Past Herd Bulls
Our foundation sire, Lord Lamplighter 8th laid a firm foundation for our herd. Gotten from Henry Mousel, he nicked exceptionally well on the original female base. He set the bar high for future herd bulls, and was particularly noted for the uniformity, high quality and breeding ability of his daughters. But demand also sent his sons into six states. At 10 years of age he was sold to a purebred Hereford breeder in Idaho and lived out the balance of his life there. Circa 1947
3 Imperial Lamplighter 49th was the perfect complement to the daughters of Lord Lamplighter 8th. He added ruggedness and scale to his offspring yet retained the smoothness, style and high quality so dominant in his predecessor. His offspring readily found new homes from Mexico, northwest to central Idaho, and many points in between. Today's sire-lines in the linebred Anxiety 4th gene pool descend through him. Circa 1953
Pictured at 10 years old, Mr Imperial 25th looked half his age. He was a very balanced breeder as to quality, but 75 % of his calves were heifers. He nicked wonderfully with every female with whom he was ever mated, and single handed built the Jim Lents herd. In life He was a powerful influence for good. In death his blood is essential in the ongoing quest for even better Anxiety Herefords, and beef cattle in general, wherever his influence is felt.
Peerless Lamplighter replaced his sire Mr Imperial 25th. Born in 1982 and killed by lightening in 1992, his life coincided with the period of greatest extremism in American beef cattle. He caused many to question the wisdom of pursuing giantism. A gifted breeder, he left the gene pool better than it was the day before he was born. Now today's sires of his descent are surpassing his high mark. He had few peers, hence a name that still describes his genetic impact with the utmost accuracy.
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Major Lamplighter was a major factor in our herd. He was a grandson to two half brothers, Zenith Mischief through his sire, and Mr. Imperial 25th through his dam. He was one of the thickest fleshed, heaviest hind-quartered and trimly made bulls one could imagine. His characteristics passed uniformly to his son Mischief Lamplighter whose name graces the sire line noted for routinely producing the high quality, high dressing, high yielding, high grading, waste free kind beef cattle.
Peerless Return, a son of Peerless Lamplighter 24th and double-grandson of Peerless Lamplighter, was a substantive contributor to the Anxiety cause. Like 3 Imperial Lamplighter 49th, his grand sire five generations removed, he sired ruggedness, yet retained style and high quality in his offspring of both genders. Blood tells; his speaks strongly!
Mischief Lamplighter 26th was a very thickly fleshed yet trim made bull, and a balanced breeder as between genders. His daughters were always among our top cows. He was a very substantive bull, whose thickness of flesh seldom has been equaled, and was evidenced in a son and now a grandson who succeeded him in our herd.
Peerless Lamplighter 24th very adequately replaced his sire, and matched him step-for-step as a sire of high quality stock of both genders. His daughters were rarely matched, and we used three of his sons, Peerless Lamplighter 103rd, Peerless Lamplighter 105th and Peerless Return who fueled our growth when we enlarged the herd, while holding up the high standard we require in our stock. He is back of today's Peerless and Lents Lamplighter named sires
Lents Lamplighter 4th very quickly established himself as a bull of unusual breeding merit. His birth was the the culmination of what then was 59 years of our concentrated efforts. Early on he'd demonstrated that he was what I call "a new plateau bull", one whose offspring uniformly rise to a new and higher plane of excellence. While the manifestation is phenotypic, it's foundation is genotypic, thus ensuring permanence in the happy changes. He was a powerfully prepotent bull amidst the most prepotent and pure bloodline in American Herefords.
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But like some of our greatest citizens who were called before their time, he died young, the victim of a late night felons bullet. I'd seen him just before dark laying a few yards inside the fence along the county road that passes by our headquarters. The next morning he was still laying there with his head dropped as if he were snoozing. But a closer look revealed the truth. It was a significant loss, but we'd learned decades earlier that no loss is terminal in this great linebred gene pool. The decades of concentrated genetic merit is sufficient to replace all that's lost, and allows one to confidently move forward with just a hiccup. This is something not routinely possible with heterogeneous breeding methods which fall radically short in terms of prepotency. Lents Lamplighter 12th and Lents Lamplighter 14th, two of his early sons already in our sights were placed in service and promptly reduced his loss to just emotion. A third son, Lents Lamplighter 33rd followed later and played a significant role during his tenure. Now we're using three grandsons and one double grandson who are multiplying his character and genetic influence.
The Peerless Lamplighter rendered yeoman herd service for us during the 11 years he served. He was used on a cross section of the herd with splendid results. Among the choicest females we produced in the past decade were his daughters. His sons all exhibited his rugged masculinity, coupled with style, quality and wonderful phenotypic balance passed to him by his sire Peerless Return. His name adds strength to any pedigree.
Lents Lamplighter 14th was the first son of Lents Lamplighter 4th used in our herd. We pressed him into service when we lost his sire, and have never been sorry. He was structured very much like his sire, and strongly mimicked his breeding ability. His dam was one of our very top Blanche Mischief cows, a family known for 100 years for their quality, individuality and breeding ability. During his lifetime Lents Lamplighter 14th certainly did his bit for breed improvement.
Lents Lamplighter 33rd was the third son of Lents Lamplighter 4th used in our herd. He was a balanced sire, as between the genders, producing offspring at the top of the spectrum. We intended to use him his whole lifetime. But with a wonderful contingent of his daughters and two sons who'd pushed their way into our herd bull battery, at 8 years of age, we sold him to Ricky Smith at Snyder, Texas for use on his herd of registered Herefords.
A son of Peerless Lamplighter 24th, Peerless Lamplighter 103rd possessed great depth and thickness of body, yet moved like an athlete. He sired many outstanding sons that went into several states, but was possibly the best sire of outstanding females I ever saw. Peerless Advance 51st replaced him in our herd, and we chose him to produce the embryos to launch a herd of Anxiety Herefords in Scotland.
Mischief Lamplighter 4th was selected to replace his sire because we believed he'd materially improve the Mischief Lamplighter line of bulls. The rightness of our decision is strongly evidenced in his son Mischief Lamplighter 26th shown immediately below. Take a look and you'll agree.
From a Donna Agnes dam by Peerless Lamplighter, Peerless Lamplighter 105th was he second son of Peerless Lamplighter 24th used in the herd. He was a very balanced breeder, and sire of Lents Lamplighter whose male descendants carry that name today. Through them, Peerless Lamplighter 105th is still having a large and positive impact on the Anxiety gene pool.
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