FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2017
SOUTHERN LIVESTOCK STANDARD
PAGE 1B
Brought to you by American Simbrah Breeders
Sticking with Simbrah By Caitlin Richards A love for livestock started at a young age for Bobby Thornhill, owner of Shallow Water Ranch. It started with swine, while working for a large hog operation in Brown County near May, Texas. However, once in high school he was on the May High School FFA livestock judging team and he quickly fell in love with cattle – especially the eared cattle. “I always just liked the eared cattle,” Thornhill said. “We competed at the state level nearly every year [on the livestock judging team]. I learned what good cattle looked like at a young age from it, too.” In a way, when he married Jeanne, he married into the cattle business. His wife’s family had always been in the cattle business across the county line in Eastland County outside of Rising Star, Texas. Her grandfather started the Carter Angus Ranch and in the years following her family expanded it.
“We got married in 1979 and of course she brought some of her cows over to our place,” Thornhill said, “which were Angus.” With his love for eared cattle, he really wanted to diversify the herd with some Simbrah cattle. In 1983, the Thornhills went to the R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton, Texas to do just that. They bought their first couple of Simbrah females from R.A Brown and were hooked forever. A lot happened for the Thornhills in 1983. They expanded not only their herd but also their family with the birth of their first son, Taylor. With a growing family, they purchased some land between May and Rising Star to build a home of their own. During the search to find water on the property, the Thornhills also found the name of their ranch – Shallow Water. “We had some water wells drilled and they were
This Shallow Water Ranch bred bull won the Houston Livestock Show All Breed Bull Sale High Grading American Influenced Bull in 2015.
A group of young Simbrah heifers at Shallow Water Ranch.
hitting water at 12 feet, again at 20 feet and again at 30 feet,” Thornhill said. “It is unbelievable. The driller said it was like hitting an underground river. So, we named the ranch Shallow Water because the water was so shallow.” Over the years, the Thornhills continued to expand their Simbrah herd, while expanding their family. After the births of their other two children, son Cooper and daughter Kendall, Shallow Water Ranch switched from raising primarily red Simbrah to black Simbrah in 1993. “It just seemed that if you took something to the sale barn to sell, if it was black it brought more money, and it didn’t make any difference on the quality,” Thornhill said. “So that’s when we started breeding for predominately black.” He sought out Wendell Reeder of WAR Ranch in Clarksville, Texas to partner with on a black, blazed face bull called War Chief. Since War Chief wasn’t homozygous black, he would still throw red calves. So, he kept every black heifer. He then bought a homozygous black and polled Simmental bull from Mike Mallett from Lampasas, Texas. War Chief’s heifers would then be bred with the Simmental bull to develop Shallow Water’s black Simbrah calves. After retaining these Simbrah calves, Bobby
raised a homozygous black and polled, purebred Simbrah bull – SWR Black Chief. The operation continued to evolve from there to where he consistently sells some of the highest grading bulls throughout the state. Today, Shallow Water has 60 cows with three herd bulls. Depending on the year, Thornhill will keep a range of heifer and bull calves from his fall and spring calving seasons. “It depends on the weather how many we can keep,” he said. “Then I am real critical about keeping bulls. If they don’t meet my standards, I don’t sell them as breeding bulls.” By weaning, Thornhill has the keepers already picked. The keepers must meet his criteria which includes having the potential to be one of his high grading bulls in the future. Most Shallow Water bulls are sold through private treaty and to a rancher in Colorado nearly every year. However, some are consigned to the All Breed Bull Sale at the San Antonio Livestock Show and the Houston Livestock Show, depending on the year. In 2015, one of Shallow Water’s bulls won the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo American Breed High Grading Overall title and they won the San Antonio High
Jeanne and Bobby Thornhill, owners of Shallow Water Ranch are pictured receiving the 2016 San Antonio All Breed Bull Sale High Grading Simbrah honor.
Grading Simbrah Bull honor in 2016. Besides their high grade, Shallow Water’s bulls are also known for how well they stay together. He takes special care in feeding his bulls well, so they maintain their weight and quality at the sale and beyond. Despite the awards and recognition, what the Thornhills enjoy most at the sales are the friendships they make. “I enjoy meeting all of the other ranchers and I like good cattle and looking at good cattle,” Thornhill said. “We have made a lot of friends going to sales through the years and we really enjoy that.” For this upcoming year,
the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo All Breed Bull Sale will be the only one he will consign due to a low number of bull calves in recent years. Over the years, Shallow Water Ranch produced not only bulls for commercial cow-calf operations, but also show heifers for his three children. All three of his children showed heifers, bred and raised at Shallow Water Ranch. “We just showed what we raised,” he said. “Every year we would do a little better. One of my boys once said ‘my gosh, Kendall has done a whole lot better than we did with our (Continued on page 4)
Shallow Water Ranch markets the majority of their Simbrah bulls by private treaty, but also participates in all breed bull sales connected with Texas’ major livestock shows.