“On my outfit (Frank Eathorne of Douglas Wyoming) I run beef cattle. But I also raise Corrientes and keep a set of roping steers year ‘round. Summertime and green grass pasture grazing make the stock contracting business easy. To the contrary winter time is a bit more challenging. I’ve tried to pasture steers in the winter and supplement with alfalfa hay and lick tubs with marginal success. Energy is the common missing component.
The winter of 2000 1819 brought more challenges to the equation as winter roping‘s have been extremely popular, greatly increasing the number of runs for these cattle during a weekend. The cattle were becoming undeniably fatigued. From cold pastures and lots, to three hour hauls and then unloaded into warm, humid barns and ran 6-8 times every two to three weeks on average; the work load was heavy.
A solution was needed as this set of roping steers had a steady schedule ahead of them. There are no replacements until fresh cattle are weaned and trained to rope and that is not ordinary until March/April at the soonest.
I recall talking with Steve Campbell of Tailor Made Cattle not only about ACV, but remember him mentioning something about apple juice. Picked up the phone and called Steve and he described a product he has and called it Apple Jack, the heavy leftovers from processing the clear fermented apple juice. Steve added that the Apple Jack contained both the liquids from the Organic apples and the solids where the protein, enzymes and vitamins are more concentrated.
Sounded like it be worth a try so I bought a tote of the applejack. Five days before the next roping I kept the cattle in and provided an average of 8 ounces per head poured on top the hay.
The results have been nothing short of dramatic. Energy levels were noticeably increased. The cattle acted and performed with much more enthusiasm. The individuals that were acting very close to quitting picked up a gear and sometimes two. The medium and faster cattle also picked up speed, nearly 25% were running as fresh and hard as they ran seven months prior. I will continue to supplement these cattle with Apple Jack and add apple cider vinegar as needed. I am convinced of the results of these supplements and would recommend them to anyone.”
W Frank Eathorne