Welcome to the Blog & Website!!!

Scroll down to find fun photos & blog posts about our life here at Cross B Cattle Company!

Glad you found us!  Take a minute to browse through the livestock we offer and see if there is something you can’t live without.   We have a great selection of quality cow-bred prospects available, as well as mares, and some not listed yet.  Let us know what you are looking for and we’ll do our best to find it for you.   Check out the cattle page to learn more about our Red Angus breeding program.  Please contact us with any questions, thanks!

Tony, Allison, Lane, Carson & Henley Ballinger

Stock Show Season

Well, it’s a wrap!  For a little while anyway.  It seems as soon as we finish one stock show season, we are through the summer and the fall is upon us to prep new heifers, a goat, etc for the next year.  We have just finished our 3rd show season hauling Carson to all the majors here with his Red Angus Heifers.  We didn’t have as successful a year as last in the show pen, but our success is teaching the kids responsibility, manners, giving them opportunities to be leaders, and as always, good times with our stock show family.  Many thanks to all our friends and family who helped with fitting, late night unloading, and coaching- we couldn’t do it without you   Here are some favorites I pulled from a huge gallery of images form this season you can find by clicking here!

These are from our county show- check out the bow Henley put in the pony’s forelock!

Charlie didn’t appreciate the ring man pushing her along!

Sweet Mulberry, Carson’s older heifer big and broody at FW Jr Heifer Show….

Henley had her first official show this year at the FW Stock Show Open showing Sammy…..

Some of our family and friends in the stands supporting the kids….

Check out the lead singer RANDY OWEN of ALABAMA in the stands watching Carson show!!!!

A time for rest….

Carson finally figured out it’s ok to smile and enjoy himself in the ring…..  some from San Angelo.

Henley keeping herself entertained as usual with a show buddy (in her ever-popular jegging/boot combo)!

Getting Charlie set up just right….

Carson has really come a long way in his showmanship….

San Antonio….

Such a trooper waiting and entertaining herself at all the shows for Bubba….

She loves all the animals…

The last leg, Houston.  He finally got to show his pair, and opted to show Marvin the calf, and let Audrey show Mulberry for him.  They both look so serious staring down the judge

“Catching” Up

As I begin trying to get caught up on long overdue blog posts, I’ll begin with some fun images from last summer when Carson was working on his roping.  Since we have just wrapped up another stock show season with the heifers, it’s time to get focused on the horses again.  Carson and his buddy Sawyer spent a week of evenings with Sammy taking roping lessons.  This was great one on one time for them to have before Carson went back to camp at the McNeill’s Reined Rope Horse sessions.

And a few from Reined Rope Horse Camp….

BOGO Weanling Sale!!!!

***UPDATE! ALL BABIES HAVE BEEN SOLD! THANK YOU!!!***

Please keep us in mind for next year’s foal crop, don’t miss out!

BOGO = Buy one, get one FREE!!!!  We need to downsize our herd drastically, which means you get to take advantage of a great deal… Buy one weanling, get one free!  Don’t be fooled thinking these are anything short of the quality we raise every year, there’s lots of color and good substance to go with these proven bloodlines.  Click here to see what is still available!  Email us at taballinger@embarqmail.com for more info!

A few testimonials & offspring of CBCC

Every now and then we get calls or emails from customers who have really done well with their horses we have raised, or are just loving their dispositions and enjoying them.  Just wanted to share a few pics and stories, and of course don’t forget Josh Peek’s pics & thoughts on “Nitro” here!

The same family that originally owned “Nitro” have been return customers over the years.  The Greens have been very successful on the gray gelding shown below by our old stallion Tarplay (Freckles Playboy x dtr. Doc Tari).  There are a few of Tarplay’s good daughters in our mare herd that produce beautiful babies.  The gelding on the right is a prospect they recently bought by Sprat, as well as another Sprat gelding they still have at home. 

