Boran Breed Standards

General Appearance

  • The Boran is a medium framed animal with good muscling and weight for age
  • The body composition is in perfect balance
  • There is a much bigger difference between the size of the cow and that of the bull than in other breeds
  • Bulls are large and masculine while cows are smaller and very feminine
  • Both sexes display typical Boran Traits (Hump, capacity, skin, muscling, head, mouth, skin fold under the neck, condition, tail etc.)

Head

  • Compact and wide between the eyes
  • Prominent thick eye banks
  • Ears are relatively small with short hairs
  • The mouth is wide and the bottom jaw strong and deep with strong lips
  • The eyes, ears, mouth and nose are well pigmented
  • The head is well muscled and appears slightly convex when viewed from the side, this is due to the muscles above the eyes while the nasal bone is dry with no flesh

Neck

  • Deep and compact
  • Good attachment front and back
  • Bulls necks are strong thick, well muscled and darker in color
  • The prominent loose skin over the neck runs down and full over the chest

Shoulders

  • Deep, wide, well muscled and sturdy attachment
  • Fertile cows shoulders are fairly loose

Hump

  • Straight above and in line with front legs
  • Rounded
  • Well developed
  • Good attachment to body

Back and Loin

  • Long, wide, strait, strong and well muscled

Chest and Mid Piece

  • Wide and deep
  • Well filled behind shoulders and elbow
  • The ribs are well formed and deep leaning towards the rear of the animal. When viewed from behind it must not appear round or flat sided.
  • Stomach has got tremendous capacity (length, depth and width)
  • Deep flank
  • Viewed from the side the mid section appears square

Sheath

  • Not big and loose
  • Hangs with a slope towards the front
  • Ends in a V – shaped small and not fleshy sheath with good muscle and excellent control

Rump

  • Long from the hips to the pin bones and wide between the hips and between the pin bones
  • The rump must not be to roof shaped
  • The slope of the rump from the hips to the pin bones must be proximately 22.5 degrees
  • The hip bones must not be to prominent
  • The entire rump must be well fleshed with good muscling
  • The thurls must be placed lower than the pin bones

Tail

  • The root of the tail is not to prominent but must be slightly higher than the pin bones
  • The tail is long and narrows towards the point that ends in a thick well pigmented switch

Thighs

  • Must be wide well fleshed with good muscle when viewed from the side or from behind
  • It must extend low down towards the second thigh
  • The broadest part of the hindquarter must be at the stifle joint

Hind legs

  • Must be wide, strong with good angles (no straight hocks or sickle hocks allowed)
  • Must not be to fine or course of bone. The bone of the leg must be similar to that of the rest of the body.

Pastern and Hooves

  • Pasterns must be strong not to straight up or with to much of an angle
  • The Hooves must be symmetrical and straight up on the inside, short, deep at the back and fit well against each other with good pigment
  • The weight must be carried equally by both hooves
  • The front legs must be straight

Skin and Hair

  • The skin must be thick, loose and maneuverable, preferably with good pigmentation
  • The skin folds must not be over done and the skin must be covered with short glossy, oil rich hair

Udder and Sex organs

  • The udder must be well developed with pigmented medium size teats
  • The four quarters in good proportion to each other with good attachment of the udder to the front and well up at the back.
  • The vulva is well developed and pigmented
  • The scrotum is large with a thin attachment and must not hang lower than the hock
  • The testis must be of even size and the scrotum is soft and smooth with short hair
  • The scrotum must not be twisted and well pigmented especially on the lower parts

Walking ability (maneuverability)

  • The Boran has an easy comfortable gate with plenty of bounce
  • The legs and the hooves stay parallel to each other and do not swing inward or outward

Temperament

  • The Boran is calm, docile and easy to manage