We strongly believe exhibiting livestock helps to educate youth by teaching them compassion, responsibility, work ethic, sportsmanship, confidence, and leadership.  Our son, Tud, would not be the young man he is today without these experiences.  We are so very proud of him and his many accomplishments, both in and out of the showring.  Being a part of the Longhorn industry helped to provide him the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.

He started showing livestock at the age of 8, when we first moved to Texas.  His first project was a pen of meat rabbits for our County's market show.  He used the money earned from that venture to purchase his first heifer, a registered Jersey calf.  Over the years he grew his herd with money earned from buying, selling, trading, and breeding his projects.  He eventually made the switch to registered Texas Longhorns in the midst of the 2009-2010 show season.  He actually exhibited both Jerseys and Longhorns those first two years until deciding to make the move permanent.  Throughout his Longhorn career he continued to grow, learn, make new friends, and become more competitive. 

It quickly became evident his niche was actually outside the ring, in the public speaking arena.  Through the various opportunities in the Longhorn industry, he was able to hone his speaking skills, helping him become a confident, mature young adult.  He was able to compete and participate in numerous leadership activities throughout his high school years that provided him with rich and rewarding experiences he would not have had otherwise.  In the end, he graduated with a large amount of awards and scholarship earnings to assist in the furthering of his education. 

Tud is now a college graduate, having received a B.S. in Mass Communications at The University of Texas at Tyler.  He worked at a local news station for 3 years as a Production Director before transitioning to his current position in social media and marketing at a thriving real estate group in the Tyler area.  He is engaged to be married to Miss Katie, who works as a real estate agent for the same group.  His long-term goal is to own his own sports cards and memorabilia shop in East Texas as he is has been an avid card collector since he was a kid.  He has been actively engaged in the online card communities since he was 16; buying, selling and trading with top collectors from around the country.

This page is dedicated to sharing the many memories made with our son during his time on the show circuit.  We continued to support the longhorn youth through the Newcastle Ranch Show Program, which we ran for five seasons before focusing on our efforts on our beef program.