Shadybrook Farm - A Program with a Plan ... and a Destiny
by Grant Alexander

If you have been interested in Shorthorn cattle for even a short period of time, it is almost a certainty that you have heard about this establishment or seen the Shadybrook prefix in the pedigrees of cattle in all parts of North America. Shadybrook Farm is located at West Brome, Quebec. It is located in the picturesque Eastern Townships approximately 70 miles east of Montreal, just north of the state of Vermont. This part of Quebec can only be described as beautiful, with its gently rolling hills and its quaint well kept towns. It is sometimes hard to remember that the mega city of Montreal is only a hour away.

Shadybrook Farm is owned by Mr. Lawrence Pathy, and the story of their introduction and becoming involved in Shorthorns is very interesting and quite unique. Mr. Pathy purchased the farm with the intention of it being a weekend home for his family. The farm had previously been a dairy farm, so it included a considerable amount of grass and pastures. Mr. Pathy felt that he should have some cattle to utilize the grass, so he asked his next door neighbour to purchase some. This neighbour was Royce Dustin.

He started looking for some Shorthorn breeders and eventually ended up on the farm of C. C. Warner, Lennoxville, Quebec where he purchased nine Shorthorn females. The year was 1973 and Royce says that he had no idea of what he was starting that day, nor did he realize that nearly thirty years later, he would still be associated with this herd and with it's owner, Mr. Pathy.

Over the next two years, they started visiting some Shorthorn herds and attending some Shorthorn shows to learn more about this breed and to see what it had to offer. It was at the 1975 Royal Winter Fair that they saw a Shorthorn female they considered to be the best and most complete they had seen. This female was Stone Oak Dutch Linda x and she went on to be Grand Champion Female for Val and Bev Kjernsted, Stonewall, MB. They also learned that this female was going to be shown at Canadian Western Agribition later that month at Regina, Saskatchewan.

When they found out that any female that stood first or second in the Agribition show that year had to sell in the sale, they decided that they needed to be in attendance. Royce travelled to Agribition and watched Linda again be named Grand Champion Female. In the sale following the show, Shadybrook purchased her for $2350. Royce recalls thinking that he had just spent an incredible amount of money for a Shorthorn female and he wasn't sure if he would have a job when he called Mr. Pathy and informed him of what he had done. Stone Oak Dutch Linda x set the standard for Shorthorns at Shadybrook and went on to become an outstanding producer. There are still descendants of this great female in the herd today.

The following spring Linda gave birth to a red bull calf which became the first Shorthorn to bear the Shadybrook prefix. This was Shadybrook Olympic x. He went on to become the first animal they took to a show and he won numerous awards for them. He was the first animal they exhibited at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, in 1977, and started a tradition as they have shown at every Royal since that time. Olympic x also became their first major herd sire and he left many good sons and daughters in the herd.

Over the next few years the herd continued to be built with purchases of females in leading sales throughout North America. Royce remembers going back to Agribition in 1977 and purchasing a heifer calf named Scotsmorr Valentine x*. This heifer was a 7/8 appendix heifer and she was purchased for $2100. He said some breeders were critical of them buying an appendix heifer, but they were determined to build their herd around the best they could find within the breed. He says this female also produced extremely well for them and there are still descendants of her in the herd, including a daughter.

It would be a near impossibility to name all the great females of the breed that have walked on the pastures at Shadybrook over the past three decades. They have come from many of the good breeding establishments in both Canada and the United States the cow families represented are a virtual Who's Who of the breed. Some of these females have started lines that are some of the best in the breed today. When they first saw HS Picture Perfect x at the Hoyt Central Dispersal Sale in Nebraska, they felt she was one of the best females in the breed at the time. This female was purchased and she went on to become one of the greatest donor females in the breed and descendants of hers can be found throughout all parts of North America. She has also produced many descendants that have won National championships in both Canada and the US A great granddaughter was Grand Champion Female at the 2001 Royal Winter Fair.

