MAPLE CREEK, Sask. – Hector Schneider says today’s Horned Hereford bulls look better than ever.
He should know.
He bought his first bull at the Maple Creek Beef Breeders’ Association annual sale in 1950, back when the show and sale were held in the fall. Records show the event was being held as early as 1946 and at one time cows and calves were included.
Schneider remembers when the sale was held in the town skating rink in 1956. That’s when he took a bull of his own to the event.
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Then, in 1957, the sale shifted to the spring. The 50th annual was celebrated last weekend in the former drill hall.
Braun Ranch Ltd. of Simmie, Sask., showed the junior and grand champion bull, DBHR 159M Standard 84R, which later sold to Oscar Herefords of Calgary for $4,000.
PK Herefords of Canora, Sask., had the senior and reserve champion in PK Ramblin Man 1R. It sold for $2,700 to Silver B Ranch of Central Butte, Sask.
The top seller was RH Standard Domino Lad 106R, consigned by Rocky Haven Ranch at Admiral, Sask. It sold for $6,600 to T Bar K Herefords of Wawota, Sask.
Seventy-two bulls sold for an average of $3,253.
Schneider, 82, liked the look of the bulls on site.
“They’ve improved a good deal,” he said, casting a practised eye around the drill hall. “They’re bigger, longer.
“When I started, if you had a two-year-old that was 1,700 pounds, that was a good sized bull. Now, if they’re not 22, 2,300 lb. you’re not really there.”
Schneider participated in the Maple Creek event until 1976 before health concerns forced him to sell his herd and ranch west of town and embark on a second career as a purebred sales manager, mainly for Horned Herefords, throughout Western Canada.
Schneider still attends the Maple Creek sale even though he has retired to Medicine Hat, where he has turned a hobby of creating salt and pepper shakers from beer cans into a major fundraiser for cancer research.
He doesn’t know exactly how long he was president of the association, but said it was at least 15 years. His wife Vi was also secretary for a time. Both attended last week’s show.
A look at the winners’ list since 1957 shows the Schneider name 10 times in the grand champion category. In 1965 and 1975, he had both the grand and reserve champions.
Many of the names on the lists show up again and again. Rod Wegner of Ebenezer, Sask., judged this year’s show, but remembers attending it about 40 years ago. His family first won a banner in 1968.
Wegner told the crowd about washing bulls in a dugout about a kilometre from the drill hall and walking them back to show. It was a real advancement, he said, when a platform was built outside the building and hot water hauled from the veterinary clinic next door.
“We thought we really had it made when we got a wash rack,” he said amid laughter. Now there is a second one.
Prices have also changed. Fifty years ago, the sale average was $426.
One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the people who breed quality cattle and who are willing to help each other out, Wegner said.
He added it was a treat to pick a champion out of a group of quality bulls.
“Today, there were many,” he said.
