A Promise in the Pasture: Carrying a Father’s Dream Forward

In this conversation with Daniel Quintanilla of Siesta Q Ranch, we trace a ranch built on legacy and old-fashioned work. Daniel shares how his late father, Epifanio “Cowboy” Quintanilla, sparked a dream that became a family tradition—one fence post, one long day at a time. As new Texas Longhorn breeders, the family is raising cattle with care and gratitude, keeping the land healthy, and leaning into early mornings and late nights to do the job right. It’s a story about promises kept: honoring a father’s vision, stewarding good ground, and building something better for the next generation.

Siesta Q Ranch: https://www.siestaqranch.com/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi there, I'm Molly. And I'm Jamie. We're the owners of Hired Hand Software.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

And this is season six of our From the Pasture podcast. For more than 15 years, we've been helping breeders promote their pedigree livestock with our easy-to-use, animal management-driven website software.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Each week, we bring you stories from the pasture, breeding philosophies, ranch traditions, cattle knowledge, and conversation with folks using Hired Hand to power their livestock marketing.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

So settle in for today's episode of From the Pasture with Hired Hand. Today on From the Pasture with Hired Hand, we're visiting with someone who built a dream that didn't start with him, but absolutely continues because of him. We're joined by Daniel Quintanila of Siesta Q Ranch, a family outfit rooted in Dallas, Texas, and carried forward in honor of Daniel's late father. What started as his father's hope to someday raise a handful of longhorns has turned into a growing ranch, a gathering place for family, and a promise Daniel's determined to keep. From waking up to cows greening him in the pasture, to carrying on the land his parents built, to now stepping into the Longhorn industry with a brand new Hired Hand website, Daniel's story is full of legacy, grit, and heart. We'll talk about the memories that shape Siesta Q Ranch, the meaning behind their name, the special Longhorn he'll never forget, and what it feels like to step into a community that can sometimes feel a little intimidating from the outside looking in. So settle in. This is going to be a good one. All right, Daniel, for our listeners uh meeting you for the first time, give us a quick snapshot. Where is Siesta Q Ranch and who's involved in the day-to-day?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

So we are located just outside of Terrell, Texas. Um for the most part, it's just me and my uh my wife Kelsey. And we have two little boys, but they don't do much.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

So you shared with us that your ranch started with your dad's dream. Uh, what's the earliest memory you have of him uh you know talking about longhorns or with the longhorns?

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Kind of just been around I'd say probably for him wanting to start one, probably about five years. And that was probably um that was probably about right after I got out of high school, so 2016. That's probably when he first started really talking about it. But he didn't really get to have the chance to start it truly. He did have four that he got from a neighbor, but not no papers or nothing. He was just happy to have them.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

So tell me about the moment you kind of decided, like, alright, I'm I'm gonna finish what he started.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Uh probably after he passed. Um I was already living out here in one of our cabins um ever since I got out of out of college. And then um kind of after he passed, we kind of just decided, you know what, it's time to get it done, and at least that's something that we can remember him from day to day.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Tell me a little bit about, you know, um some stories you remember of him, especially from the ranching and the longhorns.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

We used to love going to um the to the stock shows. You know, that's where that's where we first really got our chance to look at them at the Fort Worth one, or uh sometimes we would go to San Antonio. Uh we have a lot of family there. And then we would go to the State Fair. That's kind of where we first would see them in person. And then um, you know, that's what he always kept talking about. He was a big fan of UT and Longhorn, so he always saw Bebo. So just kind of gave him the excitement to want to get into it at some point.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Well, when we were working on your website, our team here, you know, was talking about your about us page. It's probably one of the most heartfelt about us pages that we've ever read or, you know, worked on uh here at Hired Hand. What values from your dad do you still lean on most today, you know, with the ranch and when it comes to your breeding program?

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Just the knowing that if you do it and you take the time and you take pride in what you do, that's kind of the biggest thing he always did. Anything that he did, he either did it for himself, by himself, or for somebody that he cared about. So it gives me kind of the opportunity to do that for my kids now and to um kind of just keep following his ideals and to put them into my kids since he never got the chance to meet them himself.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

So tell me a little bit more about how the transition happened. So you were um needing property for storage, um, I believe uh we kind of talked about this a little bit as we were prepping for the podcast, and then it kind of has moved into a hobby farm to a gathering place for your whole family. Just tell me a little bit about, you know, the road through the road through those different uh changes.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Um I'd say probably when it when it first was just an idea of keeping stuff here for storage, was more or less uh for our bit our business that we have. And then once he started realizing, oh, I can turn this into something, and for a good while it was most the first few years was kind of just clearing the land, getting it ready and able to have cows and you know get grass growing and everything like that. And then um once he got that stuff started sorted out, then he built uh built his first cabin out here for him and my mom. And then um we would come during the weekends. Well, then he started to get the idea, well, I kind of might miss my family because he always travels down to San Antonio to see them, and that's what we would do. And then he was like, Well, what if there's a way I can get my family to come up here? And so what he did is he we made up we made a pavilion location, kind of just able to have parties and gatherings, and our party with him was for his birthday essentially, and it was always Labor Day weekend. So he gave the family a chance to all come down, get off of work, enjoy a couple days, not worry about anything, and just be at peace. His biggest thing here was if I came out here, I'm gonna be zoned out, relaxed, comfortable, watching cows, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

That's awesome. That's how it should be, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Well, the name Siesta Q Ranch has such a cool history tied tied to it. You you touched a little bit on his job. Um, so let's talk a little bit about SAS, which is San Antonio Shoes, uh, and Siesta Valley Ranch. Um, can you walk us through the connection and why naming the ranch is that felt right?

