Who's Your Daddy? Plummer Genetics - It's Black & White
Bull Pen Magazine - www.bullpenmagazine.com - 09/30/2008
by Sugar Kuhn
by Sugar Kuhn
Reprinted with permission from Bull Pen Magazine, bullpenmagazine.com
by Sugar Kuhn
copyright September, 2008
Anyone that has participated in or followed the bucking bull industry
knows one thing — there sure is a lot of black & white out there.
It's out there in our pastures, out there in the arena, filling our
registry and definitely in the winner's circle. Although some of us
know the immediate origin of these white hides highlighted by black
noses, eye-rims, hooves and horn tips, few know the ancient history
behind the distinctive color pattern. Sure, the majority of our
buckers with these features have Tom Harlan and Charlie Plummer to
thank immediately, but believe it or not, their story goes back into
antiquity nearly 2,000 years.
In reality, very few breeds have a history longer than 200-300 years,
but these cattle are definitely an exception. They can claim with
confidence that their ancestors are truly an ancient breed. Their
ancient origin can be traced by, what else, those unmistakable,
distinct black points. Historically known as Park, White Forest,
White Horned, Wild White or White Park Cattle, it has been suggested
that they are descended from wild aurochs or domestic cattle
introduced by the Romans. The Roman Legions occupied England in
B.C.E. and stayed there for 400 years. Both Romans and the native
Brits kept white cattle for sacrificial reasons. Rome withdrew from
England in 407 AD and tribal wars and chaos went on until 1066 AD.
While all this was going on, the white cattle escaped into the
wilderness and reverted to a wild condition. For over 700 years they
were regarded as "wild game"and hunted.
The original name "Park Cattle"came from the enclosure or
"emparking"of vast acres in Britain following the Norman Conquest in
1066 and ensuing centuries. Various kings in the 12th and 13th
centuries awarded large land grants to the church and members of
their courts. These land grants or estates were thus "emparked"or
enclosed by high fences or stone walls. This "emparked"acreage
contained many of these wild white cattle and they continued to roam
freely on these vast estates. Although many of the details are
continually disputed, we do know from the physical descriptions of
these cattle in ancient literature that all White Park Cattle,
whether horned or polled, can be dated back to the Bronze Age and
beyond.
Until the 1800s, the cattle lived and propagated inside these
emparkments. It is interesting that when domestication and selective
breeding began, the cattle were the result of 1,500 years of "natural
selection."Traits of hardiness, fertility, milkability, longevity,
calving ease, low birth weights, disease resistance and an overall
ability to survive made them stronger with each consecutive
generation. With little to no intervention from people domestically,
the genetic base stayed pure as well.
In 1919, the first British White Park Association was formed and in
1940 one bull and five cows were sent to Toronto, Canada by order of
Winston Churchill because of WWII. There was good reason to fear that
these cattle with such an ancient historical value might be
devastated by a Nazi invasion of England and thus a National Treasure
would be lost. Eventually, the offspring were sent to the Bronx Zoo
in New York and then split into two groups after the city decided
they could no longer care for them.
One group was sent to Washington to play a role in the American White
Park formation. The other group went to the King Ranch in Texas and
formed the nucleus herd of the Horned White Park in the United
States. By 1960, all Park cattle that were the property of the U.S.
Government had been sold to the public.
The cattle sent to the King Ranch stayed there from 1940 until 1980,
when the entire herd was sold to the Moeckly family of Polk City,
Iowa. The ancient-based horned herd was culled for type and was
maintained separately from other breeds, including the Moeckly's
similarly marked, but polled commercial herd of British White.
Now, how Tom Harlan and Charlie Plummer ended up with these ancient
genetics in their herds is still not clear, but there is no mistaking
the black points Plummer genetics pass on. Since bucking bull
breeders are dependant on DNA science these days, it is also
interesting to note that there has not been a DNA test developed that
can track the distinct color patterns found in White Parks Cattle.
This is due to the fact that the tyrosinase gene which is thought to
be responsible for the black point patterns is a mutation that does
not occur in the coding portion of the gene.
