A Sad Day at the Ranch...The End of an Era

Today was a very emotional day for all of us around the ranch. We knew that this day was coming for a little while now, but there was really no way to prepare ourselves for it. Many of you are familiar with our Brahman bull Mr. V8 287/5 or better known as Superstroke. Superstroke is one of the most famous bulls in Brahman history. He has sired 4 International Champions, was undefeated in the International Get-of-Sire 5 years in a row, and had numerous other National Champions for the ranch as well as many other champions for breeders across the globe.

There are many reasons, but one reason I will always have a soft spot for Superstroke because his grand-sire was a bull that belonged to me. Superstroke was sired by 777/4 (Power Stroke) who was sired by Mr. V8 702/3, who had a “C” (for Catherine) brand on his shoulder. Superstroke and his sire Power Stroke were definitely 702/3’s most famous descendants.

But what we liked best about Superstroke was his friendly disposition. He lived at the V8 show barn for the past decade and any visitor to the ranch wanted to see Superstroke. This was fine by him though – visitors usually meant petting and scratching!

Over the years there have been so many people involved in the care of Superstroke, and everyone who has helped to take care of him grew to love him. One memory that sticks out for me is when one of the show barn assistants noticed that Superstroke’s head was too large to comfortably wear a normal rope halter. One day, he proudly presented Superstroke with his own custom made rope halter, which fit him perfectly!
So today everyone said goodbye to our old friend. There were lots of people passing through the show barn to have their time with Superstroke and let him know how much they cared. The show barn just won’t seem the same. We got a few pictures as we were giving him the last couple of scratches from us.

My mom was giving Superstroke his final scratches and telling him about how he will be missed by all of us.

Luke and I tried to get a picture with Superstroke with his head up, but the poor old guy was just too weak to get it any higher. Luke may look a little wierd, but the actual picture my mom took his eyes were closed. I had to do a little "work" so his eyes were not closed.

You would be very hard pressed to find an animal on the ranch that does not have the influence of Superstroke somewhere in their pedigree. This bull calf is a grandson of Superstroke. Actually a double grandson if you want to get technical, but that may be a little too far out there for some of our readers!