Runner

[FredS]

My daughter's new heifer wants to run when she leads her. She doesn't have the strength to hold her back. How do break one from doing this? I have some panels and I thought about creating a little pen to work her in and then gradually increase the size. What do yall think?

 

[certherfbeef]

A stick across the end of the heifer's nose seems to work well on this place. Everytime they start to get in a hurry...give her a smack.
The small pen is also a good idea. That way the calf can't get clear away and start yet another bad habbit.

 

[milkmaid]

I would have started with the small pen. Something either small enough or a rope long enough that you can comfortably stand in the middle while the animal tries to escape. When they finally settle down - ha, you're still with them.

How long have you had this heifer/how long have you worked with her?

Tieing the animal seems to help in that they learn to respect the rope and that they cannot get away. That's where I always start, so they never learn how big they are. Never a bad idea to revisit the basics either.

Can't say as I've ever been particularly in favor of parents doing most -or really any- of the work for their kids so long as the child is able, but this sounds like a situation where you do need to give your daughter a hand. If she can't hold the calf, then it becomes your job to get the calf broke enough she can work with it. And then it's her project again. ;-)

 

[kaneranch]

I had the same problem with my show heifer. Every time she tried to run away I would be sure to keep her head up. If you can keep her head up she can't run off. Small pen might work also. THanks Kaneranch

 

[AAOK]

A stick across the end of the heifer's nose seems to work well on this place. Everytime they start to get in a hurry...give her a smack.
The small pen is also a good idea. That way the calf can't get clear away and start yet another bad habbit.

I agree, about the smackin' the heifer coss the nose. Have done it and it works.

FredS,
Cows are mighty stupid, but they'll learn a lot quicker from reward than any other method. Tie her with about 24" slack low enough to get up and down. Hold her from Feed and Water for 24 hours. Set her water about 5 feet away, untie, but stay dalied up to a rail or something and slide her down to the water. Let her drink, and then slide her another 5 feet to her feed. Just increase the distance at each feeding, and lead her when SHE has bulit her confidence in you. Don't forget to get in her face, scratch her head and below her ears, and tell her how good she did each time. She'll come around quickly!
(The long rope works well too, just don't ever let one get loose.)

 

[milkmaid]

A stick across the end of the heifer's nose seems to work well on this place. Everytime they start to get in a hurry...give her a smack.
The small pen is also a good idea. That way the calf can't get clear away and start yet another bad habbit.

I agree, about the smackin' the heifer coss the nose. Have done it and it works.

Except when they get scared and scramble backwards, snot blowing and wild eyes, fast as they can.

It had better be a really well broke calf - or at least one that really respects the rope - before I'd consider smacking them. Not just any 'ol wild calf.

 

[FredS]

Thank you for the responses. I can't figure out this heifer yet. At the show today, she was great in one of the rings. In the second ring which was larger, she tried to run twice. My daughter, all 70 lbs of her, was able to get her stopped. I'm afraid the heifer is going to run/push her in the wall. A parents worse nightmare.... your child smashed against the wall and you can't get there fast enough to help her. I would hate for my baby girl to get hurt. She, the heifer, will be doing great, then all a sudden decide to bolt. It seems to be fright driven or maybe a bordem problem. Do you think I should try the calf calm stuff? My daughter has been working with her each day for about an hour (walking her,setting her up, and washing and brushing.) She has these blow up when she is working with her as well. Any suggestions on how to deal with them is greatly apprecaited. Sometime I think I see improvement and other time I feel we should sell this calf. The heifer is not great, but she is the one my daughter picked.

 

[ollie']

Thank you for the responses. I can't figure out this heifer yet. At the show today, she was great in one of the rings. In the second ring which was larger, she tried to run twice. My daughter, all 70 lbs of her, was able to get her stopped. I'm afraid the heifer is going to run/push her in the wall. A parents worse nightmare.... your child smashed against the wall and you can't get there fast enough to help her. I would hate for my baby girl to get hurt. She, the heifer, will be doing great, then all a sudden decide to bolt. It seems to be fright driven or maybe a bordem problem. Do you think I should try the calf calm stuff? My daughter has been working with her each day for about an hour (walking her,setting her up, and washing and brushing.) She has these blow up when she is working with her as well. Any suggestions on how to deal with them is greatly apprecaited. Sometime I think I see improvement and other time I feel we should sell this calf. The heifer is not great, but she is the one my daughter picked.

She sounds more spoiled than scared. Has she got away before?

 

[FredS]

Ollie,
I think she is spoiled.I'm sure she has gotten away from my daughter or atleast drug her around. I thought I was doing the right thing by allowing my daughter to train her. Live and learn. All of our other heifers might have refused to walk, but nevr bolted. She, the heifer, seems fine until she calls it quits. Then she blows up and runs or tries to run. This morning I hired a teenage boy to come over and work with her. She did great for about the 1st 15 minutes. After that she was a pain and tried to run. He kept working with her until she finally gave up and walked without running. He was very patient and never struck the animal. I think I would have blown up myself after the 10th attempt of running. He wants to work with her alone for a few more days so he can figure out what will work for my daughter. Then he will work with the both of them. How would you deal with a spoiled animal?

 

[TheBullLady]

Fred,

It sounds like the young man can handle her, which is a good thing. Perhaps he can figure out what the problem is. The bad thing is even if she (the heifer) finally starts working well for the young man, will she still be good for your daughter? They do know the difference in the handler, and may know that she's gotten away from your daughter before, and revert back to that behaviour.