Making for further interest is the fact that many of the original
Plummer cattle were not black and white. An example of this would be
CP1 Kung Fu who was black and the dam of Superstitious, Panhandle
Slim, Automatic, Hobo and Rooster, and CP6 who was brown and the
mother of 329 Houdini. However, offspring such as Houdini and the
majority of Plummer-bred cattle do maintain and/or pass on the
dominant traits of white hides and black points. In the case of
Houdini, his dam was mated to White Sports Coat who was sired by CP47
Charlie, both typical in color-type for the White Parks line.
When thinking of today's White Park Cattle, one must muse over the
idea that there seem to be two varieties here in the U.S. There are
those that are polled and used as a dual purpose breed for meat and
milk production and those that are horned with a King Ranch
connection which have been cross-bred to create some of the best
buckers in the industry.
One reason cross-breeding Plummer genetics works so well might be the
fact that the ancient White Parks breed was so pure for such a great
length of time, in some estimates over 2,500 years. This fact might
then explain an increase in the heterosis effects achieved when they
were cross-bred.
Still trying to make the correlation between the ancient cattle of
England and what we see excelling in the arena today? It is pretty
easy to get a good chuckle from extracts of dated literature
regarding the White Park Cattle. Similar behaviors and color patterns
in yesterday's White Park Cattle can also be found in today's Plummer
Genetics.
"These cattle's ancestors were known to have been driven into the
park when it was enclosed. These animals resisted being handled by
men, and arranged themselves in a semi-circle on the approach of an
intruder. The cattle were perfectly white, excepting their
extremities, their ears, muzzles, and hooves being black, and their
long spreading horns were also tipped with black."—excerpt from John
O'Groats to Land's End, Seventh Week's Journey.
"...and when the wild, white bull saw a man coming toward him he
drove his horns into the ground, and put an acre of land over his own
back."— Myths and Folklore of Ireland by Fin MacCumbail and Gilla na
Grakin.
The horned White Parks Cattle of today have also been described as
having a wild nature and a lengthy flight zone. This sounds pretty
familiar with the characteristics that are so feverishly sought after
and seen in today's buckers.
When looking back over the limited length of time we have been
breeding buckers compared to the centuries behind those black noses
and ears, it is easy to become humble. Nonetheless, there is no
denying the impact these genetics may have had on the success in our
industry. We have come a long way from the original CP bulls and
cows, but one thing that seems to remain from ancient times is all
those black noses and ears in our pastures and back pens.
by Sugar Kuhn
copyright September, 2008
Anyone that has participated in or followed the bucking bull industry
knows one thing — there sure is a lot of black & white out there.
It's out there in our pastures, out there in the arena, filling our
registry and definitely in the winner's circle. Although some of us
know the immediate origin of these white hides highlighted by black
noses, eye-rims, hooves and horn tips, few know the ancient history
behind the distinctive color pattern. Sure, the majority of our
buckers with these features have Tom Harlan and Charlie Plummer to
thank immediately, but believe it or not, their story goes back into
antiquity nearly 2,000 years.
In reality, very few breeds have a history longer than 200-300 years,
but these cattle are definitely an exception. They can claim with
confidence that their ancestors are truly an ancient breed. Their
ancient origin can be traced by, what else, those unmistakable,
distinct black points. Historically known as Park, White Forest,
White Horned, Wild White or White Park Cattle, it has been suggested
that they are descended from wild aurochs or domestic cattle
introduced by the Romans. The Roman Legions occupied England in
B.C.E. and stayed there for 400 years. Both Romans and the native
Brits kept white cattle for sacrificial reasons. Rome withdrew from
England in 407 AD and tribal wars and chaos went on until 1066 AD.
While all this was going on, the white cattle escaped into the
wilderness and reverted to a wild condition. For over 700 years they
were regarded as "wild game"and hunted.
The original name "Park Cattle"came from the enclosure or
"emparking"of vast acres in Britain following the Norman Conquest in
1066 and ensuing centuries. Various kings in the 12th and 13th
centuries awarded large land grants to the church and members of
their courts. These land grants or estates were thus "emparked"or
enclosed by high fences or stone walls. This "emparked"acreage
contained many of these wild white cattle and they continued to roam
freely on these vast estates. Although many of the details are
continually disputed, we do know from the physical descriptions of
these cattle in ancient literature that all White Park Cattle,
whether horned or polled, can be dated back to the Bronze Age and
beyond.