The cute palomino gelding below by Sprat is one of several we have swapped over the last few years with Sammy Slover for helping us with colt starting and training of rope horses.  Sammy said “I have been training and using the horses from Cross B Cattle Co. for a while, from doctoring in the pasture to winning in the arena- they have the breeding, minds, and overall toughness to get the job done!”  He can be seen here riding our stud Shiner.

This is a mare below that the Kirbys bought from us a few years ago.  They have raised several good babies out of her.  The gelding on the left is by Sprat being started last spring.

Kary McNeill, below, has trained several of our horses, too.  He has made reiners, cowhorses and rope horses out of them…

These are a few babies raised by the Gryder family- by Shiner and Sprat.  Shiner’s oldest babies are coming 2 and we’re really excited to see how they do under saddle!

Clayton Eggers has bought several horses from us over the years, one of them being this nice calf horse gelding we raised by Tarplay and out of Peppy Fourteen.  He made it to the AQHA Youth World Finals as well as racking up many other AQHA points.  The mare and gelding below are also horses we sold to Clayton… the Sprat gelding made a great reiner/cowhorse, then went on to break an arena record as a barrel racer!

Both the young geldings below are by Sprat and owned by the Justin Williams family.  He bought these horses off of photos we sent and never looked back!  He keeps us updated on their prograss, and seems to have made a trick horse out of the gray!

Wishful thinking…

We’re praying for some much needed rain in this drought-stricken land!

Hogs gone wild!

So, as most of you know, we have a HORRIBLE problem with feral pigs in this area.  They are so destructive to our land and get into feeders intended for the livestock and deer.  They cost farmers and ranchers hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, per year.  Pigs tore up so much of our coastal field this year that it makes running hay equipment over it difficult and damaging.  They have disease, and are in general, a nuisance.  Yep, we like to raise ‘em in all colors as seen below

Here’s Macy putting the heat on the PIG MAFIA!!! Check out the turkeys in the background watching the pursuit!

***Now, fair warning, the following images are a bit graphic… ***

Tonight Carson and Tony were out deer hunting and as usual, there were plenty of hogs out in the wheat to pluck off a few for fun if the deer aren’t moving.  But this evening, Carson took one of the biggest boars we’ve ever shot…  He was every bit of 300lbs!  And check out those razor-sharp tusks that will cut like a knife.   I think we’ll call him…

HOGZILLA!!!!

On a lighter note…. here’s a more recent pic of Lily.  Long story short, Dad’s bird dogs brought her up out of the pasture at about 10 days old.  And guess who ended up bottle feeding and raising her?  Yep, these suckers   As you can see, three years later, she’s well fed on ADM cattle feed and isn’t lacking in the department of love either!

Shiner & Sprat

Some pics of Sammy and Shiner from last spring….

I told Sammy to keep his tongue in his mouth while we were shooting, but I guess he forgot

And here’s one of Sprat with the kids this fall…

Gentle Reminders of HIS Grace

Today is Good Friday, the day that our Savior died on the cross for our sins, allowing us a home forever in Heaven by His side.  Three days later he rose from the dead, and will soon, one day come back to take us home   In the meantime, we are blessed to be here to witness to those who do not know Jesus as their personal savior.    

We are all guilty of getting caught up in the business of life….  we seem to just go and go, and never slow down.   God DOES want us to rest and slow down sometimes, and in these moments we can be gently reminded of His love for us and presence in our lives.  I just wanted to share a few images of things that I have seen here at the ranch that daily remind me of God’s glory.  Happy Easter, friends!

These three trees are in the pasture directly in fron of the house, and when lined up right, remind me of the Trinity…

And this cedar fence in our yard makes the perfect rugged cross…

This is an image of one of the first storms that would bring our burning countryside some relief from the fires at the lake the week prior to Easter…..

Barbed Wire

Here are 2 shots of the same subject, just different perspectives.  The first is backlit by the sun, the second has full sun lighting.  They say not to mix horses and barbed wire- this is just a minor incident of the two mixing, it could be much worse….

More than just pretty…..

Here’s a great commercial about the value of Red Angus cattle in the feedlot industry produced by the Red Angus Association of America…..  watch for their Red Angus episode of the American Rancher next week on RFD-TV!