Young Henry |
Henry Kuykendall grew up in southern Illinois during the 1930’s and ‘40’s. On the home farm, they raised purebred hogs, sheep and cattle, along with running a successful hatchery business.
A friend of Ralph Kuykendall (Henry’s father) was none other than Arthur Allen. The ninth of ten children Henry was introduced to the special skills these dogs provided on a daily basis. A lifelong bond was formed between the young boy and the breed of dog that would provide for his family in the years to come
Henry began breeding Border Collies in the early 1960’s. All the dogs he raises still go back to the original foundation bitch — Pepper AIBC 2543. She came to Henry because she was a dog that required work to be happy. Bred to Fred (Roy AIBC 2496) this mating formed the Kuykendall Border Collie line of dogs. Pepper and Fred provided the best of Arthur Allen and Carol Shaffner’s breeding.
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Their 5 generation pedigrees includes such prominent ISDS dogs as JM Wilson’s Cap 3036, Glen 3940, Moss 5176, Whitehope Nap 8686, and Bill 9040 along with Kirk’s Nell 3514, WJ Hislop’s Sweep 3834, Thos. Wilson’s Dave 7900, Purdie’s Tam 3465 and Trim 2696, Millar’s Drift 4380 and Gilchrist Spot 3624. These dogs are key foundation dogs in the ISDS registry and of the modern Border Collie today.
The last pup Henry kept to put back into his breeding line is a product of this original bloodline 3 out of 4 times on the grandparents generation of the pedigree. These dogs are tough workers, tough mentally, contain loads of instinct, lots of eye and exhibit tremendous power and purpose.
Henry won his first trial ribbon with Fred (Roy AIBC 2496) at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA in 1965. |
Kent and Pepper |
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| From the Pepper X Fred mating came a dog called Charlie - AIBC 5039. A tough dog that Henry will tell you was one of the finest. However, good fortune was not on Charlie’s side. Traveling to Steeleville, IL to do a sheepdog demonstration for a 4th of July celebration, Charlie jumped a yard gate and broke a foot. A trip to the veterinarian to have the foot set resulted in Charlie never emerging from the effects of anesthesia. A wonderful dog gone at 16 months. A good friend, Arthur Allen, traveled to Steeleville the next day to do the demo for Henry and his devastated family. |
Henry and Jean |
Fortunately at home a young puppy (sired by Charlie) would soon show promise. Just a little bit of a thing, Jean NASD 13044 would develop into a dog with tremendous heart, desire and power. Nothing but tough ---- Jean! Henry competed with Jean at the Walnut Hall trial in Lexington, KY during the early 70’s. She and two other dogs were the only ones out of a field of 72 to pen the sheep that day.
During the early 70’s there were only a handful of trials in the US. Yearling ewes were hauled into the Walnut Hall trial straight from Texas with little or no exposure to a dog. -- these were the days of tough men and tougher dogs. Waiting back at the barn that day Jean had a litter of pups less than 10 days old. A tough, willful little bitch, she would lay it on the line every time out.
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From Jean came perhaps the most prepotent sire Henry ever owned. Jean was put to Jack Price’s Roy, another very hard dog. The outcome was Chuck NASD 13587. Chuck was sold as a pup but returned because he was too tough on stock and too tough to handle. Another good omen as the tradition continues! Chuck honed his power, prowess and working skills in the mountains of southwest Virginia on 40,000 acres of Stuart Land and Cattle Company.
Henry worked his dogs on a herd of 1500 brood cows and a flock of 2000 brood ewes. Many days found Henry astride a good little cow horse, riding the ridge with Chuck and Katie NASD 15328 gathering stock, one on either side. The Chuck X Katie cross continues in Henry’s lines and were the foundation for Henry’s sons dogs as well.
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Chuck at a Demo in Maryland |
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Supreme Champion Ewe
1965 Royal Winter Fair
Owned by Erdenheim Farms
Show by Henry Kuykendall
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Over the years Henry worked as a shepherd, was Secretary of the Border Cheviot Sheep Society, custom fitted and showed purebred sheep, established a livestock premix business and moved onto other endeavors including a custom imagery business. Throughout his life he never deserted the dogs who were so instrumental to Henry and his family. The majority of pups we raise still go to livestock producers, many still going back to Chuck and Katie.
