Long/short spine vs covering their tracks

[dutch pride]

Another post got me to thinking about this. What if you have two cattle, one with a short spine, and the other with a long spine. The short spine animal covers their tracks and the long spine comes a few inches short of doing so. But if you measure the length of each stride; they are the same. Should the animal with the long spine be discounted even though their length of each stride is the same?

In this case; I would think the benefit of a long spine would outweigh the fact that the animal does not cover their tracks as well.

Thoughts?

DLZ

 

[RyanChandler]

Length of stride, in general, is of no consideration.  It has to be looked at in terms of the animals proportions. You don't want 'long' or 'short', you want 'adequate' in relationship to their height and width.  Animals with excessive length, as noted by their inability to cover their tracks, will likely have noticeable structural issues in their life.  All else equal, those that cannot cover their tracks should be discounted over those having adequate proportion. 

 

[Tallcool1]

It's a proportion thing.

Longer spine, longer legs, longer stride.

It's all part of functionality.

 

[knabe]

cattle can under and over reach.


when they over reach, their feet sort of go up in the air before they come down. if they are short strided, to me, they sort of walk like pogo sticks. to me, another thing i look at is how evenly they stride with each side.  i've seen them off by a little bit and they sort of walk weird and it is visible in their spine and hips. i like to see how easy they move into a trot and then back down. to me, they should be light footed when they do this.  when they walk, i like them to be sort of determined and place their feet down with authority and like to see their whole spine and head move. this sometimes can be hard to observe due to behavior of observing them or if they are with cattle who are dominant in the same pen and a whole host of other things.  another thing that helps them step in their tracks, and i could be wrong about this, is the shape of their front end.  if the shoulder is up and down, they will lift their leg earlier which means they can't have the rear end over-striding their front end otherwise they would be a caterpillar with their back. animals can seem to be discombobulated and to me, it is usually caused by different angles of the shoulder and rear end and is one reason, at least to me, why cattle that are different that are bred, don't seem to work out, ie focusing too much on combining pedigrees rather than type.  that sort of breeding is ok if one has a plan and has an idea of what to look for, but an be a train wreck fast especially in context of discussions earlier regarding "good enough" or whatever it was. 

 

[GoWyo]

It is hard to explain, but there are some animals that seem to glide when they walk - they don't over reach or under reach.  Every once in a while see one on a sale video and they stand out because they move almost perfect.  Most just lumber along in a manner that is good enough to get to the feed bunk and might even cover their track.

 

[aj]

I won't buy a bull till I see him in a figure 8......loping....then watch him change leads......that seperates them in a hurry.

 

[RyanChandler]

It is hard to explain, but there are some animals that seem to glide when they walk - they don't over reach or under reach.  Every once in a while see one on a sale video and they stand out because they move almost perfect.  Most just lumber along in a manner that is good enough to get to the feed bunk and might even cover their track.

Most cattle cover their tracks.   

 

[rackranch]

DLZ, as you have probably gathered from the posts above, length of spine really has very little to do with whether or not a calve covers their tracks.  There are numerous factors involved in how a calve travels with length of spine being one of the least important.  In my opinion, and with all else equal, I will take a longer sided calve that travels well over a shorter sided steer that travels well any day of the week.  Just like that is my preference, a judge has his or her own preferences too.  I think one of the most important factors overlooked by inexperienced families is not trying to pick a calve that fits their judge.  For example, there are some judges that like pretty long sided steers that travels better than anything in the barn.  While others like big thick meat wagons that only need to be able to walk in and out of the ring. When it comes to those who win their class and those that go on to became Grand or Res Champion every little detail matters.  If possible, always ask around about your particular State or County fair judge before purchasing your calves. G-Luck

 

[RyanChandler]

Length of spine relative to their height is most relevant.  The structural issue of not being able to cover their tracks most often occurs when a lengthy animal isn't elevated off the ground enough.  Because of their short legs, they are unable to take big enough steps for their rear legs to keep up with their front.

All else equal, everyone in the world prefers a longer sided calf that travels well over a shorter sided calf that travels well.  Unfortunately, this is the antagonism: without increasing height,  there is a limit to how long you can make a calf before he starts falling out of proportion and loses the ability to cover his tracks.  A structurally correct animal covers its track.  This is not a preference issue.