Gait and soundness in bulls ?

[hillsdown]

I have been reading about bull structure and this comes up alot.
So how much do you value this trait or do you even bother with the gait and feet placement as a judge in a good bull for structural soundness ?

I have one bull calf this year that we are retaining whose gait is dead on , each step he moves into the previous foot print the other 3 are about 1-2 inches off.

Walk
Look for a free-moving gait, with the hind feet stepping into the footprints of the front feet (see Figure 6 right). Overstepping or understepping are indications of structural problems, as are uneven footprints from the claws

.

 

[alacattleman]

i value it fairly well, too sickle hocked and they tend to over reach and bump their front, looks like their ass is bouncing off the ground. too post legged they walk like they got a cobb in their butt

 

[robert]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

 

[hillsdown]

That is what I was wondering, if the bull is very long but not that tall how can he move into the previous prints.. :?

More reading and more learning, but sometimes the experts opinions just don't make sense..


The one bull that I have that steps in the previous prints is the youngest and smallest of the group so I imagine as he grows that will change as well.

 

[KNERSIE]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

:shock: :lol:

Then you haven't seen too many 2200lb frame 5 sound bulls or have watched too many club calf shows.
A bull stepping that far short is almost certainly straight hocked or too upright in the pasterns or too short hippedor a combination of all three.

A free flowing easy gait is more important than stepping in the exact footprint of the front feet, but a sound bull is seldom very far off, even extremely long bulls will only just miss the footprint of the front foot.

 

[hillsdown]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

:shock: :lol:

Then you haven't seen too many 2200lb frame 5 sound bulls or have watched too many club calf shows.
A bull stepping that far short is almost certainly straight hocked or too upright in the pasterns or too short hippedor a combination of all three.

A free flowing easy gait is more important than stepping in the exact footprint of the front feet, but a sound bull is seldom very far off, even extremely long bulls will only just miss the footprint of the front foot.

That is what I am noticing with this years group. All but one touch the edge or just outside of the previous print (so like an inch or so off of being exact). So you are saying that that is alright ?
Now will this change as they mature, will it get further off or stay the same ?

 

[RD-Sam]

If they are stepping just outside they may be too short coupled if they don't look sickle hocked. It's possible they could grow out of it, but not too likely.

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

I have been reading about bull structure and this comes up alot.
So how much do you value this trait or do you even bother with the gait and feet placement as a judge in a good bull for structural soundness ?

I have one bull calf this year that we are retaining whose gait is dead on , each step he moves into the previous foot print the other 3 are about 1-2 inches off.

Walk
Look for a free-moving gait, with the hind feet stepping into the footprints of the front feet (see Figure 6 right). Overstepping or understepping are indications of structural problems, as are uneven footprints from the claws

.

Of course I bother with it. I watch them walk and if they arent stepping dead on I go to one that is. On RFD I always watch how the cattle are walking. If their back feet step exactly where front footprint is then they are sound

 

[alacattleman]

I have been reading about bull structure and this comes up alot.
So how much do you value this trait or do you even bother with the gait and feet placement as a judge in a good bull for structural soundness ?

I have one bull calf this year that we are retaining whose gait is dead on , each step he moves into the previous foot print the other 3 are about 1-2 inches off.

Walk
Look for a free-moving gait, with the hind feet stepping into the footprints of the front feet (see Figure 6 right). Overstepping or understepping are indications of structural problems, as are uneven footprints from the claws

.

Of course I bother with it. I watch them walk and if they arent stepping dead on I go to one that is. On RFD I always watch how the cattle are walking. If their back feet step exactly where front footprint is then they are sound

don't know about that,,, id have too see the rest of him to make that judgement

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

Well obviously when he is walking I am watching the rest of the animal to to make sure they are sound.

 

[dun]

I can live with half a print short but the fronts and rears have to track inline

 

[hillsdown]

Mine are all in a straight line just not exact in the same print but directly behind, so I guess that is pretty good then.

 

[RD-Sam]

You could test them for soundness like the Japanese do. I was watching a show on PBS last night and they match them over there to see which is the strongest and most sound, winners bring premium stud fees. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fu_vT6njlw&feature=fvw

 

[ollie?]

I see some back feet tracking closer together than front and I suspect it's where calves have been fed harder than they should have been. Can't last long if their back feet track too close.

 

[robert]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

:shock: :lol:

Then you haven't seen too many 2200lb frame 5 sound bulls or have watched too many club calf shows.
A bull stepping that far short is almost certainly straight hocked or too upright in the pasterns or too short hippedor a combination of all three.

A free flowing easy gait is more important than stepping in the exact footprint of the front feet, but a sound bull is seldom very far off, even extremely long bulls will only just miss the footprint of the front foot.

ok, I'll accept the challenge, I've got a bull that pretty well fits the bill for my description, I'll get a video clip of him walking and post it.

 

[KNERSIE]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

:shock: :lol:

Then you haven't seen too many 2200lb frame 5 sound bulls or have watched too many club calf shows.
A bull stepping that far short is almost certainly straight hocked or too upright in the pasterns or too short hippedor a combination of all three.

A free flowing easy gait is more important than stepping in the exact footprint of the front feet, but a sound bull is seldom very far off, even extremely long bulls will only just miss the footprint of the front foot.

That is what I am noticing with this years group. All but one touch the edge or just outside of the previous print (so like an inch or so off of being exact). So you are saying that that is alright ?
Now will this change as they mature, will it get further off or stay the same ?

That is perfectly acceptable, it won't change much as they mature. How the feet tracks tells you alot about soundness, but you still have to look whether the animal can walk freely and comfortably.

 

[KNERSIE]

I want the bull to track, left rear follows left front, right rear follows right front with a space between that is appropriate for the size/width of the animal. If the rear foot plants where the front one left then I'd say the bull is either short coupled or over stepping. In a mature bull weighing about 2200, frame 5 I'd expect to see a gap of about 6 to 10 inches between front and rear prints. But that's just me

:shock: :lol:

Then you haven't seen too many 2200lb frame 5 sound bulls or have watched too many club calf shows.
A bull stepping that far short is almost certainly straight hocked or too upright in the pasterns or too short hippedor a combination of all three.

A free flowing easy gait is more important than stepping in the exact footprint of the front feet, but a sound bull is seldom very far off, even extremely long bulls will only just miss the footprint of the front foot.

ok, I'll accept the challenge, I've got a bull that pretty well fits the bill for my description, I'll get a video clip of him walking and post it.

It will be interesting to see. Make sure you also get him from behind and take pics of his footprints.

 

[robert]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWjEHKQqDhQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyQPFIko ... re=channel

neither of these are particularly good video's, but I'm inclined to agree with Knersie that I was mistaken! The first video the bull (Future Trend) is a bit overconditioned and does have a tendency to short stride at the moment, however I will say he's the most athletic yet gentle breeder we've ever owned or bred, doesn't matter if it's an 800lb yearling heifer or an old granny cow, he never knocks them down and he always settles them!

 

[Northern Rancher]

A good moving bull should make a saddle horse get on the high trot to keep up with him when he's out checking cows. TRhe best travelling bull I ever had was a black south devon he could breed 80 cows in 60 days and look for more. the problem with those hogfat short strided children of the corn bulls is they get sore and end up being clumsy breeders. In a pasture with several bulls those ones end up with broken dinks and hipped. A bull should move out and being in UFC shape not sumo wrestler.

 

[RD-Sam]

:lol2: