HETHERINGTON GLADE

The Scottish Highland Society wasn't formed until 1884, but the breed itself has been prolific in the Scottish Highlands since the 6th century. Infact, Highlands are the oldest registered breed of the cattle in the world!

Highland Cattle were seen as the wealth of the high country farmers surviving on small blocks of land, sometimes in horrific conditions. Milk, meat and hides provided the necessities of life, while the hair itself could be woven into fabrics for clothing and bedding.

Once or twice a year the cattle would be gathered for sale and for rent - the heirachy of Scotland meant that the Highland Chief or landowner would divide his land into smaller pieces and rent it out to the poorer members of his clan. The cattle were seen as a way of paying the rents due - infact there are stories that say should a white heifer calf be born it would be worth more money or rent than any other - obviously the white variety were very sought after.

Originally there were two classes of Highland - the smaller and normally black Kyloe, whose primary domain was the islands off the west coast of Northern Scotland; the other a larger red animal whose area was the remote Highlands of Scotland. Today in addition to these two colours we now of course have white, yellow, brindle and dun.

Highlands require very little in the way of shelter, or feed supplements to achieve and maintain their condition. Importantly, Highland Cattle actually thrive in conditions where most other animals would perish! Cold weather and snow don't affect them, and so long as they have shade trees, they will drop their coats and handle extreme heat as well.

To complement their hardiness, they are fairly disease resistant as well, having long lashes and dossans to protect their eyes from insects - which in turn results in rarer cases of pink eye and cancer. They don't stress readily, so stress-related diseases are less common. Both cows and bulls have a reputation for being even tempered, and require less effort to train either for being paddock friendly, or going so far as to halter train.

All and all a joy to own!