Halter Broke or not

[txshowmom]

When purchasing a show heifer or steer does it matter to you if the animal is halter broke or not? Are you willing to pay a little more for the animal if it is halter broke/ How much more?

 

[Scotty]

It has been years since I brole one. Don't remeber them being all that hard. Some worse than others. But as I age I would spend a few mores bucks. I guesse it is like every thing else. How much is a little more?

Scotty

 

[la4angus]

When purchasing a show heifer or steer does it matter to you if the animal is halter broke or not? Are you willing to pay a little more for the animal if it is halter broke/ How much more?

I prefer to halter break them. That way I know it's done right.

 

[Double A Ranch]

We think that the haulter breaking process is the time that they can begin working on developing that special bond that they will need fro a long time to come. So no. :roll:

 

[rgv4]

I bought one calf that was already halter broke, I will never do it again. Everytime you moved a little it went wacky. Had to take halter off and start all over. :roll:

But, I didn't pay anymore for that calf than I have non halter broke calves.

 

[Ryan]

If i were to buy a show calf that was already "broke," i would probably still want to do some halter breaking of my own just to make sure i can work well with the animal. I dont think i would pay extra for a calf that was already halter broke, to me that is just part of the job if you have show calves.

 

[txag]

from the "seller's" perspective, i'll halter-break the calf if it's going to a young or small kid or a newcomer to the show scene at no extra charge.

 

[Ryan]

we halter break, well at least semi-halter break, all of our calves...makes it easier in the long run, just in case a situation arises where it would be beneficial to have the animal halter broke

 

[Double A Ranch]

Hi everone. To add more to my post above my daughter is new to show. Last year was her first year and she showed a steer at the local show. She didnt win but ti was a great exprience! It was not halterbroke when we bought it but lucky for us it was really sweet from the start. IT only took about 1 week for us to be able to lead it around. We now have a hefer and a steer and neither was broke when we bought them. I wuoldn't pay more for one that was.

 

[TheBullLady]

I would rather halter break one myself, only because I probably do it differently than others. We'll sell them either way, halter broke or not, but generally not for more $$. In selling one it depends a lot on who is buying. If they have the time and facility to do it themselves, I have to agree with a previous poster, it gives the owner more time to work with the calf and bond with it.

 

[kjerckie]

The ranch I got my bull from had him handled, halter broke and leading. I can lead him to trailer and he'll jump in. It was a real bonus for me. I continued training with staking him out on 60' of rope and he never fought the end, just calmly changed directions. I plan on halterbreaking any calves I start having in a few years. It made the experiance for me so much nicer and I'd like to share that with my future buyers. But on that note, I won't have more than 4 or 5 cows having calves here.

 

[rgv4]

from the "seller's" perspective, i'll halter-break the calf if it's going to a young or small kid or a newcomer to the show scene at no extra charge.

I won't sell one if it's not gentle enough to be halter broke by a newcomer or if not gentle enough to be shown by anyone of any age. That calf ends up going to the salebarn.

I have kept calves in our show barn for the kids and helped them halter break them, but, the kids and their parents do most of the work, I'm just here for reference.

 

[Lost Hope Ranch]

from the "seller's" perspective, i'll halter-break the calf if it's going to a young or small kid or a newcomer to the show scene at no extra charge.

I won't sell one if it's not gentle enough to be halter broke by a newcomer or if not gentle enough to be shown by anyone of any age. That calf ends up going to the salebarn.

Them old simbrahs can get pretty rank can't they.

 

[txag]

I won't sell one if it's not gentle enough to be halter broke by a newcomer or if not gentle enough to be shown by anyone of any age. That calf ends up going to the salebarn.

nice try attempting to interpret my words to your benefit.

no way is a 9-yr old little girl going to be able to break a calf. it doesn't matter how gentle it is, she's just not gonna be able to handle it. if neither she nor her parents have any experience in halter-breaking a calf or maybe even cattle for that matter, expecting them to break one could get someone hurt. it only takes me about 3 days to break one so it's no big deal.

I have kept calves in our show barn for the kids and helped them halter break them, but, the kids and their parents do most of the work, I'm just here for reference.

that's fine if they're neighbors. i broke one this year that's now almost 300 miles away. it would've been hard for that kid to come over & work with it in my barn.

 

[cowboybeef]

la4angus wrote:
I prefer to halter break them. That way I know it's done right.

i agree

 

[jaydill]

When purchasing a show heifer or steer does it matter to you if the animal is halter broke or not? Are you willing to pay a little more for the animal if it is halter broke/ How much more?

I prefer to halter break them. That way I know it's done right.

I agree. You need time to build the bond with them. I have a few friends who purchased their calves broke already and the calves never seem to really bond with them the way I bonded with mine.

 

[-bherefords]

i agree with jay all the way. i have always broke all ours but this last year..bought this heifer at an hereford all star sale she was on a halter a little while at the owners house then went and picked her up loaded her in a trailor went to a TCCA Weekend show won showmanship with that same heifer and also won my breed! Thats my only exception..

 

[AAOK]

Another note from the "seller's" perspective. We no longer show, but sell all our calves as Show Calves or Breeding bulls. I rarely ever have a prospective buyer just come out to look at the calves. I have to advertise the calves when they are ready to go, in order for people to request pictures, and/or schedule a visit. Because of this, I break every calf to lead, train to set up, condition, work hair, clip and groom. Then, I can get a quality picture to promote the calf "For Sale".

On the few occasions that I get a call about calves that are not "ready", I offer them at a $500 - $1000 reduction. Again, rarely do any buyers come to look.

Most all of my cutomers prefer to buy a Show Calf that is ready to drag into the Show Ring.

 

[ashwoods]

I don't think it really matters if they are broke or not. I like breaking them myself because then I can bond with them. Also, they learn to respect you. I wouldn't pay more a halter broke steer/heifer either.