It hurts..

[Rafter S]

Makes me wonder...when do you back-hand a cow or calf to train them not to do something you don't like? I never hit any animal other than dogs....but i will know when the times comes, when i get angry i'll close the gap and chase. I only take issue when cattle get too friendly and spirited and want to play or test me...i had one calf that's 500lbs testing me...might back-hand her if she does her goat-swinging-head thing again to me. Got to put that to bed quickly. Cattle need to fear and move around their handler....I'm not a play toy.

I had a young bull get a little snorty one evening when I was walking in the pasture. I broke a beer bottle over the top of his head. He lost interest pretty quick.

 

[Travlr]

I had a young bull get a little snorty one evening when I was walking in the pasture. I broke a beer bottle over the top of his head. He lost interest pretty quick.

I've hear that you can bust a bottle of warm water over the head of a horse that throws its head up, and it will teach the horse to stop. I don't know, sounds a little squirrelly to me... but an old horse trainer told me so maybe it works.

 

[hurleyjd]

Honey locust thorn went clear through the sole of Mr TC's boots and impaled his foot a few years back. Swelled up like a tick and, based on the profanities, definitely hurt like a SOG.

I don't know if it's true, but have heard the thorns were used as nails in the 1800's.

Growing up here in East Texas we went bare footed as soon as the weather was warm. Stepped on thorns went deep and broke off. My mother would take a piece of pork fat and bandage it over the thorn. Within 24 hours the thorn would be on the meat.

 

[greybeard]

I've hear that you can bust a bottle of warm water over the head of a horse that throws its head up, and it will teach the horse to stop. I don't know, sounds a little squirrelly to me... but an old horse trainer told me so maybe it works.

Is it the water or the fact that ya just broke a bottle on the horse's head?

 

[Travlr]

Is it the water or the fact that ya just broke a bottle on the horse's head?

He said the warm water would make the horse think it was bleeding.

 

[CowboyRam]

I've re-strung and counter-balanced more than two handfuls of garage door openers in my life....your story makes me cringe. I've made up two special bars i use, vise-gibes (emergency, if i get tired or out of position) and with all the equipment ready-handy to torque down those set-screws. Sorry about your nose...that sucks big time for just a 3 minute spring tensioning.
Talking about tensioning...i'm probably the only one in the world where my own personal garage door (i re-cabled and tensioned when i was 26) i put the spring on the wrong side (didn't realize there were right and left handed springs...i just put in on the same side....so I had to set-tension AND pull-out the spring a foot else the door didn't close (hold both forces and set-the-screws). The spring sets all bowed -up and down on the turn shaft....it's rather an impossibility....but what's even more amazing is that spring installed backwards and tensioning backwards has been doing it's counter-weight job for 34 years. If it fails, and the spring is still good...i will move it to the correct side and tension it correctly. I can't be doing, the impossible stuff i did at age 26.

Well in my case with the garage door spring. I got in a hurry, and stupid all at the same time. Not a good combination when installing garage doors springs. It could have been a whole lot worse. The worse thing is I know better, I have done enough of them to know.

 

[TCRanch]

I broke my hand punching a cow on her eyebrow

That's how Mr TC broke his wrist years ago and I split open my knuckle last year. Punching a cow on the face is the equivalent of punching a brick wall - and it doesn't phase them a bit.

 

[TCRanch]

Cattle need to fear and move around their handler....I'm not a play toy.

I don't want my cattle to fear me - I want them to trust me. Cattle are prey animals and if they fear you, they're more likely to attack (like when you're trying to tag/work a newborn calf). If they fear you, you're also less likely to notice a health issue because as soon as you show up, they'll appear perky, raise their head, try to disguise a limp, pain, etc.

I'm not a play toy, but most of you know I'd be lying if I said they respected my personal space

 

[Travlr]

I don't want my cattle to fear me - I want them to trust me. Cattle are prey animals and if they fear you, they're more likely to attack (like when you're trying to tag/work a newborn calf). If they fear you, you're also less likely to notice a health issue because as soon as you show up, they'll appear perky, raise their head, try to disguise a limp, pain, etc.

I'm not a play toy, but most of you know I'd be lying if I said they respected my personal space

I'll take the middle ground. There is a sweet spot somewhere between absolute terror and inviting them into the house. Being safe around fifteen hundred pound (more or less) animals has to be done deliberately. Sometimes you need an animal to fear you enough to respect you, and sometimes you need an animal to be comfortable and willing. There is a balance to be found. I cull those that don't fit the balance I need to be comfortable.

 

[Nesikep]

Here's a hawthorn.. Vile things, but smell lovely right now





I'm with TC, mine don't know what personal space is, but I get good and mad if there's any pushing and shoving around me.
No, they have no clue about personal space

 

[Nesikep]

Makes me wonder...when do you back-hand a cow or calf to train them not to do something you don't like? I never hit any animal other than dogs....but i will know when the times comes, when i get angry i'll close the gap and chase. I only take issue when cattle get too friendly and spirited and want to play or test me...i had one calf that's 500lbs testing me...might back-hand her if she does her goat-swinging-head thing again to me. Got to put that to bed quickly. Cattle need to fear and move around their handler....I'm not a play toy.

