Re mad heifer!

[5471jenny]

Hi everyone, I am currently trying to halter break my 16 mth old heifer and it's not going well she is lovely without a halter and not a "fighter" as a rule, she's well behaved whilst tied and anyone can touch her all over however when I untie her to walk her all hell breaks loose! She launches herself at you and has been known to throw herself on the ground. It doesn't help that she has horns either. I am new to halter breaking so if anyone has any hints/tips/advice on stopping the jumping and antler swinging I would very much appreciate it! I find I'm so busy trying to avoid the horns I can't concentrate on anything else at the moment. I don't want to give up on her yet and I don't want to bed in her bad habits by inadvertently letting her get away with misbehaving because I'm inexperienced! Many many thanks in advance! Jen x

[Louisa Gidney]

Sorry, no quick fix advice. Have you got another handler so you can double halter with one person on each side to control the head. That can help and gives both of you enough space to be out of horn range. Throwing on the ground is common, cute in calves not good in a newly calved heifer that I'd forgotten wasn't halter trained! Patience and perseverance should pay off.

[SteveM]

Think back to her birth, was she born naturally or did you have to intervene.

We had a similar heifer, didnt like being on a halter at all. other heifers in the group took to the halter but she didnt like it, ok to tie up but couldnt lead her. We needed the vet to help with her birth, just wondering if she may have some mental issues.

[Jac]

Oh dear. Is she home bred or did you purchase her from someone else? No quick fixes. Perhaps at the end of the summer when the flies have gone you could consider dehorning it? If I had to halter train it I would tie it to a board fixed to the back of a tractor and have someone walk at the side of it with a second rope attached so that it believed it was being led. My first choice would be to beef it, sorry I wouldn't take the risk.

[Louisa Gidney]

I think Jac's advice is a little radical. I've a heifer like this, who decked me at the calf show last year. I've also got a cow who's show career was terminated after decking me in the ring. They're fine at home, tie up and handle for milking etc but just don't get the idea of walking on the halter. If you can catch and tie up your heifer, why are you wanting to lead it? If not for showing, perhaps just stay as you are.

[Rob R]

I think Jac's advice is a little radical. I've a heifer like this, who decked me at the calf show last year. I've also got a cow who's show career was terminated after decking me in the ring. They're fine at home, tie up and handle for milking etc but just don't get the idea of walking on the halter. If you can catch and tie up your heifer, why are you wanting to lead it? If not for showing, perhaps just stay as you are.

It is. Nat's advice is a smaller pen & a longer rope so you can apply pressure & release while being out of range of the thrashing. The release from pressure is reward for the animal so don't maintain pressure on the rope when it starts to go in the right direction.

[Jac]

Radical yes, but then I don't tolerate bad behaviour it is what gets the breed a bad reputation.

[Louisa Gidney]

I agree with Nat. I'm doing much the same with a young bull. He's inside and I started with a long halter pushing him from behind round in circles in a small pen. We're now doing Dexter agility, in and out of the empty pens, either leading from the front or following behind.

[Rob R]

I agree with Nat. I'm doing much the same with a young bull. He's inside and I started with a long halter pushing him from behind round in circles in a small pen. We're now doing Dexter agility, in and out of the empty pens, either leading from the front or following behind.

Getting the head collar off the mule took 3 people and nerves of steel (which was more than separating two half tonne bulls from scrapping) - however, the feet trimming took a different tack;

[Jac]

That made me Rob and reminded me of younger happier days when we used to take in problem horses. On a more serious note, it just goes to show the lengths that some people will go to solve a problem and whether at the end of the day it is worth the risk and anxiety. Here I am waiting for you to say that Dexters are not a suitable breed for the beginner.

In my experience, it is far easier, safer and more successful halter training Dexters from a very young age. There are a number of things that Jenny could try however I question whether she should be taking this on without the practical assistance of someone with more experience because of the risks involved true, she could take the safer option and give up bothering trying to lead at all. It may seem harsh beefing a perfectly good animal (in other respects) simply because it won't lead but if that is what is important to you, why keep something when it doesn't fulfil your needs completely when there are other animals out there that will? Better to get a good price for it empty as prime beef than sell it on eventually as a suckler (OTM) for a pittance. Use the money to buy something 'ready made' that is a pleasure to own.

