The steers were agitated, squaring off and shoving each other while butting their heads and stamping in circles. The ruckus was an all out longhorn brawl.

With our eyes wide and our mouths open, Jimmy and I perched on top of the dam — somehow believing twenty sloped feet between us and the fighting longhorns at the foot of the spillway protected us from peril.

The feeling was like sitting on the front row at the rodeo trusting a temporary railing — you know the barrier is insufficient if 1000 lbs of bull chooses to charge.

And yet, the adrenaline rush from watching the power numbed our smart sense because we sat in shocked stillness.

Suddenly, Ferdinand took off running at full speed, chased by 44, around the perimeter of the 5-acre lake. Thundering hooves left puffs of caliche trailing their path, like the dust cloud behind Road Runner darting across the desert.

Instead of a speedy orchestra score and a soft “Beep Beep,” the rumbling pounding of hooves on the ground reverberated like an unstoppable stampede.

Our mouths could not open further.

 

That was ten years ago when the dominant social order of our small herd was still being established, and 44, the definitive leader, was schooling Ferdinand in the pecking order.

This scene would not happen today. The social hierarchy is settled.

Only nudging is needed to remind a lower-in-order longhorn who is boss.

Meet sweet Ferdinand, the largest and longest horned longhorn at the Lost Madrone Ranch.

At first glance, Ferdinand’s appearance is imposing,

but as his thick muscular frame ambles by,  a calm and practiced pace discloses his gentle disposition.

A closer look communicates both knobby and knock knees,

orangish brown and whole milk white coloration,

a down-pointing triangle on his forehead,

and what a set of horns!

It’s a pleasant conversation, like a first introduction, information gathering mixed with judgment.

Ferdinand easily charms, clinching a second meeting.

Today, Ferdinand’s horns stretch 102 inches “tip-to-tip” — the straight line distance between the outside tips of his horns.

He is not agreeable to taking total horn (total length following along the horn) or twist (following the line of the horn as it follows the twist in the horn) measurements!

The horns of a longhorn continue to grow over their lifespan although the rate of horn growth slows significantly with age.

At eleven years old, we guess Ferdinand weighs over 1800 lbs.

Life enough for a heavy load,

eased by making time to rest.

But Ferdinand has not always been the largest longhorn of our herd.

Ferdinand is younger than half the herd, so there were years when Ferdinand was one of the littlest of our longhorns.

Those were the years when Ferdinand was chased.

Ferdinand learned his place — last.

Last to drink from the trough,

last in line when grazing the hilltops or valleys,

and last to approach the hay bale.

Despite being chased and pushed around to assert order, Ferdinand’s temperament is unchanged from the day he arrived at the Lost Madrone Ranch.

Ferdinand is smart, kind and gentle.

When Jim puts out a new round bale of hay, or lines the road with cattle cubes or alfalfa, the social rank of our herd is on exhibit — and so is Ferdinand’s disposition.

Here is a typical feeding scenario:

44, Brownie, Fudge, and Cowboy — the longhorns who top the social hierarchy — are the first to feed at the round bale.

Ferdinand will stay off to the side and sit and wait.

If his approach to the hay bale comes too soon for the liking of higher ranked longhorns,

they will shove him along,

and Ferdinand, despite being larger, will willingly oblige and leisurely back away.

Sweet Ferdinand.

Ferdinand finds friends while he waits.

With easy steps he walks aside our brave chickens and seeks out Jim.

Ferdinand is Jim’s favorite longhorn, a status Ferdinand understands.

Early on, Jim noticed Ferdinand being ousted from the round bale ring, so Jim pays Ferdinand special attention — brushing his coat while Ferdinand stands by to feed, putting out personal piles of cattle cubes, or sneaking Ferdinand alfalfa when the other steers are eating hay.

This favored status has been in place for years.

Ferdinand is smart; he waits until the other longhorns are preoccupied with eating and then searches for Jim.

Brownie, who is also smart, has caught on to the game, and when he sees it being played he butts in on the attention.

Ferdinand knows his place, so he steps away.

He eventually takes his turn at the hay bale.

Brownie has no objections.

Similar scenarios occur often.

Jim pours out a line of cattle cubes,

the herd rushes in,

and as they claim their positions,

Ferdinand slyly finds Jim, who makes Ferdinand a personal pile of cubes

All the longhorns are happy.

Ferdinand is a favorite with every visitor to the Lost Madrone Ranch.

He gets singled out for attention…

until Brownie decides enough is enough.

Brownie is unmistakably dominant over Ferdinand — as there are hierarchies within the hierarchy — but 44 is the undisputed leader of the herd.

When driving around the ranch looking for the longhorns, 44 routinely appears ahead of the others.

Jim sets alfalfa along the road and 44 eats first.

The call of alfalfa on the road confirms the rest of the herd is not far behind although the call of following the leader is equally at work.

Bringing up the rear…

Ferdinand.

And if Ferdinand finds no room to feed?

No worries, he heads for Jim.

Jim protects Ferdinand’s piles of alfalfa when he can,

but there is no protection from Brownie.

Unlike 44, a proven leader with the confidence to let a lower ranking longhorn lead when it suits him,

Brownie always keeps his dominance over Ferdinand in check.

Ferdinand kindly moves along and finds Jim again, his intelligence on display.

Ferdinand ignores me because I am not the one giving him food; I am the one taking pictures, and I am convinced Ferdinand is camera shy.

When photographing Ferdinand, he often kindly turns his head and stares into the distance, refusing to look back at me;

or he turns around entirely and moseys along;

or even funnier, he tries to “hide.”

Once, when I was at the ranch by myself, I had the duty to put out the cattle cubes.

I have no hesitation walking among the longhorns, but a healthy respect is necessary when walking among hungry longhorns because their charge toward piles of cattle cubes has zero restraint. You do not want to be standing in their path!

After parking the Ranger a safe distance from the longhorns,

I walked down the road about 100 feet, shook and opened the cattle cube bag (a signal they understand to mean candy is on the way), poured out a row of cubes, and immediately dashed back up the road away from the incoming longhorns jockeying for position.

Guess who was having a hard time finding a spot?

I headed further up the road to the Ranger, flung the empty bag in the rear bed, and turned around to find…

Ferdinand.

I laughed out loud because it appeared Ferdinand had followed me for his special treat, as if I was Jim,

and yet, he stood tucked behind a tree, as if he feared I might pull out the camera (which I did).

Sweet Ferdinand.

Once again, Brownie was watching.

And Ferdinand was watching back.

But I didn’t have any extra treats!

Yes, we named Ferdinand after Ferdinand the Bull from Spain, the character in the classic children’s book by Munro Leaf. The book was Jimmy’s favorite.

In the story, Ferdinand is a peace-loving bull who doesn’t want to butt heads with the other bulls or go to the bull fights in Madrid. He would rather sit in the shade of a cork tree and smell the flowers.

Ferdinand the Longhorn from the Lost Madrone Ranch is a lot like Ferdinand the Bull from Spain, preferring to “sit just quietly” in a favorite spot.

And, like Ferdinand the Bull from Spain,

Ferdinand the longhorn from the Lost Madrone Ranch, is very happy.

Sweet Ferdinand — smart, kind, and gentle.

“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”

Charles Dickens