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Um he kind of saw it as when he first started the sh helping with the shoe company and getting that going. I mean, he would travel all kind all over the US to open up shops and and um factories. And so when he kind of got tired of it, or or Terry, Terry almost essentially had to force him to take a break. Well, and my dad was born on a Saturday, so there is no breaks. And so um, so he would go find something else. And luckily at the time, Terry Washington uh owned the property um in the in the in the Ciesta Valley Ranch, and um that's where he would go to just be at peace again, where as much as busyness that he was doing with work, he could go there and relax, do simple things, small things, you know, go hunting, all kinds of stuff out there. And now it's a nature preserve for anybody to go see now. And honestly, the funniest thing is I never even been there. As much as my dad talked about it, we we never went. No. He um after uh Terry passed away, it kind of the the connection to the family kind of went away. Um, luckily enough, my uncle he still works there, and he's the longest worker there of over 50 years. And I think out of his entire family of one of thir he was one of 13 children. And I believe I have a newspaper somewhere where it showed um eight of them working there at the same time, right when it first started hitting the ground running. And it was it was good, it was good for our family and gave them opportunities to you know be sustainable and live, and then once they all left, they end up being entrepreneurs themselves to see that hey, we can make this work for ourselves too.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I feel like that has to be a trip, a little trip for your family coming up or something. You have to Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Well, we're actually going down there. Um, we'll be down in San Antonio next weekend uh for our for our family Christmas party. So maybe we might be able to swing by over there, but we're also using that opportunity to go pick up some more cows. So we'll see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Priorities.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

So, what does the Q in C SDQ mean to you today as you build your own chapter of your family's story?

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Well, I would say the only two that really come up is quality. Um, we've been trying our best to improve the the facilities here, such as fence work. Um, we've been talking about getting a new barn set up for the cows, more pens for the cows. Um, you know, because we didn't have longers at first, now we're working on trying to get our shoot system set up and get all that preparations, um, and then kind of just uh managing the property enough to have more quantity of cows. Um so far right now, I think we have uh 20 26, and then um by the end of the year we should have probably 28, and then we should have two more early 2026. So we're kind of just waiting for our first calves to drop. We had two, we had three drop last no, four drop. We had four drop this year, uh four calves, and one of them wasn't our bulls, so it was one that we got with a pregnant cow. So we've only had two, so we're excited to see what comes out this year.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

What's kind of your ideal number that you'd like to be at in terms of the size of your herd?

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Um honestly, probably the way that I have it kind of mapped out with uh because we have a smaller property, it's not I wouldn't call it big by any means, um, but there's a lot of area of the property that the cows don't really bother with. Um some parts are still fenced off, so given the chance for grass to grow there, um I could I could see that we could probably get a sustainable herd for for cows themselves, for just females uh that are breedable. I would say probably if we can get to 30, that'd be a good number, and then rotate with our with our calves. So I would say probably at max, probably 45 to 50. But I've been really trying hard to um get more leasing opportunities for hay. Um we do our we do that all all by myself. Um and this next year we just got one additional field. So I got plenty of hay to hopefully feed them, but we grain them out as well. So, you know, we kind of just we have the sustainability now that we can feed them out all year round. They're comfortable, they're healthy, they're getting bigger. It's been a slow process, but we're taking we're trying to take our time. I'll although there's a lot of pretty cows that we like to get.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

It's hard, it's hard to not just buy them all up, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yes, yes, very much so. And and my wife, my wife, she once, she's like, we need to slow down and we need to improve stuff here first before we get more. I'm like, I agree, but then we both look at the cow and we're like, oh, we can't give that up every time.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Well, when we were preparing for today's podcast, we asked you some questions, and you had mentioned that your favorite part of ranching is just walking outside in the morning and seeing your cows grazing or coming up to say hello. Uh, talk me through what the typical start of the day is like at your place for you and Kelsey.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Oh, I guess to start off, we probably sleep in longer than we should, and then our kid comes up and says, We need to watch TV or get some food. And um, and he's only three years old, so it's more or less just my wake up. And um, but usually um I go check the cows every morning, no matter cold, raining, whatever you have. Yeah, I always go out and make sure my numbers are still there of all the same cows accounted for. Um, and uh, you know, it's just always quiet. As soon as you walk outside, it is dead quiet. You get a couple cars down the road, but that's about it. You walk down there and you walk to the back, and there's a lot of times too where they're just standing right outside right outside the door, just like, oh hi, we're just seeing some grass, nice to see you. Good morning. Uh yeah, it's a nice feeling, especially when I was growing up. We lived in town in Dallas, and um and so you you hear everything. Kids going to school, walking down the the sidewalks, and it's a complete different uh feeling, especially when you're out on property. Especially most of most ranchers, you know, especially in the community, most of them live on property. So living at home, waking up, going to work, and then having the time to go out to the property to check on the cows. You save so much time. And um, yeah, it it's a nice feeling for sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

There's a lot of breeders we talked to on these podcast uh interviews that you know it's their dream to be able to live on their ranch. They're not they're not quite there yet. So you've you've kind of done things in maybe a little bit of a different order. You you live there now, you're growing the herd.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

