Pet longhorn roams near suburban homes

In Marin Hollow, deep in the Helotes Hill Country, lives a pet unlike the cats and dogs in the area. He’s Red the Longhorn, a mischievous steer that’s the color of rust-colored leaves. His horns stretch more than 6 feet, tip to tip, and slope like an old cowhand’s handlebar mustache. He weighs more than 600 pounds and is thick as an oil barrel. “He’s not fat. He’s just big-boned,” said Denise Moore, a neighbor he’s followed since he was a calf. “He’s a funny guy.” Red spends most of his day at Moore’s property, named Rachmones, which means compassion in Yiddish. Her husband, Craig Manifold, and their three children — Hanna, 23, Della, 20 and Caleb, 11 — all have stories of adventures with Red among the scrub brush and mesquite tree-lined fields. He’s photo-bombed an outside father-and-son portrait. He’s lapped up water from their swimming pool. And when it’s time to go home, he’s liable to gallop around Moore’s house, with his owner, Pat Langlinais, in hot pursuit...more