Racial attributes to estimate the quality of your cattle.

The Head
The quality of the head, including the horns, is of significant importance when judging the quality of the animal and its breed.
Highland cattle have the largest and most noticeable head among all British cattle. The head should be in good proportion to the body. The distance between the eyes should be wide, while the distance between eyes and muzzle should be short.
The hair between the horns should be wide and long enough to reach down to the muzzle and the cheeks. The eyes should be bright and show courage, not fear, when the animal is excited. The muzzle should be wide with large and broad nostrils.
One of the most characteristic attributes of the Highland cattle is their horns. The bulls horns should be strong and grow straight out from the side of the head and bend forward and downward. It is important that the horns and head of a bull give an impression of strength and masculinity.
The horns of the cow can be shaped in many different ways, though as a rule, they tend to be slimmer than those of the bull. They are also bent upward instead of downward. The horns of both the bull and the cow should be symmetric and strong.

Body and hind quarters
The back should be very straight from head to tail without any irregularities, and as wide as possible. The body should be rather long, the chest should not be flat and the shoulderblades should not be loose.
The breadth of the hips should be very great and the quarters from the hips and backwards should be very well developed, as should the thighs and the rump side. The rump side should also not be too inclined but rather quite level. When viewed from behind, the animal should give the impression of a square form.

The legs
The legs are very important when judging all cattle, and even more so in the case of Highland due to the fact that they often wander in rough terrain and marshlands. The legs should be strong and straight with a sturdy bone structure and rich fur.
Highland cattle should have a relaxed and easy walk, which gives and impression of style and elegance when observed.

The fur
The reason that Highland cattle have such a rich and long fur is that they are adapted to the harsh climate of the cold highland winters. They should not be taken in for the winter but prefer some form of simple protection from the wind.
Highland cattle have two separate layers of fur. The outer layer is long and rough and is meant to protect the skin from moisture while the inner layer is soft and warm and functions as insulation which keeps the body warm.
The colour of the cattle spans from black to striped red, gold, and grey/brown to white, but the most common colours are somewhere between red and yellow.