NOTHING is worth risking your daughter getting hurt. And almost as bad is the frustration your daughter will invaribably start feeling if she can't control the heifer. Your daughter showing and having a relatively GOOD experience is what you're shooting for.

Personally I would find another heifer. A young girl down the road bought a Simmie heifer from me last year and had similar problems with the heifer. In June I traded her for a young heifer, which I halter broke for her, and is actually the sweetest heifer I've ever broke. The young lady had lost a lot of confidence with the first heifer, and it's taken awhile for her to get it back.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Once the boy figures her out, and it's time for your daughter to lead her again, put a longer lead on her plus her regular one. Put your daughter on the short one & the boy on the long one. That way the calf thinks the daughter is doing the corrections if she misbehaves. They deffinately KNOW the difference between handlers!

 

[SF]

FredS;
Lots of good advice here for you. I agree with the reward methods. Be cautious of the smack on the nose, this may back fire on you. Try a set of nose tongs or even a nose ring. When the heifer trys to get loose, your daughter can use these to get her back under control. From the description, it sounds like this heifer needs some work to get over being spooked.
If she doesn't get over this, you should get your daughter a different heifer. Don't let her get hurt. Cattle have different personalities, the same as people. Some are more easily startled than others. This does not do well for the show ring.
Good luck

 

[la4angus]

FredS;
Be cautious of the smack on the nose, this may back fire on you. From the description, it sounds like this heifer needs some work to get over being spooked.
If she doesn't get over this, you should get your daughter a different heifer.

If it was me I would get her another hfr to show, and get it halter broken right from the get go. When they learn a bad habit it is hard to break them of it. Just like a kid Cussing, except with an animals bad habit a bar of soap doesn't work.

 

[TXCHICK]

Might also try keeping the showstick in front of the heifer so it makes them think there is a fence in front of it. Also, haul her to as many shows as possible. Work her in the ring the night before so she can get used to the sights, smells, and sounds. The two different lead ropes should work too. You may also want to consider her age because she may be cycling. Had some of our best animals act stupid when cycling and then be fine and even great when bred.

 

[tracy]

have had the same problem with a bull,a nose ring helped but he would still go sometimes i learnt that while leading him if i jiggled on the chain under his jaw a little he was fine,i think it took his mind of running,worth a try!

 

[Circle C Ranches]

My daughter's new heifer wants to run when she leads her. She doesn't have the strength to hold her back. How do break one from doing this? I have some panels and I thought about creating a little pen to work her in and then gradually increase the size. What do yall think?

Put the show stick in front of her face and when she trys to get ahead of you hit her on the nose it will take a few times for her to understand what she is doing wrong and what you want her to do.

 

[milkmaid]

My daughter's new heifer wants to run when she leads her. She doesn't have the strength to hold her back. How do break one from doing this? I have some panels and I thought about creating a little pen to work her in and then gradually increase the size. What do yall think?

Put the show stick in front of her face and when she trys to get ahead of you hit her on the nose it will take a few times for her to understand what she is doing wrong and what you want her to do.

I've decided some of you folks must be a lot tougher -and stronger- than me. I wouldn't DARE smack a "green" half-broke 800lb+ calf or one that had a bad habit of bolting. With my luck, the calf would either run over the top of me or do a 180 and take off the other direction. :roll: Only time I'd consider it would be on a calf that was broke and respected the rope enough that he'd stop when he hit the end of it (after jumping six feet in surprise)...but then on a broke calf there wouldn't be any need for that sort of treatment.

More than that though - I HAD a 1500lb cow with a bad habit of bolting, and she wouldn't give you enough notice to do anything when she decided to run. 15 minutes of perfection, and then she'd take off. Anyone who could have stopped that animal then would have had my total respect...and I always kept TWO chains on her. One under the jaw, other through the mouth. Worked about 50% of the time. :lol:

 

[FredS]

Update:
We have been making a family effort to work with this heifer. My daughter cried when I told her we were going to sell her. She asked me, "would you get rid of me if I misbehaved." So, I told her that we would give her a month to improve. After that point, the heifer would be hamburger if I still feel she is dangerous.

The young man that has been helping us suggested that when the heifer begins to get upset, we bring out our well broken cow. We let the new heifer lead the way half the time and the old cow lead the other half. The heifer hasn't attempted to run since we have been trying this. I still have two people on the the new heifer when we can tell that she is showing signs of a run attempt. I don't know how she will act at a show or if what we have been doing will help. I am going to see at the next little show if they will let an older boy have the second lead rope in the ring.

So what do yall think. Will this method work at all when it come to the ring? In my opinion, I think both the heifer and my daughter are beginning to have a little more trust in each other.

 

[milkmaid]

At our county fair this past summer, I saw a lot of steers with a bad habit of bolting. In the ring - show ring and sale ring - they'd have two or three grown men on multiple ropes to "hold" those steers - LOL - didn't work. A person is no match for an animal when it decides to run - should have seen those 1300-1400lb steers pulling two or three guys along with ease.

The only thing that's a match for a runner is a good, solid post. A dally around a post and I can hold any animal with one hand, no matter how hard they fight.

Your heifer might be good in the ring...but the likelyhood she won't is really high.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

It is hard to break a runner, but consistancy does work. If she is NEVER allowed to get going, she will "forget" about trying. An older animal is a good thing to work with her. The only problem being that when she goes to a show & ring, the "mate" won't be there. But it's definately a good way to start. Not allowing her to bolt should break her habit, and it does sound more like a habit rather than "fear".