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I have always had a love for animals. In 1997, when I
was in 7th grade, my father knew a breeder who raised
Limousine cattle, and thought it would be a good idea for me to show a
heifer for him in order to see if I would like doing it. I went out to his pasture
and found a young calf name Sassy. I showed her at our local county fair
and discovered that I enjoyed showing her but wanted a breed that had
better quality and traits.
At the end of 1998 when my family and I were leaving from
dinner at K2 Steak House in Bay City, Texas, I picked up several
business cards and placed them in my purse to review at a later
time. When I arrived home I put the cards in my room with a bunch
of other items. One day while going through the cards I noticed that one of the cards that I picked up was a Four Forks Farm card
that sold Beefmaster cattle. I asked my mother if she knew anything about
Beefmaster cattle and she told me to just call the guy
on the card.
Well I got the nerve to call J.D. and Dixie
Laird. J.D. answered the phone I told him that I was Ashley Hooper and that I
picked up a card of his at K2 Steak House and that I was interested in
Beefmaster. I told him that I was looking for a show heifer that had lots of bone
and muscle, with a great personality. He told me that he had some heifers, and
that I should just come take a look.
That weekend my family and I went to his
farm and looked around. We drove around and never could find that special
heifer I was looking for, until this heifer appeared from out of
the trees. I got out of
J.D.’s truck and looked her over, she came up
to me and was very curious. I told my dad that I want this one. J.D. finished
showing us the other heifers he had but I was not interested. We got to the
house, did all that paper work, and he asked me what I wanted to name her. I
thought for a moment and decided that I would name her Sweet Lady Tasha. I did not
take her home until she was 6 months old. When I got her home I started
halter breaking her and we became buds.
I joined the Texas Club Calf Association (TCCA), and my family and I ran every weekend for points.
In April of 2000 I A.I. Tasha to Don T. During this time we were still running hard every weekend for
points. On January 30, 2001 Tasha had her first calf; Sweet Lady Chloe.
Then I had what I thought was a problem. There was no way I could show
Tasha and Chloe together by myself. That’s when I got the idea to
ask my brother (Cory) if he could show Chloe for me and he agreed to do
it.
That was the day that he joined TCCA and started showing heifers. Later in 2001 I received
2nd in points in Beefmasters, and in 2002 I received 1st
in points in Beefmasters. Cory had
showed Chloe until Tasha was too old to show anymore (3 yrs), then I took Chloe
over and finished showing her until I graduated High School. Throughout my show
career I purchased and showed several other Beefmaster cattle. View our
champion page for more information. |