So yeah, exactly. We we we um we had uh small cabins that I would call we called them weekend cabins because you know they didn't have every amenity that you would want to as a house. Um but um for like right before we started purchasing cows, we were living in an apartment just for uh just right right probably 20-30 minutes away. So we didn't have the idea yet to get a house here and um save us some money and rent and you know go forward with living out here and great decisions, amazing results, especially with just being out here. It's quieter, it's not loud. You don't have any neighbors. I mean, the closest neighbor's right over there, and he's still probably 200 yards away. That's a nice feeling when there no one's really here.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

For sure. Well, most of your herd must be pretty calm because you have your young kids, and then you know, you like to just walk out there with your coffee and and say hello. What what kind of traits do you feel like you're naturally drawn to, or in the cattle that you are purchasing and you know, not necessarily bred on your own, uh, you know, what what traits are you looking for?

SPEAKER_02 15:10

My favorite, I'm assuming a lot of people's favorites, would be uh the gray colors. I love all kinds of gray colors just for them cows. Um that was kind of the first ones that we looked at. The one of the first three that we got was a gray. Um, and then um the first bull that we choose that we chose to to start with, um his his uh his dad's a blue roan as well, so we love those colors, you know, the blue roans, the red roans, any anything like that. Um and then once we started meeting more people in the community and seeing what the the trend is for sales and for purchasing, um we have learned what we're looking for for horns and for for colors and for bloodlines. And finally, this year was kind of the year where we took more attention to um of lineages and pedigrees and and you know, not ever every cow is the same cow. Um they might be pretty and they might be nice and they might have good stuff, and they just may not be what exactly we are looking for. Um you know, going this year, this year was our first year going to sales and looking at all that stuff, and you do see a difference in um certain certain pedigrees blended together with amazing results. And um, and point proven where we see them in the sales, that they go outrageous in numbers and it's very impressive. Um and we're just like, well, we'll we'll just save our save our skin and see what we can do later on.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

How long do you feel like it took you, you know, for that kind of that learning curve, I guess we'll call it, um, you know, to when you really started to focus in on the pedigrees and kind of planning for what you want the future to look like?

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Um I would say probably once we once we once we went to the Glenn Denning sale this year, we went to that one. Um that was the first one that we well, actually it was our second sale that we went to, but it was the first one we really sat down and talked with people um and kind of understood what people are looking for and um uh the trends that are coming, the trends that are falling, you know, seeing um seeing more change of focusing on the the lineage because when you have good lineage that helps build your own representation of what that lineage could look like for cows. Um, and that's definitely what we've been learning more. And I I stare at websites almost, I don't even know. When it it gets to the point where Kelsey's like, you need to get off the computer and go send time with your family. It's like, okay, fine, fair enough. It's getting dark. I need to get out, get over there. So now we get a cutoff at six o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

So who are some of the folks that you would consider mentors that you mentioned you've met at these sales and have maybe, you know, sat down with you and and helped you through some things?

SPEAKER_02 18:04

The biggest one um is Randy and Trisha Hickman. Uh they're at the Diamond HRT, so Diam Diamond Horn Ranch. Um he they've been very, very helpful with us. They, you know, they're a call away. Um, Randy's a uh veterinarian, so he has helped us a lot with um we just had a a down cow um for almost a little over a month. So we we worked with her every single day, talked with them, talked to our local vet, um, talked with traveling vets. And the only unfortunate part is we never had the chance of anybody coming and looking at her. So we've been having to take care of it, take care of everything ourselves. Um, but with their knowledge and their help, they they've essentially saved the cow. And um, I guess out of my stubbornness and and uh will to keep her alive. Um, but yeah, it's they've been very helpful. Uh the other ones that we that we've met um was uh Robinson Ranch, Donna and Marty. Um they've been very good to us. We've uh spent time with them for the uh Glenn Denning sale and the um the legends. We were spending a good time with them as well. And um yeah, very helpful. And it's always nice, especially when you don't know anybody for a good while, and then you and you know, like especially at the at the Fiesta sale, you kind of just picked where you sit and and if you don't know them, hopefully you do talk to them, and that's what they that's what they did for us. And they were very, very nice people. And actually, I think at the Legends sale, we we purchased one of their cows that were in the sale. And it was just nice to feel like kind of a full circle moment where you see what they have and you realize, okay, that's something that we're looking for, especially with with what they offered. It was a good a good deal for us and we liked it, and so we went for it. And he was happy enough to come sit down and talk with us for a good 20 minutes or so. Yeah, definitely. I'd say that those two families, they're very, very been helpful to us.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

We're while we're talking about pedigrees and also some fellow breeders, let's let's talk about V Vegas Vicky. Um the very first calf you had born on your property. What made her so special for you?

SPEAKER_02 20:19

I think it was just the realization that we did it. You know, we were able to pick what we wanted to pick, breed how we wanted to, and that was the first result that popped out. And it was exactly what we're what our end goal is, is that if we can get a gray baby to hit the ground, or multiple hit the ground in the same year, that's what we look for. Um because as much as you know, we see other grays that are very, very popular in the brand, uh, for the for the the industry, you got Dark Knight, you got uh Dumpling, you got a bunch of different girls and guys that are fantastic cows and bulls. And um, you know, if it's possible, then I can increase the probability of popping out Grays. That's kind of what I would um like to be more known for. Um, but obviously you can't be perfect. Um, but I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Well, I have to admit, I went and looked at her picture when I was prepping for today. Uh do you think she'll I I feel like maybe is she hard to photograph?

