Horns on Highlands - What Should they Be?

Why do we all love this magnificent breed? What attracted us to them in the first place? Was it their high quality beef, their versatility and hardiness, or their extremely docile nature? I would not be stretching the truth to say that nearly all were attracted to the Highland breed by their ‘look’.

This natural, majestic eye appeal is a package that is difficult to break down but surely stems form the hair and the horns for the most part. While hair is genetically controlled with its expression being influenced by climate, season and gender (mature bulls having a lot less), horns have only genetic influence as to their size and shape, except for the occasional accident that may cause them to be mis-shapen.

There are often some breeder preferences to how horns should look on a Highland cow or a bull. Both the UK Breed Standard and the Australian Breed Standard describe classically what the appearance of the horns should be.

(Wondering how they get through a race or crush –  Read about yard & crush design for Highland cattle.)

A Highland Female’s Horns:

These are narrower at the base, longer and finer at the tip than those of a bull. They can take one of the two classical shapes shown but should always rise after exiting the head more or less horizontally. They suggest majesty and femininity.

A Highland Bull’s Horns:

Bulls horns suggest masculinity and strength. They  more or less come out from the body level with the ground and curve slightly forward. They may rise slightly towards the tip but nothing more than this.

Variations of the Classical Horn Set:

What Happens to Horns as the Animal Grows:

An interesting progression to watch for those new to the game is how the horns grow out in younger animals. Of course all Highlands are born without horns, or better to say, tiny little horn ‘buds’. Most bulls & heifers will have their horns grow out from their heads more or less horizontally, or with a slight upward inflection in some. By 18 months, a heifer’s horns will usually be starting to curve upwards gently and between 2-3 years old they will be taking their mature shape. After three years of age the growth continues but at a much slower rate, reaching some extreme proportions in particular animals.

7 month old heifer	9 month old heifer
12 month old heifer	13 month old heifer
18 month old heifer	18 month old heifer
21 month old heifer	23 month old heifer
28 month old heifer	Mature cow

Damaged Horns:

Horns can be damaged when the animals are young (especially up to 7-8 months old) and this damage can change the direction of the damaged horn and make it appear crooked, or not symmetrical. It appears that some animals, and some lines, have genetically weaker horns and are more prone to injury. A perfect young heifer’s horns will have a hooked tip on them until around 18 months of age. If these ‘hooks’ are present, this suggests there has been no trauma and that the animal will have a lovely set of horns when mature.

Horns on Steers:

Steers are interesting because when they are not dehorned, we notice that their horns will grow quite long and usually in an upward form more characteristic of a female. It is thought that the male hormone, testosterone, keeps a bulls horns down, and the lack of that hormone allows upward growth (as in females and steers).

Some ask why we don’t just dehorn all our Highlands, because they are actually a beef animal and you don’t eat the horns! While we do this for all our steers, we feel we should be breeding Angus or Galloways if we didn’t want to look at the horns. The horn set is as much a part of the Highland breed as the centuries of rich history that surround these magnificent cattle.