Belle Fourche Farm

UPDATED: Belle Fourche Farm started breeding Dexters in 1989. We were fortunate to acquire some very nice foundation stock when the owner of the Rio Grande Herd in TX retired and decided to travel. This herd had been focusing on small sized, proportionate (non-dwarf) animals, which was exactly what we wanted. We have maintained several bulls at all times, in order to maximize genetic diversity and pair cows with bulls that best complement their traits. Our herd was largely built around a cow named Sooner P-Bar Sparkle, a lovely cow with great width and depth, good feet, and a well attached udder.

Hillview Dexters was founded in 1993, starting with stock from the Belle Fourche herd. The herd was largely built around a cow named Belle Fourche Sparklett. She was a daughter of Sooner P-Bar Sparkle and Belle Fourche William. William passed on his distinct look and smaller frame, (similar to the great-grandcalf of William in this photo). And, William’s dam had a perfect udder. The Hillview herd took a somewhat different route by using mainly British bulls by artificial insemination for the first 5 years. The herd then began keeping it’s own bulls that were a mix of British and American bloodlines. Eventually, the two herds (Belle Fourche and Hillview) merged, and both became Belle Fourche. The founder of the Hillview Herd turned 101 years old this February and is still involved in the selection of breeding stock.

The quality of the Dexter breed has suffered from a long history of breeding animals as pets. Our program is focused on feet, legs, and udders; the three categories that will shorten an animal’s productive life when conformation is overlooked. We have also focused on creating animals with better rear-end conformation, hook-to-pin length, and more hip. We have one of the most intensive polled programs in the Dexter breed, so virtually all our stock is born without horns. The Belle Fourche herd is also known for producing animals with a calm, friendly nature, and reasonable attitude. We are not focused on color, but do have all three colors (black, red, and dun) in our herd. Our breeding goals have remained very similar to what they were in 1989; small proportionate animals with good udders, good dual purpose characteristics, and gentle dispositions; the ideal family cow. After more than 20 years breeding for these goals, we have created a very consistent herd.