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Um she I wouldn't say she was hard. I think um at the time that we were taking those photos, it just rained. I didn't want to just get Kelsey in there with the camera and just going all berserk.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

But like her color, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Like her color and yeah, so she's she's majority almost white, except for she has like little gray socks, um, and then her ears. So I'm hoping that with her dad's uh blue roan in his background is gonna end up sp speckling her as she gets bigger. So hopefully we see that we can start taking clear more photos of what she could potentially be. But her mother, um, her mother's a f uh a gray, and um she she has it more just on her face and her neck, almost like a like a like a mask. The whole face and all the way down to about half the neck is gray, and then she has a couple spots. So It's kind of it it didn't surprise me that she was going to turn out that way. But I'm hoping that as she gets bigger and bigger, the roan starts showing more so we can see more smaller spots and maybe a speckle of something. But um it kind of just meant the world to us that she was the first one. Um and it was the first one that we chose exactly how we wanted to breed, and um it just fulfilling, you know, just the fact that you know we went from buying and buying and buying, and now we have our first ourselves, and it it it made us feel very good. And it of course happened while we weren't weren't there, but we were lucky enough to see that uh her mother was starting to bag, and so we went ahead and put her in a pen. And sure enough, by the time we got back, she was already out. And I was like, wow, that's that's amazing. And felt good, and then probably within a week later, the second one dropped. And I was like, Oh, great, there's Vic. Just had to put them together because they were the only two born.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

How did you come up with her name?

SPEAKER_02 23:25

We were in last we were in Vegas. It's pretty much that. I think I think when we we went to we went over there and we went to the Neon Museum. So they were telling us all about the history of Vegas Vic and Vegas Vicky, and we ended up going to go see them out on Fremont Street, and then as soon as we got home, it was a girl, and I was like, oh, that's gonna be Vicky. There you go. And then it gave it a perfect yin yin and yang for uh our bull's first two to be a boy and a girl. So we figured just match it and just go with that.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

So are there any do you have any f other funny or maybe unexpected stories from raising your first round of calves?

SPEAKER_02 24:42

We had one, we had one girl. Uh she's our our last one from our former herd that we had to dispose of to get to move to Longhorns. Um, she's a half-blood uh Longhorn to to Angus. And um she she gave birth and probably she gave birth um to a bull calf. And um before we even found her and him, we went to go feed everybody, just like we normally would every every day. And she just came sprinting across the field and just left the baby. I was like, oh my god, no, don't do that. And I didn't even know she was having the baby today because because um her bag wasn't really all the way down yet. And so we ran and tried to find the baby, grabbed him, drove him all the way to the pen. It was like, hey, come come on, mom, come get him. And she was all screaming and screaming, and um finally got her in there. And then she was just trying to be like, Well, I don't want him, I want the feed. It's like, no, no, no, we'll bring you some more feed, you can stay in here. It was just a funny mess because we were just sitting there just watching her and we're like, What? What's what's hanging out of her? And then we're like, Oh snap, she had a baby. So we ran and ran. Oh my gosh, it was that was the first time we actually like um because we had the two prior, then she had her baby. So we already had the other two mothers still on the pens with her b with their babies. So I was like, well, if we get her in there, they'll at least stick together and won't cause too big of an issue of running running around. And um, but yeah, that was our first true uh surprise events that we had to deal with. Um, which it was a good time. We luckily got her in there, got her safe. Baby's doing baby was doing great. So now we're just getting him ready for uh for butcher and just feeding him out. And he's a good bull, he's a bull bull calf.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

So you've mentioned a lot in your stories about mom and dad or the siren dam. Tell me a little bit more in depth about the the parents of these animals and the bloodlines that you're breeding.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Our main bull that we have, or really our only bull right now that's with the herd. Um, he is a uh padden HB son. So we wanted to look for horn growth, we want to look for uh the blue roan to kind of introduce it to more uh different lines. Um after that, we then started acquiring um gold mine daughters and and granddaughters. Um we love gold mines wild factor on his color, especially with what he throws out to his to his daughters, and and even his granddaughters have the same same appeal. Um we have one Hubble's 20-gauge daughter, um her uh storm gauge. Uh she is a beautiful gal. Um, and I was really happy that I was able to purchase her um with her mother. Um and so for her, she's stacked with um 20 gauge and gold mine, top and bottom. So it's it's her horns are already growing, and she's only oh, she's she was born in April. Um so she's about 16 months right now, and she's well, well, I think she's almost 50 inches at this point now. She's pretty big. Um uh then we have um we have some Cracker Jack from the Robinsons. We have uh we have one bull bull calf from Samurai that we're trying to give him opportunity. He's he's looking really good. He was born in November, so he might he might be already in the 40-inch. I know we measured him a month before his birthday. Uh he was 31 inches and he exploded as soon as he hit one. Um we have one uh wildfire bull calf that we're looking to try to experiment with as well. We have one Houdini granddaughter, I believe is what she is. Um 99 Jules, um, which is a uh 99 problem 50-50 uh granddaughter. But then also at the at the uh horn showcase, we were able, we didn't make it, but we saw some advertising for some semen that we wanted to get. Um so we got some Safari Sun and we got some uh lightning in the bottle. So we want to introduce more black into the into the herd. Um we have one black right now, and then we're gonna pick up two uh one more uh this weekend. So we have more of the whites and the roans and some brown, but now we want to bring in more black. Just because I know that with black, it's a little easier to get that more gray that we want, especially with um with the grays that we already have. I I really like Casanova uh Casanova Magnum. He's a very I love his roan and his horns. Um I want to try to bring in some more um some Rebel HR. I want to get some Dark Knight more in here. I have one Dark Knight daughter, and she had a bull cap this year. It's kind of just like I I I want to experiment more, but I need to, but as my wife likes to say, you need to see what you get first before you can decide what you want to mix with. I'm like, I know, you know, it's just it's just um it's so tempting to just want to just make do all the decisions now and and not worry about it. But then she does have a point where if they're already pregnant, you can't do nothing about it anyways. So it's fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Yeah, it's definitely that fine line between pl needing to plan, but also needing to be patient and you know, see what's on the ground or what's coming and and all of that for sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

