to import breed "A", horned, multi colored, heavy muscled, and fairly tall, with no guts. " If we could make these BLACK, POLLED, and MODERATE FRAMED, we would really have something." I laughed, then realized they were serious, I laughed harder...what was the point?
The many breeds of cattle all were developed for different purposes in different parts of the world. Many "breeds" have lost their identity completely. In an effort to keep breed associations a float, many breeds threw out the herd book and registered anything and everything as that breed to keep $$$ coming in. Breed up programs were good for income, but detrimental many of the breeds. The true fullbloods of many breeds became a thing of the past, if not basically gone. Producers have to go back to the country of origin, or closed herds to get back some of the qualities and characteristics that made that breed what it was, and what caused people to raise them in the first place.
Harley