The Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale
Hats off to all involved with this year’s organizing and marketing of the Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale – 2025.
It’s an important auction in the Texas Longhorn Cattle industry. It’s also an iconic one.
Were you at the Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale this year?
The Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Sale occurs at the historic Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo at the beginning of each year. The sale is therefore significant on a traditional level, and at the same time, offers a beneficial opportunity to showcase our Texas Longhorn Cattle breed to a sizable community already interested in livestock, Texas culture, and a nostalgia for the Wild West.
The Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale – why so important?
- This Texas Longhorn Cattle sale is a TLBAA event (Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America). Subsequently, the Auction takes place amidst a host of other events affiliated with the Association.
- The Venue is significant. After all, the TLBAA offices are right in the heart of Cowtown in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Furthermore, Charles Schreiner III founded the TLBAA to establish a registry for Texas Longhorn Cattle to be based in Texas. Furthermore, Wood acknowledged his friend, Schreiner’s foresight as a crucial factor in the continued survival of the Texas Longhorn Breed. ( Texas Longhorn Trails Magazine, Jan 2014 ed. p31)
- The sale is usually the first sale of the season and as such, sets the tone for the year ahead.
Who was Col. Eddie Wood?
Eddie Wood was well-known in the Texas Longhorn Cattle industry for his prominent role as an auctioneer. Additionally, he was a Texas Longhorn Breeder in his own right, among other things. He believed that “good cows with long horns bring higher prices because folks want what the breed is – TEXAS LONGHORNS.” ( TLBAA, Texas Longhorn Trails, Dec 2002 Ed. p31)
Interestingly, this year’s auction had fewer selling lots than previous years and raised more in sale prices than the most recent prior years – as illustrated in the graph below.
What the Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Longhorn Sale means to GVR Longhorns.
It’s not the first auction we bought longhorns at but it is one we attended regularly in the past, especially in the early years.
After all, it’s an iconic auction in the industry. Several longtime breeders have supported the auction consistently over time, El Coyote being one of them.
Fifteen years ago, we purchased Sterling at the Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic auction in Fort Worth. She was a good-looking cow but not the primary reason for our purchase. She had a longhorn bull calf by her side with El Coyote genetics’. The longhorn bull calf was noticeably large for his age so we kept him and later used him as our Texas longhorn bull and herd sire.
He was a phenomenal longhorn bull for that time. He was beautiful in stature whilst still maintaining the longhorn characteristics of yesteryear.
Dusty is one of many examples of the influence of these great genetics!!
In Conclusion
The efforts to uphold the reputation of the Eddie Wood Cowtown Classic Texas Longhorn Sale are worth noting.
Overall, crowds are attracted to the horns of the Texas Longhorn breed, not forgetting that a GOOD COW is essential to drive up sales. Buyers are also easily distracted by a wide-spanning set of horns but will ultimately pay the price if a cow’s health is overshadowed by her impressive Tip To Tip measurements. Essentially a good Texas Longhorn cow must have those well-documented, traditional characteristics such as solid feet and legs, a working udder, and a skeletal structure that promotes a longhorn’s overall well being and optimizes easy calving. Without a doubt, a good cow is a productive cow. The survival of the Texas Longhorn Breed depends on this!
ADDITIONAL NOTES:- Our expectations of a good cow includes her ability to produce a happy and healthy calf annually. In addition, a good cow’s progeny will follow in her hoof prints. Therefore, productivity is first and foremost on our list of prerequisites for a good cow. Body composition is an essential element in assessing a cow’s productivity. The Texas Longhorn Breed adds an additional dimension in that aesthetics includes color and horn structure and development.
We think Guadelupe’s Charm is a “GOOD COW”
- Guadelupe’s Charm is 17 years old.
- She is good to look at, and sturdy on her feet. She is a great mother with a great functioning, intact udder.
- Every year she has a healthy calf on her own. In the last 6 years, Charm has calved 5 heifers and one bull calf.
- Charm was born in our pastures in 2008. Her mother’s pedigree traces back to Charles Schreiner’s YO ranch.
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Here are more details of Charm’s Texas Longhorn babies ➡️➡️➡️
2021 – 2024 – Charm has had a heifer calf for the last 4 years. Sweetheart was born in 2024 and is in the picture with her mom above. We sold 2022 and 2023 heifer babies soon after they were weaned. Trinket. (bottom left of the slide) is Charm’s 2021 baby. She is now part of our herd and is in the slide above with her first calf Sundance (2024).
2020 – Charm had a bull calf in 2020. He is a steer living a very comfortable life in his pasture just outside of Stephenville, TX with two other buddies from GVR Longhorns.
2019 – Glamor Girl was born in 2019. She is a beautiful red roan cow and has Charm’s great productive characteristics, (top left corner of the slide) The photo was taken with her heifer calf just before both left us, southbound.
Glitz and Glamor is the last heifer on the slide, (top right corner.) She is Charm’s granddaughter and Glamor Girl’s first calf (born at the end of 2022). As her name suggests, she is gorgeous and we look forward to her calves in our pastures.
Charm looks great in our pastures. She has pretty horns that twist although they do not span wide. Paired with the right longhorn bull, Charm’s progeny have wider spanning horns and they maintain her productive proficiency. On top of that, her own positive impact on our herd is undeniable and she continues in strength! She has been and still is a great Texas Longhorn Cow. Do you agree?
To enjoy your very own Texas Longhorns, visit our SALEBARN.
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Thank you for spending time with us,
Cathy
Disclaimer: All material noted above is based on our hands-on experience as ranchers, as well as our observations of our cattle over the years. We have done and continue to do extensive research to maintain our herd‘s optimum health. However, all opinions and statements made on our website are guidelines only. In addition, we are not qualified statisticians/ veterinarians and urge you to consult a specialist with your concerns. We strive to publish accurate information however in the unlikely event that you detect an error, please let us know.
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