What would you say that your goals are for the next one to three years in terms of your breeding program, but also your ranch and some of the work you're doing on the property?

SPEAKER_02 30:34

I'm really interested to see what are two younger bull calves that I want to keep as bulls to see what they do. Um just because they do have a majority of what I was hoping to breed together with already. So I know that's already going to help me stack the the lineages that I want to together faster. That's pretty much the other main thing is I want to introduce more black into the herd, especially with black bulls that I already we've already seen plenty of results, we've already seen plenty of uh of of their heifers, of their cows, and the results are speak speak for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

So along the same lines of the goals that we were talking about, you know, you mentioned that you went to more and more sales kind of as the years have gone on. Uh, do you have specific plans for sales in 2026 that you haven't attended and want to, or are you also hoping to maybe starting to get involved in the fraturities or consigning to a sale or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 31:32

Um we want to try this next year to do uh fraturities because we do have a couple that we really like and and they show promising features that we've spoken to some people about. Um and then we didn't make it to the horn showcase, and I was like, we really need to go to that one next year. And then the other one that we talked about, but it was kind of a bad timing, was the uh the Millennium Sale. Um that one, with that one being going towards the East Coast more in Kentucky and all that, it's more breeders that we have had the opportunity that we could try to talk to, especially those that may not come down to Texas or Oklahoma or what have you. And maybe even just talking to smaller, other smaller starting output people to um find more um more connections with the community. Um and um and then the other one as well that we wanted to try to go to would be the Oregon Trail. That one we we we I have some friends up there and I would love to go see them, and um that would be a good opportunity for us to you know be able to travel, see the country, and you know, I love to drive, so it doesn't matter matter to me. Driving's just another adventure. Oh, yeah, it's a long drive, but I'm fine taking it. That's not a problem to me.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Who is someone you would really like to meet in 2026 that you feel like you could learn from, or someone you just want to pick their brain about, you know, cattle?

SPEAKER_02 33:01

I had the opportunity to speak with um with Mark Hubble uh this last year, picking up some cows. I spoke with um with Randy and Trisha, and um and uh but I I would like to try to talk a little bit with um with Rex. I think that I think that'd be a good good conversation, especially with him being more local. You know, I don't really have that many people that I've spoken to that are closer to me. Um like I know Superior Far Farms are is out here in Tyler, I believe, and then uh Cold Copper is kind of in this area too. So I haven't had the chance to meet with them. I want to try to get more contacts with people closer in our area, not necessarily someone in Michigan or someone in Salina, even though that's still not that far of a job. But it's an opportunity to um see what they're looking at and see what they're doing because they have beautiful cows, everybody has beautiful cows, and especially some of them have very good bulls that either they're holding for themselves, saving for themselves, or um trying to keep it more exclusive. And so just to kind of see what those guys do and how they've made it successful for you know at least 10-15 years or more, and um with Longhorns being here for us, it's only been two years. So it's a good opportunity to see what and pick their brain on how they started out or how they are adapting to what's going on now with the breed and where the where the change is going, who are they um moving away from and uh and kind of just I don't know, I could talk to anybody. So I'd be I'd be happy to talk to them as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

What advice would you give someone who was in your shoes from two years ago? Like a ri a new breeder just starting out? What's the best piece of advice you feel like you could give them?

SPEAKER_02 34:59

If you really like the cow that much, just go and get it. Because there's been plenty of cows that I've seen and I've liked that. I'll I would tell myself, okay, when I when maybe when we get to this this month, we'll think about it and we'll maybe go get it. We'll by the time it's you you want it, it's gone. And so we've missed a lot of great cows that we had our eye on for a good while, and then they ended up selling. So um if you know what you want and you and you really love that cow, you can get it. Go get it. Because they could be gone, they'll go to another property, and you see what they start popping out with, and you're like, man, that's that could have been me. Yeah. Or or oh, I know what that lineage could have been great with this one. I should have just got her. And then that next person's gonna want more for that cow, because especially if you're following that cow. Um but at the same time, um, you know, as far as we've done already, you don't need a whole lot to do it. If you have the land and you can you can figure it out. You're you're if you are intuitive enough to think it through of how you can do it or how you can make it work, even if you don't have everything that you truly need. Um, we've been doing that and hopefully get to a point where we don't have to do that. Take it slow, you don't have to rush. And um if there's a cow you really want, you should get it. Don't second guess yourself.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

