All About Family

Rick married Trish in 1996. Trish was the last element to fall into place to ensure the success of the ranch. She brought a great knowledge and skill with horses, which created a whole new element of the ranch. Trish also had a great eye for visual appraisal of livestock and knowledge of agriculture. She shared Rick’s love and compassion for the livestock and wholeheartedly worked side by side as a partner with Rick to care for and steward the ranch and its many creatures. Rick’s brothers and sister and Trish’s parents also contributed to the success of the family operation.
 
From 1977 to 1988 the cows were managed in Colorado Springs on the Leone’s small acreage and in Larkspur at the Arfsten’s. The cows were moved to Creighton, Nebraska for two years while Rick took his first job as a veterinarian. Then on June 2, 1990 along with Rick, the cows returned to Colorado to the existing location south of Fowler. The Fowler location was much different in 1990 than it is presently. A series of aerial photographs shows many of the improvements to the ranch that occurred as a result of the foresight, planning and hard work of Rick, John and Virginia and later Trish.
 
The original brand was a gift in the late 1970s given to Rick by Bud and Helen. The second brand was purchased by the ranch as a new brand in 2005. Both were used as freeze brands – hot brands were used rarely after 1995. The original brand continued to be applied to the females, while the new brand was applied to the male progeny.

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Peak View Ranch, Inc. has always bred registered Shorthorn cattle. Since its inception in 1977, its goals were stated and periodically reviewed and altered. These records are preserved in the herd book.

Setting A Standard

 

In the early 1990s Red Angus bulls were used to create F-1 crossbred females. Since Rick was unsure of their ability, he maintained his own F-1 herd as a testing ground. These F-1 females were bred for terminal cross calves to Limousine bulls. Rick was well pleased and their performance records supported their ability to meet the standards Rick had set. This F-1 herd was maintained as well as the registered herd until 2005. At that time, it was decided to return to having only one herd and use all the ranch resources to produce only registered cattle. The Red Angus influence cows were appendix registered in the American Shorthorn Association and from that point on bred to registered Shorthorn bulls. Ultimately, their offspring would qualify to reenter the purebred herd book by reaching 15/16-blood level; thus, bringing some of the positive attributes of the Red Angus breed into the Shorthorn breed. Rick and Trish appreciated the maternal ability of the Shorthorns in terms of milk production and reproductive efficiency but criticized the breed for extreme mature size and poor fleshing ability.
 
In an attempt to improve the herd and locate superior genetics, bulls were selected for a few years based on factors such as phenotype, popularity, reputation, and show ring success. Often, little was actually known about the bull, it’s dam and a first hand inspection was not a requirement. Finding the genetics to improve our herd became the subject of much time, research and frustration. In the end, this frustration helped us develop the selection criteria used today and our experience made it very clear that there is no correlation between show ring success and quality commercial cattle. Virtually every conformational flaw can be covered up with fat and fluff. Plus, the judges put little or no value on the numbers – so without the incentive to be recognized for good numbers or any requirement for reproductive or feed efficiency, show ring genetics do not produce the qualities valued by commercial cattlemen reliably. Thus, Peak View Ranch, Inc. made a decided shift away from the show ring and most of the Shorthorn Country sires.