Nearly 15 years ago Henry had the good fortune to meet John and Kay Thomas. A wonderful friendship ensued and as a result some outstanding dogs were imported to breed to the old Kuykendall line. Fortune and breeding were on Henry’s side as these dogs nicked well with Henry’s females. Henry currently has a line of John’s tough International Supreme Craig (ISDS 59425) descendants. The last in a line as a son of JR Thomas’ Don (ISDSS 108889) - Coon (ISDS 169984). Here was another tough dog. Coon sired his last litter of pups at the age of fourteen. |
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| Perhaps old for any dog, but this from a dog who had his neck broken early in his career. Laid up in a crate for six months, it was his mental toughness and wonderful care from John and Kay which enabled Coon to not only overcome his injury but to return to work on a farm with 1000 ewes as well as compete at the International level. |
Today will still find Henry near the top of the leader board at several trials. Currently retired, he spends a great deal of time with this special line of dogs and his purebred Border Cheviots. He can be seen across the country conducting Border Collie demonstrations which illustrate the instinct of the breed and showcase their special skills in herding stock.
This is a line where line breeding is the foundation of its success. Tough, powerful, intelligent, tenacious and loyal, they are a line of dogs that will get under your skin. They are not a dog for every person. However, if you have a need to move livestock and require some power and punch they are the dog for you. They will put it on the line every day, day in and day out. They exhibit a tremendous drive, determination and competitiveness necessary for handling stock for today’s livestock producer. This same drive and competitiveness is also requested by dog owners who compete in a variety of events as well. |
Demo with Belle
North American Livestock Expo
Louisville, Kentucky
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Henry Kuykendall - A Breed Apart
Profiles & Legends Story
Henry Kuykendall talks about breeding, raising and training Border Collies. |
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Henry Kuykendall began his association with sheep in 1948 with purebred Suffolks as an FFA project. He has shown sheep every year since.
He left southern Illinois in 1953 and moved to North Dakota to shepherd a flock of 500 registered Suffolks and 500 registered Columbias. While working on this farm Henry was responsible for the feeding and care of the sheep along with coordinating and running production sales, showing at state and national shows, and preparing rams for sale which included transport on rail car across the Rockies. While there Henry showed the both the Champion Suffolk and Columbia sheep at the Chicago International.
From North Dakota, Henry moved to Wisconsin starting his own flock of Suffolks. He continued showing at local and state fairs. |
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In January of 1963 Henry moved to Pennsylvania to take the shepherd’s position at Erdenhiem Farm. While there Henry developed one of the top Border Cheviot flocks in the nation.
A few of his winnings include:
- Supreme Champion Ewe at the Ontario Royal Winter Fair
- Champion Carcass Lamb at the Chicago International
- Champion Carcass Lamb at the Pennsylvania Farm Show from 1963 to 1973
Champion Breeding Stock at many state fairs including PA, OH, IL, IN, MD and such shows as The Portland International, The Cow Palace in San Francisco, and The Kansas City Royal and the Chicago International. During this time Henry was also judging many major shows and state fairs across the nation.
In the 1980’s Henry continued the development of the flock of Border Cheviots that he still raises today. By the mid 80’s he was showing quite extensively. Sheep campaigned from coast to coast. Many state fairs in the nation saw champion Kuykendall Border Cheviots. |
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| In 1987 our yearling ram Dominator was champion ram at 10 state fairs and champion Cheviot Ram at the North American Livestock Expo. In 1988 we again had a winning season culminating in the Champion Cheviot Ewe at the North American. In 1989 we were back again with the Champion Ewe at this show as well. We completed our show season in 1991 with both the Champion and Reserve Champion Ewe at the North American International Livestock Exposition. These two individuals were a set of twins out of an outstanding line bred ewe put back to her half brother.
As with the Border Collies this prominent flock of PUREBRED Cheviots has as its foundation - a very strong line breeding program. All the sheep in the flock exhibit excellent Cheviot type, color and wonderful conformation. As with the dogs, it is not uncommon to find 3 out of 4 generations on the grandparents pedigree to be of similar parentage. This flock carries all the genetic traits that are characteristics of the Cheviot Breed. Excellent mothers, good milkers, wonderful conformation, loaded with muscle, alert and active, they are much the same as they were when originally imported into the US.
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As Henry says — ”Any breed when bred to a Cheviot will show an improvement.“
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Henry Kuykendall & Lou Ann Coulter
2558 Hwy 22 North, Franklinville, North Carolina 27248
336-824-2736 (Home)
hkuyk@earthlink.net (Henry) - rmpe@embarqmail.com (Lou Ann)
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