That's that's a good who's this cow that haunts you because I feel like this is personal.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Um, I think it was um the very first sale that we went to at the Eddie Wood. It was a uh a patent daughter almost right at the end of the sale. Um I I had a set limit that I wanted to spend on her. It went over that set limit, but only by a little bit more, and I said no. And then I really it really hurt a little bit. And I ended up and and so then I ended up buying the one right after her because I was like, I just I wanted to get something. And and it turns out it was a great purchase for for that cow. She was she was she's fantastic. She does cry, she does whine a lot when she wants food, but she's she's great. Um and uh and that was the one that because it was our first sale, and I was nervous to be bidding at all. But um, yeah, that was the one that's the one that was could have been the first one purchase at a sale that I guess I got just a second guess in my head, and she was gone. And I was like, man. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

So do you still stock her on a website today?

SPEAKER_02 38:16

No.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

No, no let it go, huh?

SPEAKER_02 38:18

I I I I let it go because I knew that I can there's always gonna be more. You know, and yes, there's there's some where there won't be the same ever again. You know, you look at um you look at Danica, you know, that that girl's a beauty, and she sold it for a lot of money. Um, you know, there's a there's a bunch of those one in a million cows that people were gonna pay for. And you can always make your own to look the same. And um, I know I can make the cow that I didn't buy, I can make her right now if I wanted to. Because I have the abil I have the I had the correct bloodlines to copy her. Yeah, that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Well, let's talk a little bit about your new hired hand website. Uh, what made you feel like now was the right time to get a website for CSDQ?

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Um, I really wanted to get them get the website before the true calf crops uh happened this year. Um once the first two or first three that came out, we knew that we got to start, you know, representing them and representing their parents and showing everyone, hey, look, this is what we're producing over here. It may not be for everybody and it may not be what you want to see, but for somebody that might that cow might be something special to them. And so having the website gives you the complete opportunity to see what uh what their lineage is, what their pedigree looks like, who they came from, and you know, keeping track of all the cows and making sure, oh, this one's over here, or this one's there, or um, or um, oh wow, they had this bull with this cow. We'll see what happens and we'll keep our eye out on them. But it's a it's the website's just so helpful because especially when you want to dive deep into the cow, you can go to every person's website to find out where those cows, where their parents are located, or their grandparents are located, or oh, this one's still alive and it's 20 years old. You know, you never know. But it it um it was our first step truly of turning the hobby to a reality of trying to make sales and trying to show everyone what we what we have, you know. And especially with for us, we just started with just having a Facebook page to showing here and there of our cows, and you know, even still we've had some people um reach out to us through Facebook, which is fantastic. But having the website shows all the cows at any moment that they could that they would want to look. And that's definitely the the game changer that we saw. That's the game changer that we heard from all of our other people we've talked to about the website, and you know, you can't go wrong with having it. It's just it's too good.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Well, as a website user, not necessarily, you know a customer, you know, you mentioned that you like um the simplicity of just being able to scroll through the lineage. How do you feel like that has helped you as a new breeder?

SPEAKER_02 41:19

Um, it m especially when you're trying to combine certain b uh pedigrees, or if you wanted to add the same stuff, add the same pedigree into the same or to stack them, um, or top or bottom or however you however wants to put it. Um that definitely helps, especially when if you can go through the website and you can see uh their their progeny and you see what they what they produce, especially if you find a cow that um or bull that matches your what you want to do at your property, and you can see somebody else tried it and they were successful, well then you know that you're on the right track to being successful to what you want to get and what you want to have. There's an endless supply of research that you have there to your ability that you can do. And it's so helpful. It's just great.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

What's something on your new website that you're excited for people to see or learn about you?

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Our younger bull calves. Um because we have the two that we purchased uh out of out of a sale, but they fit the criteria of the lineages that we wanted, even if it even if it was a bull calf. And so we're gonna give them both the opportunity to try to breed with a couple girl with a few girls, kind of see what happens, kind of see what comes out, to decide, okay, are we gonna keep them? Are we gonna go ahead and and and pass them along or whatnot? And I call it microbreeding. I I don't I don't know if anybody's already came up with that idea, but uh, but essentially doing miniature herds to uh spread the gene the gene pool a little bit further of availability for our bull, our main bull. Because if our main bull produces however many calves that he wants to, well then we have to find a new direction to move those calves to go. And um by seeing what those two younger bulls can produce, or you know, who knows if one of them ends up exploding his horns in three years, if I can do my lineage uh combinations together faster with two bulls that already had the stuff that I was looking for, with a current bull that we have that is exactly what I wanted, then I can um pivot from there of okay, main bull's not doing too well with horn growth. Maybe he need maybe he's gonna take too long. Maybe we should put him aside with only a few girls and bring one of the younger bulls in to breed with the rest. So then we can keep the genetics clean to refine what we're looking to do.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

So, how long do you have to wait to see those results? When will those calves be on the ground?