Shadybrook has always tried to use the best breeding bulls they could find in their herd. The first in a long line of great breeding bulls to be purchased was Waukaru Cinnsation. Cinnsation was purchased privately in 1982 from the Jordan family in Indiana, after completing a great show career in the US. This bull bred well for many years and left a great set of daughters in the herd. In 1985, they purchased JSF Lightfoot's High Five x, at Denver where he was Grand Champion bull and high seller at $15,000. Two sons of High Five x were retained as herd sires and they were full brothers named Shadybrook Pathfinder x and Shadybrook Trailblazer x. Their dam was Shadybrook Royal Vic x , who was a great show female that many considered to be a model Shorthorn female at the time. She won numerous championships throughout her career and truly left a legacy at Shadybrook. In 1988, SS Enthusiasm x was purchased in the National Western sale at Denver.

Two bulls that have had a major impact on the herd were bulls in which syndicate interests were purchased and they were used in the herd through artificial insemination. These bulls were Marc 1V x and HS Rodeo Drive 062WR x*. Both these bulls have had a big influence in the herd and they are still being used in the herd today. When we are talking about these bulls, Royce mentioned that no story about Shadybrook would be complete without mentioning the influence Rodeo Drive x* has had in the herd. He said that no bull they ever used did as much to correct the udders in their herd and many of their show winners and sale toppers carry his influence.

In 1990, a Rodeo Drive x* son , Shadybrook Traildriver x* was shown to US Reserve National Champion honours. Traildriver x* returned to Shadybrook after his show career to take on herd sire duties. He also became a leading A.I. sire in the breed, and he is still being used today. Byland Sparkler x was purchased in the 1993 Byland production sale in Ohio. One of his sons, Shadybrook Dreamer 2H x topped their Production Sale as a calf, at $8000 and went on to become the first two time Canadian National Champion Bull for Gary Wood and Ron Carter from BC.

In the spring of 1994, CHS Royalty x was selected from the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic, where he was Supreme Champion and high seller over all breeds at $11,000.

Royalty x became their senior sire once they saw his first calf crop and over the next few years, he sired many excellent offspring. One of the best Royalty sons produced was Shadybrook Royal Marc x. Royal Marc x had a very successful show career that included being named US National Champion Bull in 1999. He also served as a herd sire at Shadybrook, and there are a lot of excellent calves on the farm this year. Two of Royal Marc's first calves were headlined in the Shadybrook show herd last fall. Shadybrook Picture Perfect 3L x* won Grand Champion Female honours at the 2001 Royal Winter Fair. Shadybrook Centurion 18L x*, was shown at the side of his dam, who herself had been Grand Champion Female on two previous occasions at the Royal. Centurion x* was weaned after the Royal show and almost immediately left for Louisville where he was named Reserve Grand Champion Bull at the North American Livestock Exposition. What made this win sweeter was the fact that this show was the largest show ever held by any breed there with over 500 head shown. Centurion x* is presently seeing service at Shadybrook and he is one of the most impressive young sires around.

Deertrail Buckshot x was purchased from Deertrail Ranch in Kansas in 1997 and he had a major impact in the herd for several years as well. A son, Shadybrook Scotty 83K x is presently seeing service and he is an impressive, thick made bull whose first calves have indicated that he is a calving ease sire. SRS King of Hearts x was selected from the 1998 American Polled Congress and he was used for three years before being sold in their 2000 Production sale at $7700.

At the present time, there are five new sires seeing service and they are truly an impressive group. Byland Steadfast x* was purchased from Bigelow Farms in California. This bull has an impressive profile and is well muscled and correct and his first calves indicate that he is going to make a very positive mark in the herd. ArSuLu Final Answer x* came from the Bakenhus herd in Nebraska, and he is a bull with extreme length and muscle. His first calves look great! Another young sire that is very impressive is DF Gold Eagle x*, who came from Dedmon Shorthorns in North Carolina. Gold Eagle x* was the Senior Bull Calf Champion at Louisville last fall. This bull really looks great and he looks so much like their Centurion x* bull that it is hard to decide which bull is the best. Shadybrook Scotty 83K x and Shadybrook Centurion 18L x* round out the list of present sires. It is easy to see that some great things are on the way with this lineup of sires. They are truly one of the most impressive set of herd bulls anywhere. The Shadybrook cow herd is maintained at 100 females, with the only slight variations coming in the years they have their production sales. These production sales are held every two years on the farm. The first production sale was held in 1984 so the sale planned for this fall will be their 10th sale. This years sale will be included in the Eastern Canadian portion of the World Shorthorn Conference Tour and they are very excited about being able to host Shorthorn people from around the world. The sale is held in their large barn that was built in 1982. It was designed with movable pens making it easy to work and house the cattle. This building is 100' x 140' and it is used year round . The production sales have been very successful with most of them being listed among the top sales in North America for that year. Every year, breeders come from all parts of North America to select from the offering. Cattle have sold to every province in Canada except Newfoundland, and to virtually every part of the US. Shadybrook has also been a part of several production sales in all parts of the US., as a guest consigner. They also try to offer some of their best in most of the major sales in Canada and the US and they have topped these sales on numerous occasions.

