Nice bulls, Doug. How soon will you be taking off the hornweights on the bull in the first picture? The horns already look a little lower than my pappy would let them get before taking off the weights. His method was to just get them slightly lower than level, and then time would make a nice gentle curl after that. His reasoning was that if they got too low, they could keep turning and eventually grow back into the bull (or cow's) head.
Ed Belsky had Pioneer Herefords of Merriman, Nebraska and he was one of the premier Hereford breeders in the whole nation back in the '30's, 40's, and 50's. His nephew, Gene Belsky, was a good cattleman and was preparing to take over the reins from Ed. One of Ed's friends was having a Hereford dispersal in Colorado, so Ed sent Gene to help with the sale. Gene was used to Ed's gentle old cows, but the Colorado cows weren't quite as docile. One old girl had a horn curved around and nearly growing into her head. She made a run at Gene, so he jumped for the top plank of the corral. As he did, he kicked at the cow. Unfortunately, his foot got stuck in the curl of the cow's horn, and she mauled him around for awhile before his foot came loose. Gene suffered back problems enough that he had to give up ranching and became a banker. He is a fine gentleman, and just retired about a year ago. Had it not been for the unfortunate horn incident, he may have very well continued on with the Belsky Pioneer Hereford dream.