08/30/2026
I had to giggle because theres been quite a few people confused now, and I figured I was gonna wait until Rocky was here so I could post them standing side by side to paint the picture better but ultimately decided to just go ahead and clear the air.
Thunder, and Rocky are NOT the same boys.
Do they look identical? Absolutely! But that was the whole entire point of purchasing Rocky.
I have a super unhealthy obsession with Thunder.
Thunder is my soul animal... if youve ever owned a steer that has just stolen your heart, you understand. If you havent, then let me tell you its a love that runs so deep that will have you making totally irrational decisions like feeding a money pit that will never be beef or give you babies just cause they look good in your pasture, keep your heart full, and the bond is irreplaceable. I think everyone needs a pet steer if they dont have one.
They make good calfsitters, good bull buddies, good human protectors, they keep the entire herd in check and if anyone is acting up they immediately put themselves between the fight and separate them. I have zero doubt If an intruder were to ever invade our property and put us in danger, Thunder would bust through our fence and save us before our livestock guardian dogs would... he doesnt play around when it comes to Ajay, the children and I.
Some may not know, but plenty do... Thunder was our boy that went went missing and made it to a salebarn and we were able to relocate him and get him home finally a year later.
To say I was a mess when I found out he was gone, was spotted at a salebarn, sold below beef value... all the things... I was a MESS! Never in my life thought id cry over a cow as much as I did him that year.
I made a post searching for him after looking myself for months and hoping id stumble upon his picture somewhere with someone, and within minutes we had leads to where he went, the salebarn contacted us and put us in contact with the buyers... and in the end the buyers agreed to let him come back to us since he was legally considered a stolen animal.
(What a blessing it was that he ended up with the buyers that he did btw! Were best friends with that family now and we never would have met them if it wasnt for Thunder! 🩷)
The whole world was in shambles it seemed over Thunder the moment the word got out that he was gone... because how could someone take someone else's animal that they worked so very hard for and take them to the salebarn?
It still beats me🤷🏼♀️ but I got my baby back and for that ill be forever thankful. 🥰
When Thunder came back home, I made a pact to myself that recreating him, but smaller and fertile was going to be my number one goal above all else. Because of him being my heart animal, in honor of him and everything hes been for me I wanted to center our entire breeding program around white faced highland crosses and panlanders. I wanted to perfect breeding guys and gals that look just like him but half the size. The hair, the color, the temperament... all of it. Everything about him, but fertile! So next year when you see so many little fuzzy white faced babies... just know... my favorite baby is the reason for that and ive finally met my goal! 💞
Ive Recently been posting about Thunder and asking fir advice on how to rapidly put weight back onto him, after we also happened to announce getting Rocky and it has people confused thinking our new bull is the one thats Poorly and that him and Thunder are the same animal.
Thunder is newly under weight, as he heat stressed VERY bad this summer and I couldnt get him to eat at all.
But, he is NOT our new bull, Rocky!
So when you see me post semen available on Rocky this fall... dont confuse the two and assume Rocky is the one that was struggling all Summer because him and Thunder look like twins.
You may have noticed that I recently announced the arrival of 2 new bulls. Both of them having white faces with highland hair.
We purchased Bandito with the intent of recreating a Thunder with balls... 🤣
But THEN, I came across an already breeding age and proven Thunder with balls, and I bit the bullet and bought him too. How could I not? He is his identical twin in a smaller package. That bull is Also known as, ROCKY!
We have 3 white faced boys now.
Thunder, Rocky, and El Bandito.
1 steer, 2 bulls.
The bulls will work side by side and compliment eachother on producing white faced babies for us..
Rocky and Thunder are not to be confused... they are not the same cow.
Rocky= bull... has nuts... shorter in size... can make babies!
Thunder= steer. Nutless, tall, big baby himself but cant make any babies and is under weight at the moment.
Now that the air is cleared... YES, we have 2 very identical boys that will be running around here at Cave Ranch after Rocky gets here!
You will see 2 brown boys with white faces... one will be significantly shorter than the other! 🤣
And they will BOTH stay here forever so you better remember they are 2 totally different boys that just so happen to look the same!
Pic of Thunder on the left, Rocky on the Right! 🤪
In the future, you can tell who is who by looking at nose, dossan and horns
Thunder has a spotted nose, with one white horn and one black horn as well as brown streaks in his dossan.
Rocky has a solid nose, 2 black horns, solid white dossan.