Until the 1800s, the cattle lived and propagated inside these
emparkments. It is interesting that when domestication and selective
breeding began, the cattle were the result of 1,500 years of "natural
selection."Traits of hardiness, fertility, milkability, longevity,
calving ease, low birth weights, disease resistance and an overall
ability to survive made them stronger with each consecutive
generation. With little to no intervention from people domestically,
the genetic base stayed pure as well.
In 1919, the first British White Park Association was formed and in
1940 one bull and five cows were sent to Toronto, Canada by order of
Winston Churchill because of WWII. There was good reason to fear that
these cattle with such an ancient historical value might be
devastated by a Nazi invasion of England and thus a National Treasure
would be lost. Eventually, the offspring were sent to the Bronx Zoo
in New York and then split into two groups after the city decided
they could no longer care for them.
One group was sent to Washington to play a role in the American White
Park formation. The other group went to the King Ranch in Texas and
formed the nucleus herd of the Horned White Park in the United
States. By 1960, all Park cattle that were the property of the U.S.
Government had been sold to the public.
The cattle sent to the King Ranch stayed there from 1940 until 1980,
when the entire herd was sold to the Moeckly family of Polk City,
Iowa. The ancient-based horned herd was culled for type and was
maintained separately from other breeds, including the Moeckly's
similarly marked, but polled commercial herd of British White.
Now, how Tom Harlan and Charlie Plummer ended up with these ancient
genetics in their herds is still not clear, but there is no mistaking
the black points Plummer genetics pass on. Since bucking bull
breeders are dependant on DNA science these days, it is also
interesting to note that there has not been a DNA test developed that
can track the distinct color patterns found in White Parks Cattle.
This is due to the fact that the tyrosinase gene which is thought to
be responsible for the black point patterns is a mutation that does
not occur in the coding portion of the gene.
Making for further interest is the fact that many of the original
Plummer cattle were not black and white. An example of this would be
CP1 Kung Fu who was black and the dam of Superstitious, Panhandle
Slim, Automatic, Hobo and Rooster, and CP6 who was brown and the
mother of 329 Houdini. However, offspring such as Houdini and the
majority of Plummer-bred cattle do maintain and/or pass on the
dominant traits of white hides and black points. In the case of
Houdini, his dam was mated to White Sports Coat who was sired by CP47
Charlie, both typical in color-type for the White Parks line.
When thinking of today's White Park Cattle, one must muse over the
idea that there seem to be two varieties here in the U.S. There are
those that are polled and used as a dual purpose breed for meat and
milk production and those that are horned with a King Ranch
connection which have been cross-bred to create some of the best
buckers in the industry.
One reason cross-breeding Plummer genetics works so well might be the
fact that the ancient White Parks breed was so pure for such a great
length of time, in some estimates over 2,500 years. This fact might
then explain an increase in the heterosis effects achieved when they
were cross-bred.
Still trying to make the correlation between the ancient cattle of
England and what we see excelling in the arena today? It is pretty
easy to get a good chuckle from extracts of dated literature
regarding the White Park Cattle. Similar behaviors and color patterns
in yesterday's White Park Cattle can also be found in today's Plummer
Genetics.
"These cattle's ancestors were known to have been driven into the
park when it was enclosed. These animals resisted being handled by
men, and arranged themselves in a semi-circle on the approach of an
intruder. The cattle were perfectly white, excepting their
extremities, their ears, muzzles, and hooves being black, and their
long spreading horns were also tipped with black."—excerpt from John
O'Groats to Land's End, Seventh Week's Journey.
"...and when the wild, white bull saw a man coming toward him he
drove his horns into the ground, and put an acre of land over his own
back."— Myths and Folklore of Ireland by Fin MacCumbail and Gilla na
Grakin.
The horned White Parks Cattle of today have also been described as
having a wild nature and a lengthy flight zone. This sounds pretty
familiar with the characteristics that are so feverishly sought after
and seen in today's buckers.
When looking back over the limited length of time we have been
breeding buckers compared to the centuries behind those black noses
and ears, it is easy to become humble. Nonetheless, there is no
denying the impact these genetics may have had on the success in our
industry. We have come a long way from the original CP bulls and
cows, but one thing that seems to remain from ancient times is all
those black noses and ears in our pastures and back pens.
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