I will slap or punch them with all I've got if they're misbehaving, and usually say "BE NICE"... and they know what those words mean too! I'm nice as long as they are!

 

[TexasRancher]

My cattle understand "No!" and "Stop" & "Stay!"...basically meaning don't move. When I say I like my cattle to fear me...what i mean is...a light touch to their sides and they will move away from me. All the heifers and cows move with just a finger touch....the bull, well, not so much...but he behaves like a cow when the corral gates are closed. I've never hit any...yet. I'd only do it if one was really misbehaving. I believe they would feel my punch...backhand to the side of their snout...deflecting and moving their head 12". I wouldn't hit directly to their frontal head.

 

[BFE]

I had a close call with a cow, I was trying to tag her calf, and she didn't like that. She chased me away, and stopped when I placed my hand on her forehead. I guess by that time I was far enough away from the calf that I was no longer a threat. I have been kick by a cow, that bruise was not near as bad as when I had gotten kicked by a calf; I guess I got lucky on that one. Once I did get a sprained wrist when I got smashed between a gate and a couple steers when helping my uncle at his ranch when I was in my early twenties.

Now I have some good stories for some brain farts I pulled while doing construction. I once put a three inch nail all the way across the palm of my left hand; I still feel that in the winter when the weather changes. I have rode a ladder down the side of a wall. I once time was on the scaffolding and need to get just a little bit higher so I was standing a concrete block, I had to move over a bit and the board was cantilevered over, well it went down and the block slid down right along side of me. One time I got in a fight with a garage door spring and lost; it tore my wristwatch off, knocked my glasses off and bent then up, tore a small chunk out of my nose, and a few little scars on my forehead.

Oh, garage door springs! You'll all love this one!

Back in the 2000's the meth boom hit here like a tornado. There was one particular gentleman the law chased for months, nearly caught several times, but he managed to escape time after time in the whoops and hollers of the Pond Creek area in Wayne County, which has a long history of gangster activity. Eventually he was caught, did his time, is now clean, working every day, and saved by grace from what I hear.

However, during his dark times on the run he was holed up somewhere and was working on a garage door. Legend has it a spring knocked his eye out, and him unconscious for a short short. He came to and found his pit bull eating the eyeball! Talk about adding insult to injury!

The dog was also a victim of the meth boom, law enforcement shot him during a failed attempt to catch the owner, who was surprisingly apprehended in an uneventful fashion. This series of events was in the local news for months, and it was expected not to end well when he was caught. Thank the Lord it all ended well in the long run.

 

[hurleyjd]

Here's a hawthorn.. Vile things, but smell lovely right now

View attachment 17193



I'm with TC, mine don't know what personal space is, but I get good and mad if there's any pushing and shoving around me.
No, they have no clue about personal space

View attachment 17194

Have you and your father kissed and made up

 

[Nesikep]

Have you and your father kissed and made up

Nope, haven't spoken yet

 

[Rafter S]

I'll take the middle ground. There is a sweet spot somewhere between absolute terror and inviting them into the house. Being safe around fifteen hundred pound (more or less) animals has to be done deliberately. Sometimes you need an animal to fear you enough to respect you, and sometimes you need an animal to be comfortable and willing. There is a balance to be found. I cull those that don't fit the balance I need to be comfortable.

I agree. I want mine to slowly move away when I approach them. Running at me or away from me earns a trip to town.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Have you and your father kissed and made up?

You can meet the nicest people on these forums.. eeeesh....

 

[Ky hills]

I’m the worlds worst when it comes to going to the doctor, so I try walk everything off. I’ve got an inner ear condition that causes dizziness and balance issues. Stepped off a tractor years ago, and twisted my ankle. When I stood up and put weight on it I went back down. It swelled up something awful and my whole area around turned black and blue. Never did go to the dr over it, since then it don’t look like my other ankle, and if I’m on my feet much I feel it that night. Fast forward about 15 or so years to a couple winters ago. Done the same darn thing stepped of a different tractor to cut strings off a roll of hay, and stepped on uneven ground.
I’m hard of hearing but I swear I heard a sound like a tree a cracking and associated it with my ankle and leg.
Same one as before, and same story, it looks a little different now this time too. I hobbled around for a while but walked it off too.
Wife always wanting me to go to dr, so finally broke down and went, now I’m in a 3 month rotation apparently with the primary care physician, then he referred me to a ENT for inner ear condition. I gave up on those when I was 20 and walked of the office after the dr started setting up for another procedure. Hadn’t been back to one for 27 years till the other day, and that one said I had a ear infection. I figure if I actually do have one it’s a byproduct of Covid from a few weeks ago. Funny how I ain’t been bothered with ear infections for the 27 years I stayed away from them drs. Walk it off walk it off

 

[beefgirl]

I've hear that you can bust a bottle of warm water over the head of a horse that throws its head up, and it will teach the horse to stop. I don't know, sounds a little squirrelly to me... but an old horse trainer told me so maybe it works.

I’ve heard that also. They say the horse thinks it hit its head and is bleeding and that they stop throwing head up/rearing

 

[Nesikep]

I’ve heard that also. They say the horse thinks it hit its head and is bleeding and that they stop throwing head up/rearing

I heard of breaking an egg over their head for the same effect