[Rob R]

Here I am waiting for you to say that Dexters are not a suitable breed for the beginner.

I think that goes without saying but it does the breeds reputation no good if it's dismissed as untrainable by the monkey on the other end of the rope (I'm para-phrasing, btw). Taking a little time to think about how the animal perceives the situation (whatever that situation may be) can be invaluable.

Dexters may be interesting, but they're not a patch on ninja-horses (I've stopped para-phrasing now), as I've recently witnessed, although his attitude seems to have improved a little since his feet have been trimmed and headcollar off, which was getting a little too tight.

[Jac]

Here I am waiting for you to say that Dexters are not a suitable breed for the beginner.

I think that goes without saying but it does the breeds reputation no good if it's dismissed as untrainable by the monkey on the other end of the rope (I'm para-phrasing, btw). Taking a little time to think about how the animal perceives the situation (whatever that situation may be) can be invaluable.

Dexters may be interesting, but they're not a patch on ninja-horses (I've stopped para-phrasing now), as I've recently witnessed, although his attitude seems to have improved a little since his feet have been trimmed and headcollar off, which was getting a little too tight.

It isn't untrainable, whether it is worthwhile in terms of personal injury when there are good animals about at the moment for very reasonable sums of money is a different matter. We cannot make assumptions about how it perceives the situation because we are not witnessing its behaviour first hand and you need to do this in order to make an informed decision about the best way forward - hence the need for 'the practical assistance of someone more experienced'.

[Jac]

Having discussed this with the other half he asked the following questions.

Is it shaking its head, swishing its tail, holding its head slightly angled, pawing the ground, flaring its nostrils that's easy to cure... KILL IT!!!!!

[Rob R]

It isn't untrainable, whether it is worthwhile in terms of personal injury when there are good animals about at the moment for very reasonable sums of money is a different matter. We cannot make assumptions about how it perceives the situation because we are not witnessing its behaviour first hand and you need to do this in order to make an informed decision about the best way forward - hence the need for 'the practical assistance of someone more experienced'.

Let me just recap for second - your suggestion was to;

a) dehorn it
b) tie it to a tractor
c) kill it

None of these suggestions are attempting to view the 'problem' from the animals point of view. a) is about removing a part of it's body - horns don't cause undesirable behaviour. b) Is overpowering it by a means that it can't escape from - you're immediately making the assumption that the animal is stupid enough to think that it is you, and not the tractor, that is preventing it from getting away and that in the future it will behave in the same way without the tractor when put into a more stressful situation, such as a show with many people around it.

When I say look at it from the animal's perspective I am asking you to put yourself in the position of the animal. What can it see? hear? smell? What does it know already from past experiences? It's not down to us, as people commenting on the internet, to think about the animal's behaviour, I meant for Jen to consider it and it is more about her own behaviour, as that is the one variable that she has full control over.

I'm not talking from my own experience here but I have picked up a few things since I met my wife who, herself, had no experience of cattle before she started researching & training them and I asked her opinion before posting on here. She really does 'get' them and finds it much more intuitive to think the way they do and block out all that information that 'we' know but the animal doesn't (such as our motivation for leading an animal in the first place). This also helps her communicate what she wants from the animal.

What we do know at this stage is that Jen is too preoccupied by avoiding the horns to think about the animal at all at the so the first step would be to address that. By using a longer rope she can remove herself from the 'danger' zone which will help give her chance to think before reacting. She clearly has the trust of the animal to let her touch it all over and the animal is not aggressive, so it is about developing and rewarding that trust further.

[Jac]

Despite the levity, I do have a serious concern for this lady's safety. What you say about the tractor equally applies to any training method re: Louise and her heifer knocking her down in the show ring and then having to retire another older animal. Horns don't cause undesirable behaviours but long ropes or not there is more risk involved with horns than without. She clearly has the trust of the animal yes but does she have its respect or has it simply learned to take advantage of her by now?