The Brahman Foundation announces the Emily Dial Memorial Scholarship has been established in honor of the iconic and legendary Brahman breeder.
Emily Koontz Dial, 1937-2025, was a dynamic and forceful individual who was known for being fearless, determined, creative, tough, tender and magnetic. Born in San Antonio, Texas in 1937 to Mary Armel Keeran Koontz Baker and Henry Clay Koontz II, Emily spent her childhood years on the 3X Ranch in Placedo, Texas riding ‘Little Red’ bareback, working cattle with her mom, teasing the ranch hands mercilessly, and collecting a menagerie of pets. She and her brother, Henry Clay, were schooled by tutors on the remote ranch until high school. The stream of tutors came and went quickly as the two siblings pulled constant pranks to get rid of them, knowing that they would have a long holiday before their mom was able to find a suitable replacement.
In 1957, she married her high school sweetheart, Joe Dial. As co-owners of the 3X Ranch in Victoria County, Joe and Emily spent the following decades developing an enterprise that included crops, registered and commercial cattle, registered horses, and four children along the way. Her innate expertise in breeding championship stock propelled the 3X Ranch to a globally recognized brand of excellence for registered Brahman cattle and Quarter horses. As buyers from over 12 countries and across the United States purchased from the 3X Ranch, its renowned status was solidified.
Brahmans were part of Emily’s heritage as her great grandfather, Captain John N. Keeran, with a partner bought five ‘Bos Indicus’ Brahman cattle from India off a Dutch trading ship docked at Indianola, TX in 1878. This was the first importation of humped cattle in Texas. Yet it was Emily’s unique breeding style that influenced red and gray herds around the globe, winning her 300+ National and International Championships. She sold many cattle for record-breaking prices in her day– for example, a quarter interest in MR. 3X MUCHO GRANDE sold to Argentina for $50,000 in 1974!
Bending gender roles, Emily was the first ever woman Brahman cattle judge, judging in Australia, South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala as well as throughout the United States. Not only was she a cattle judge, she also judged horses as well. The current generation of female Brahman breeders/judges stand on Emily’s petite but powerful shoulders. In 2005, Emily was inducted into the American Brahman Breeders Association’s Hall of Fame ‘signifying her love, devotion, and many contributions to the American Brahman Breed’.
Memorial contributions may be made to:
The Brahman Foundation ‘Emily Dial’ Scholarship Fund at www.thebrahmanfoundation.org or mailed to:
1730 North Richmond Rd., Wharton, TX 77488.