SPEAKER_02 44:13

So I have one bull calf right now, uh uh Blades of Honor. He is with uh three girls right now. Um uh one of them's a gladiator daughter, one of them is a um is a 20-gauge daughter, and the third one's running away from him right now. He's got Houdini in in his lineage with samurai and um and 99 problems. So I see that he's got he's gonna have somewhat more thicker growth all around. So I want to see what he looks like with those couple of cows. And then um the other one is on top. He's a wildfire son with a patent on the bottom. So we know that both of those bulls hit 90 inches at four years old. So I know that's a potential. And he's already got he's already his horns are already kind of like poking more backwards instead of going straight out, they're coming at an angle, and then there's like a little tip cut. And uh and I love his blue roan that he's got. He's got his he's got uh blue spots all over his back with a little bit of Brindle on his uh on his hooves and his nose. I was like, man, that looks good. I like that. I like I like Brindle a lot, especially with our bull, our main bull. He's got the blue roan, and then he's got uh Brindle's. Spots on top. So I was like, well, that's going to be any color combination is going to work with him. I would say probably we'll start seeing results from the younger bulls. I would say in probably about a I'm going to give it a year and a half just because I know that maybe those girls aren't ready or he's not ready. Um, but as soon as we put him with those three girls, he already was trying. So we know that there's potential that it could be like only a year away. It's an experiment. It's either gonna go wrong, it's gonna go great. And we don't know, but that's the fun of it. And then we can go from there.

SPEAKER_01 46:06

Gives folks lots of reasons to keep uh coming back and checking your website for updates as well.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Yes, exactly. That's always the goal.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

What would your advice be if a newer breeder was on the fence about if it was time for them or they were ready to get a website? What would your advice be?

SPEAKER_02 46:22

I would say just do it really. You know, because it's at some point you're gonna end up having to do it. If you if if you want to take it take the industry seriously and you want to have something come out of it, not just as a hobby, but to see it as a business, right? Any business has a website, why not yours? And get it. Because it's just gonna it's just gonna benefit you more and have more eyes looking at your stuff and looking at the cows that you have, and you never know how many people are gonna see it and be like, oh, I would love to have that cow, or oh, I would love to have one of those kids and see what happens. You know, plenty of people do the embryo stuff and have their set parents set, and if you're ready to have one, you have one and you can buy it, or somebody can buy it. Um it's always interesting to see that at the sales too when they have the embryo calves. It's it's always really cool and fascinating. And we're only like 20 minutes from champions, so we're able to be able to make that a little bit easier for us to where we want to introduce more bulls into the gene pool and into the herd. I only got to drive 20 minutes to get to get AI'd for it. And um, the website, I mean, it just it's a stepping stone to move forward with the herd to become more recognizable and to be able to be viewed anytime and being able to communicate even with anybody that wants to reach out to you because everything's there. And especially for us, you know, we we try to have a goal of always trying to update the photos, always trying to, you know, do what we can on getting the right angle for the horns and getting side profiles, and and um, you know, as soon as we got the website live, we s we just started running running with taking the taking the camera. So now every morning that I have a chance to, you know, make a cup of coffee and walk out there, if I see the right angle, I'm taking that shot. Now I'm getting a good photo. You know, whether it's on Facebook or not, or if it's updated to the website that night or whatever it may be, it's you can't go wrong with beautiful photos.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

We always tell folks when they're when they ask if they're you know ready to get a site or how the process works, or you know, they're talking to us that that's probably the most work on your end that you have to do is the pictures. You know, we try to do everything else in the setup process, but we can't come out and take that take everyone's pictures.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

So yes, very much. And and that's the thing too, is like even if it's even if it's just on your phone, right? It can be on your phone, it can be a a um, you know, however much uh camera dedicated to just taking photos, you know, it's always good to try your best to update the photos, right? Because you could have a you could have a photo there from when they were a calf being maybe being a year old with their with their showing their horns, but what if you leave that same photo for two years? They don't know what they look like. You know, they don't know if they went sweeping down, going running straight across, uh, sweeping up high. And some people have very particular likings in those sort of horns or deposition or color. Because especially like um one of our calves, he started off being a light brown in the first months, and then now he's almost a year or he's now eight months old, and everything's turning black. And you wouldn't know that unless you took more photos, and so that's kind of the main thing, too, is like she could be that that that heifer could be gray or yellow, or um, or just all white. And if you wait two years or a year and a half, well then here comes more spots, here comes more color, here comes more changing of uh of uh of her horns and everything like that, where if you don't take more photos and you don't put them on to the website, how is somebody gonna know what they're buying? And so, you know, it doesn't even hurt if you take a quick photo with your phone when you're feeding them. It doesn't. And that's actually probably the most realistic thing that you would look for in a photo is oh, oh, look at that. You can tell from the photo she's calm as can be because she's feed eating out of your hand or eating right next to you. But then, oh look, you got a good photo of her color up close, or or um she's staring at you waiting for you to feed her, and that's a great picture of her horns just perfectly straight. Um, and uh, you know, that that's kind of the biggest thing why we wanted to do the website was just to show the cows. That's the whole goal is to show the cows. You don't you don't have to talk to me, you don't have to speak to me at a sale, that's fine. But you can see those cows at any time, and then I'll update the photos every month if you really wanted it to. You know, it's not a problem to me.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

Well, you gave us a five-star review when your site went live, and one thing that you noted in your review is that you really enjoyed working with Angie, who was your project manager. Uh, what what well thank you for the five-star review also? Um, what stood out though about the process? Like what made it, what were you surprised by about it being so easy?

