Yep, you're both 100% right. Dairy cattle are basically a prison sentence.

We had regular cattle too, those amounted to looking at the pasture they're in and moving them around. Way less upkeep.

Red Angus, with some commercial cattle as ET recips. I don't know anything about "heritage" breeds. I'd recommend Red Angus for all but the very hottest parts of the USA (and other nations at similar latitudes): they tolerate heat better than Black Angus but after all most of the genetics did come from Scotland! They are very docile, and the breed organization emphasizes valuable commercial traits like calving ease, weight gain, and ribeye area. Red Angus bulls are a great cross if your herd needs better carcasses, maternal characteristics, or thriftiness. See http://redangus.org/ for more info.

Generally a bad idea when the cows need the pond to drink.