Riding Shotgun
Once Upon A Time
As we travel the highways and by-ways of the Limousin family and breed , we often cuss and discuss the cattle business , sports , politics , great cheeseburgers and most of the time , the promotion and marketing of Limousin cattle .
Through “ Riding Shotgun ” we invite you to join us in the righthand seat , so that we can let you in on what we find to be our marketing pet peeves , shortcuts and some of the favorite habits of top-flight professional producers . Grab a cup of coffee and take the ‘ shotgun seat ’— we are pleased to have you riding along .
In January of 1977 , myself and college friends , Jay Purchase and Mike Shrewsbury , borrowed Shrew ’ s parent ’ s car and headed to Denver for the National Western Stock Show . I know the climate has changed , but we encountered the same weather we have today as we found ourselves in a blizzard outside of Salina , Kansas , and as the last car through the blockade , we promised the Kansas Highway Patrol we would faithfully follow the semi in front of us and for about 10 hours we did . Arriving in Denver half a day late , we put on our Stock Show clothes and released ourselves on the Greatest Livestock Show of all time .
By the time Jay and I had finished our trip , we had decided the world needed more “ Livestock Field Editors ” and a path to that end was planned . Another visit in 1978 led to my first job in 1979 with the Record Stockman . In January of that year I spent 15 days training , learning to wear a tie and a cowboy hat , how to know when the bid was in my section , what my money was and what to do when I had three guys and they all thought they had the bid . I also learned how to write a sale report ( Thanks Bill Angell ), load a camera ( Thanks Andy Rest ) and celebrate a successful sale ( Thanks JC Barr , Doug Paul and Jay
22 • JULY 2022
Purchase ). When Stock Show was canceled in 2021 by the dreaded Covid , it was the first Denver I had missed since 1977 . By a casual count of my 44 saved datebooks , that is roughly 375 days on the bricks of the National Western , one year of my life , and a good year it has been .
Through the years I have been lucky to work with the best Colonels in the livestock industry . Men like Jim Baldridge , Pat Goggins , Stanley Stout , Eddie Sims , Jim Birdwell , Kenny Trout and many more too numerous to list . These guys let me know if my man was out and which of the three men in my section was actually in , sometimes politely , sometimes more pointed than that . In 1981 , I was lucky enough to be offered a job with Bob Crook and the Limousin World and spent the next 40 years working with two of the best to ever rap a gavel , C . K . “ Sonny Booth ” and Bruce Brooks . I hope the Limousin breed knows how lucky they are to have had two talented , honorable and fun gentlemen that believe in and sell your product . I don ’ t know how many miles I have traveled with these two friends , but I know it has never been boring and sometimes it has been downright exciting . As time has gone on it has been my privilege and pleasure to watch Ronn Cunningham and Chisum Peterson join the breed and I can tell you that the Limousin breed is in good shape for years to come with a pair of the top young auctioneers in the seedstock business .
Sale managers like Ken Holloway , Keith Kissee , Randy Ratliff and Kiley McKinna have been the lifeblood of Limousin marketing and the kindness and trust each have shown me will long be appreciated . The time away from their families will never be repaid and I hope we all appreciate the sacrifices they have made to promote the Limousin breed . The North American Limousin Foundation has been there through it all and they and their employees also
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