23 September 2015

The world's tallest cow


"Blosom," a Holstein in Illinois, was 6'4" from hoof to withers. 

Posted in memory of my maternal grandfather, Knut Olaus Finseth, who was president of his local Holstein-Friesian association in Minnesota and who drew maps of his cows' spot patterns in case they wandered from the farm.  That wouldn't have been necessary with this remarkable cow.

Via Gerard Vlemmings' classic blog, The Presurfer.

4 comments:

  1. ChrisJuly 11, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    Typo alert: Illinois

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    1. MinnesotastanJuly 11, 2015 at 4:47 PM

      Fixed. Thanks, Chris. (I really wanted to "fix" "Blossom," but I double-checked several sources and that's apparently how the family spelled the cow's name.

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  2. nolanddaJuly 11, 2015 at 2:29 PM

    "Withers" is a new word for me, but I already knew what is apparently a related word, withershins (sometimes spelled "widdershins").

    They appear to be related through Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against") since the withers are the parts of the animal that oppose the load and withershins is to go against the direction of the sun.

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    1. MinnesotastanJuly 11, 2015 at 4:45 PM

      I didn't know the words were related. Thanks, Dan.

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