The Shadybrook story would only be partially told if only the cattle that have been assembled were written about. The people involved are the reason this firm has had so many successes over nearly 30 years. Royce Dustin was the first farm manager and held that position for many years. He is still actively involved in the operation, and still retains overall responsibility for the farm, but is not responsible for the day to day work with the herd anymore. Lloyd Wright replaced Royce as Farm Manager, and has been working at Shadybrook since 1982. His first employment here was as a summer job while he was in college. After graduating from college, he returned to Shadybrook full time and has been there ever since. The Shadybrook team is rounded out with Kevin Dempsey, who handles the Herdsman duties. Kevin was raised with Shorthorns on his parents Ray and Janet Dempsey's (Cedar Grove Shorthorns) farm at Inverness, Quebec. He started working at Shadybrook for the summer months in 1993 and has been on staff full time since 1998. When you talk to these men about Shadybrook, it is easy to see that they all have the same dedication to this breed as does Mr. Pathy. Every person on the Shadybrook team knows their role in the operation and they work as a team. Mr. Pathy allows each of them to express their opinion on many of the decisions that are made.

The interest that Mr. Pathy has in the Shorthorn breed is quite remarkable. He annually attends as many Shorthorn shows and sales as he possibly can. He tries to make sure he is in attendance at any show or sale that Shadybrook has animals at, no matter how big or small the event is. He has never missed attending their local Brome Fair since they started showing at it. He also attends many of the major production sales throughout North America. To say that he is dedicated to this breed would be an understatement. He is currently in his second six year term on the American Shorthorn Association board of directors, and is the only Canadian to ever serve on this board. He also served as Vice President of the American Shorthorn Association.

Royce Dustin and Lloyd Wright have both served as directors of the Canadian Shorthorn Association. Royce spent 7 years on the CSA board and is a Past President of it. Lloyd is currently on the CSA Executive, serving as Past President, and he is in his seventh year on the board.

Mr. Pathy is a very strong believer in documenting as much information on his cattle as is possible. He has had his herd enrolled in the American SPR program since it started and every animal in the herd has complete EPD's. He has also had several animals in the herd tested for the GeneSTAR marbling gene marker and had the distinction of having the first Shorthorn female in North America (and the second in the world) to be homozygous for this. He has sent bulls to test stations in both Canada and the US for many years. He has selected the best animals he could find to use in his herd regardless of what branch of the breed they come from. As you walk through the herd it is very plain to see that it has been assembled with a definite goal in mind. The cowherd is very uniform in type and size, even though the bloodlines it has been developed from are very diverse. Mr. Pathy also uses embryo transplant technology extensively and several of the best females have become some of the breeds most prolific donors.

As I travelled to Shadybrook in early June, I could not help but reminisce about my previous trips to the farm. I wondered if the same thrill I have felt every time I have travelled there, would happen again.. This has occurred, on each trip, as I came over the last hill just before entering the town of West Brome. As you come over that hill, the first thing you see is a beautiful herd of Red, White and Roan grazing on lush pastures. It happened again on this trip, and for a moment, the world seemed to be a little better.

A trip to Shadybrook is something you will remember for a long, long time. If you have never made the trip to see this great set of Shorthorn cattle, you owe it to yourself to do so. It is truly one of the great herds of Shorthorns ever assembled... anywhere. You will also experience great hospitality and some incredible scenery, which makes this trip even more enjoyable. Shorthorn breeders should be grateful that we have one of the great breeding establishments in the world here in Canada.

From "The Canadian Shorthorn Report" 2002 World Conference Issue