SPEAKER_02 51:34

Well, um I think it was just the just the idea of of wanting to make it what how we felt it to look like, right? Um we went back and forth and had great conversation and good, good uh communication on what exactly we were looking for. Um and almost knocked it out of the park on the first try. And it was like, wow, that's okay, there you go, that's the one. And um, and you know, we had small tweaks and whatnot. But um I'm not always the best at replying emails. That's always been my biggest fault. I'm on the phone all the time, but yet my emails I completely forget. But um, there was a lot of patience in there, especially for me to reply, and and um uh, you know, when she asked for the photos for the cows and all of a sudden that well, that was our first run that ru run that going to taking photos for every single cow. Because you have your favorites where you might have more photos of, and then you have something that you don't have all photos for, any photos. But yeah, you you still see them every day to so to you you have mental photos. So it's it's interesting to try to portray what you see every day to put it on a website for somebody to see for themselves, you know. And I and we even noticed too on on the hired hand website, uh, you can put videos as well. And you can take photos and and more videos and watching them walk or watching them turn, or you know, I think there's one photo I have I took um right before Thanksgiving. I took I went out there to take more photos of the cows and I actually caught one of um one of our cows, um, Rainey. She was perfectly licking her tongue. And I got the whole photo right there of the tongue out. And I was like, perfect, that's gonna be your front page. You know, because they have emotions and they and they have they're playful and they're just and and they they want to um they want to be noticed.

SPEAKER_01 53:26

Well, do you think that if your dad could see the ranch today, he would be happy with what you've done with it, or what would he what would he say to you, do you think?

SPEAKER_02 53:36

I think he would be very happy. Um I think he'd he'd probably have more fun at the sales than actually sitting here watching cows. Um because my dad was one of those kind of guys where um he could walk into a room that knows that he don't know anybody and he'll probably walk out with 10 friends. And he's that and he's that kind of person where he's approachable, he's appealable. No one has any harm or foul mouth to him because he doesn't he did not um he didn't represent himself as that way. He represented himself as a very fun, uh appealing person, uh, with and could talk to a brick wall. It doesn't matter, you know, and he can make any kind of friend. And um, but no, we we um when we first started all this out here, it was just me and my dad doing all the work and and even still there was times where he was doing it all by himself. But now that he's passed, I see why he was always here before coming home and before bringing dinner home and whatnot. Was you you feel at peace when you're doing something that means a lot to you. As much work as it is if you're building a whole cabin or if you're building a fence, you know, it just it brings peace to you. I already know that if he was here, he wouldn't even give a dang about the cows. He would probably just be playing with my kids because that's that's all that's all it meant to him. I mean, he when before he passed away, he had eight grandchildren before he passed away. So it didn't matter about the cows, it was it was for the kids. So um and I know he if he was here, he would sit out there all day watching cows, or he would be um working on a building, but if there's a cow watching him, he's gonna watch the cow. But yeah, no, I I think for sure if he was here right now, he'd be so happy with the cows. He would love the cows. He probably picked other ones that I wouldn't pick. That's okay. I know how I know how my dad is. He he's gonna pick because of color. Um and he would he and my dad was very old school. He did not, he barely even know how knew how to use a phone, uh especially when we had to get iPhones instead of uh the the old school flip phones. Um once that happened, he figured out Facebook so he could talk to his family, and then that was pretty much it. So him and hired hand would not never have been friends. He would have been like, What the heck am I doing here? And then there would be a whole situation where I just do all that and he just me manages cows.

SPEAKER_01 56:12

But um I feel like though, if he could get on Facebook, I feel like maybe we could have got him on Hired Hand Live and he could have been bidding on some of those he wanted that you didn't.

SPEAKER_02 56:20

Yes, exactly. Well see was he I think that's the only that's the caveat. He could go onto there and look at him and buy cows when he knows he should not be buying cows.

unknown 56:29

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 56:30

Yeah, and then it turns into another road trip, which is fine. But it's always it's always when uh when he's comfortable is when he would make uh not complete thought-through decisions to where he would get himself in trouble if he if he had the chance. Yeah, definitely. Um even when I mean when when we look at the online sales, right? Because even even still you even if you go to the to the sale in person, you still get to see everything as if it is a catalog, you know. And maybe you don't maybe you don't get the sales catalog until you go, but you can have the website to look at everything that you want to weeks in advance and and say, okay, this one's definitely a maybe. This one I I would consider, this one not for me. This one, yes, for sure. And then you set yourself a budget for all of them, and then you go forward. I don't think my dad would have had a budget at all. He would just, if that's the cow I want, I'm I'm gonna get that cow. And and I'm and I'll just sit there and change. But no, I think I think he's definitely looking down on us, just enjoying, enjoying what we're doing, and not um he's probably jealous as heck right now that we're living out here now, full time. He he's always he always wanted to live out here full time. But I don't think he understood that my mom had very needs to uh amenities to to be okay with living out here. But yeah, definitely he I'm sure he'd be very happy right now watching these cows.

SPEAKER_01 58:07

Daniel's story is one so many ranch families can relate to. A promise made, a dream protected, and a legacy carried forward with a whole lot of heart. At CiestaQ Ranch, the Longhorns aren't just cattle. They're a reminder of a father's vision, a family's bond, and the simple joy of watching something you've built grow. One sunrise and one calf at a time. Daniel, thanks for joining us and for letting listeners step into your world. We can't wait to watch your program grow and to see how your new Hired Hand website helps you share your cattle with the industry. And to our listeners, until next time, remember to appreciate the pastures you roam and the traditions that make them special.