JOYCE, Wash. — Along State Route 112 on the Olympic Peninsula, just east of Joyce, there's something you can't help but notice: a steer that's truly outstanding in his field.
"Cowboy is his name, and he is a Holstein Friesian,” said Lindsey Crouse, Cowboy’s owner. She runs a horse rescue, but when she found this big boy abandoned on a California farm, she saved him too. All six-foot-four, three thousand pounds of him.
"We did break the Guinness world record,” said Crouse. Cowboy was measured on air by a California TV station in his hometown of Ramona, California. They never made it official with Guinness but Cowboy stood slightly taller than the record holder.
The stupendous steer didn’t like people at first, but Lindsey didn’t give up.
“We spent a lot of time working together and getting him to know that people are gentle, and now he's just like a big puppy dog,” Crouse laughed as Cowboy nuzzled her, searching for carrots, one of his favorite snacks. Snacks are important to Cowboy. He eats 100 pounds of food a day.
Crouse moved Serenity Acres Horse Rescue, and Cowboy, who’s the unofficial mascot of the operation, to the Olympic Peninsula. The rescued horses, mostly thoroughbreds from racetracks, live in Sequim, and Cowboy is being boarded in a pasture near Joyce for now. This stupendous steer is perfectly at home on his new PNW range, eclipsing all other cows, and getting double-takes from folks passing by the pasture.
“He’s very special to us and I hope he brings that same joy to everybody else. He's a very special animal,” laughed Crouse as Cowboy made short work of another big bag of carrots.
Serenity Acres Horse Rescue can be reached via social media or at (760) 688-9617. Look for Cowboy along the south side of State Route 112 about 5 miles east of Joyce
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