Texas Longhorn commands respect
By ANGIE PARKINSON
angiep@thespectrum.com

Diamond Valley resident Doug Hunt believes in winning. A retired coach and teacher who spent time at Dixie High School and Weber State University, Hunt said he never had a losing season. Last winter he won a battle with cancer and now he is winning again with another one of his endeavors -- a herd of Texas Longhorn cattle.

His young bull, named Hunt's Commands Respect, recently won the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America Horn Showcase Tip to Tip contest for his age group.

At the contest, held in November in Fort Worth, Texas, Hunt's Commands Respect's horns measured 70 inches from tip to tip.

The bull, with horns that now measure 71 inches from tip to tip, was the first in his age group in the competition's history to hit 70 inches and was the 3-year-old with the longest horns ever measured.

And Hunt said the bull's horns are poised to continue breaking association records. Judging by the point on the horns where the blood reaches, Hunt said, the horns will continue to grow.

Hunt's wife, Dianne Hunt, said achieving this level of competitiveness has only come after years of hard work in breeding, researching and caring for this unique kind of cattle.

"He's worked at it for a lot of years," she said. "... This one we have here is likely to be the longest in the world."

Since the contest victory, Hunt has received calls from all over the nation from other Texas Longhorn enthusiasts who want to buy or breed their animals with Hunt's Commands Respect.

The bull is kept in a corral off the back of Hunt's home some of the time, separate from the rest of Hunt's herd of 100 that usually spends its time grazing near Kanab on federal lands.

"He's pretty gentle but I don't ever trust a bull, especially with horns like that," Hunt said, holding a whipping device with an electrical shock button as he fed the animal some mashed corn last week. The animal remained calm as he ate and was photographed.

"He's used to having his picture taken," Hunt said.

For Hunt, raising the Texas Longhorns in Diamond Valley is a hobby as well as a way of getting back to his roots.

He was raised in Gunlock and his ancestors helped settle the Diamond Valley area.

Although not raised around Texas Longhorns in particular, Hunt was fascinated by the animals, said to be the breed that has been on the American continent the longest.

"These are the American cattle. They're part of the west and part of a tradition," Hunt said.

Hunt's Commands Respect, named using a combination of his ancestors' names, is soon heading for an extended stay with a Wyoming Longhorn enthusiast who is his part-owner. He will then be brought back to Diamond Valley to continue his career with the Hunts.

Hunt said the bull was named before they knew he would be winning any contests.

"The name was just a a luck shot, I guess," he said.

courtesy of

The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America

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