In 1941, Texas folklorist J. Frank Dobie published the definitive book on the quintessential Lone Star State livestock called “The Longhorns.” Dobie was unsparing in his description of the breed, calling them bony, thin-flanked, some even grotesquely narrow-hipped, but also uniquely suited for the unforgiving Texas terrain.
They were built for survival, not show — which makes them quite different from their modern relatives.
As Texas Standard’s Michael Marks (@michaelpmarks) reports, longhorns are now being bred for their horn size.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.