The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America (TLBAA) is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n organization of ranchers who participate in the breeding and

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American list of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish con ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. Based in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the organization was founded in 1964 to serve as a registry for the longhorn breed. The Association was started by rancher

Charles Schreiner, III Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, grandson of the legendary cattle baron Captain Charles Armand Schreiner who sent approximately 150,00 head of longhorn to market after the Civil War. The Texas Longhorn became the foundation of the American cattle industry by claiming first rights in the untamed, newly discovered Americas more than 500 years ago. In 1690, the first herd of cattle was driven north from Mexico to land that would eventually become Texas. By the Civil War, millions of Longhorns ranged between the mesquite-dotted sandy banks of the Rio Bravo to the sand beds of the Sabine. Most of the Longhorns were unbranded, survivors of Indian raids, scattered by stampedes and weather, escaped from missions or abandoned after ranch failures. Less than 40 years later, the Longhorn was closer to extinction than the buffalo. In 1927, the Federal government stepped in to help preserve the Texas Longhorn and a great part of our American heritage. Congress assigned forest service rangers, Will C. Barnes and John H. Hatton, to the task and these two men put the first herd together for Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Charles Schreiner III, a.k.a. Charlie Three or Three, whose family had a long history with the Texas Longhorn, established the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America in 1964. It was another Longhorn enthusiast, Harry Pon of Oregon, who gave him the idea, but Schreiner believed that an organization created to honor the Texas Longhorn belonged in Texas. He filed for incorporation and the TLBAA held their first meeting in September 1964 with 30 members in attendance. It was at that initial meeting that officers were elected, by-laws were written, and Charles Schreiner III was elected as the organizations first President. As the Association grew, regional associations representing geographical sections of the U.S. were formed. In 1979, the TLBAA would be the first livestock organization to elect a woman, Norma Schreiner, to the South Texas Longhorn Board of Directors.Kerrville Mountain Sun, May 30, 1979, page 1 The association has grown into a promotional organization for the longhorn breed, to "protect the unique heritage of the Texas Longhorn, to preserve the purity of the breed, and to promote Texas Longhorns as a distinct breed while encouraging its future through promotion, education and research." As part of its efforts, the organization sponsors competitions among Texas Longhorn breeders in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, including a World Show each June in Fort Worth. Since its founding in 1964, its membership has grown from 12 members to over 5,000 throughout the United States. The organization also publishes a monthly magazine for breeders, "Texas Longhorn Trails Magazine."

References

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External links

Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America
Agriculture in Texas Organizations based in Fort Worth, Texas