My daughter got her new project steer(April MAB calf) a few weeks ago. He has been great at home for the most part except acts like a green calf at times, nothing surprising. He has been tied for a couple hours each day, broke to a show stick, washed, blown and clipped on. All that has been easy to do with him.
We went to their first jackpot and he loaded well (hauled with another calf) and unloaded fine too. We had to tie them up at the arena panel since we have to get their tie stalls bedded and ready. He and the other calf stood quiet. Then a teenage boy walked up near them and my daughter's calf went nuts, pulling back and rearing up and running his butt side to side. The kid stepped way back from the calves. Mind you the other calf stayed calm. I managed to approach our calf and calm him. Then he stood still again. After bedding the stalls, my daughter went to walk him the 25' and he went crazy again, getting away from her and running wild. We got him cornered and caught up and tied him for a few minutes. A friend of ours who has raised, shown and now fits calves decided she would walk him back to his tie stall for us. She got about 12' and he went crazy again, dragging her and finally cow-kicking her until he got loose again. We once again, caught him and this time left him tied for a couple hours where he was at. My daughter and I went to get him and this time I clipped a nose ring on him. I managed to get him walked to his tie stall but he acted scared to death. We tied him up next to his buddy and after a couple hours he seemed back to normal. I however did not trust him and decided to give him a little Ace so my daughter could get him bathed. He really seemed to quiet down on the Ace and my daughter got him to take to the wash rack and barely got him turned in his tie stall and a man came walking by and the steer went crazy again. So back to the tie stall and we scratched Saturday's classes. We figured by Sunday he would come around. Saturday he spent 6 hours tied standing up with his head tied high. This was after I turned him around in the tie stall and went to scratching on him and all would seem good and all of a sudden he would freak out, pull back and run in to stall cages and such. He would actually tremble. He was fine with myself, my daughter, my daughter's friend and her mom who own the buddy calf he was stalled with and most other females. Men is what seemed to set him off. I started the Steer on Calf Calm on Friday as well as another Sullivans product that came highly recommended. Nothing seemed to work. Market weigh in was Saturday night. I decided I would try Ace again but a higher dose and gave it an hour before weigh in ended. I figured I would wait until it had quieted down and be the last one to weigh in. He seems quiet and I used a buddy calf to walk to the scale. I only got to the middle of the barn aisle and he went running backwards. I got him stopped and a man walked up and the steer actually stood quiet. We put a second halter on him to try and walk him together. Well he went crazy, ran through chutes and in to other cattle. It took 4 men to get him back to tie stall and it was not pretty. Sunday we continued our scratching and turning him around to face the barn aisle but that is all we did. Then tied him up for a few hours. We asked people to approach him and any males that got within 10' he would go crazy. For safety sake we were given a dose of Thorazine to get him loaded and home. We chose to wait until a good majority of the show had cleared out. The Thorazine seemed to work way better than the Ace. We set up some panels for safety and we were able to walk him with his buddy with no problems to the show arena. Once in there, we turned our steer and his buddy loose to hang out while we loaded and cleaned up the tie stall areas. Our steer walked around calmly checking everything out. Then my daughter and her friend caught the steers and played show. The steer acted fine. We loaded up and went home with no issues.
We got him home and he acted like he always did, except he is still acting fearful of strangers, particularly men. He however is fine with my husband. We have been tying him up on our riding arena near our busy road, playing loud music and the girls ride their horses right by him at various speeds, all with no problems. I have been leading him all over and taking him for walks as well.
What can we do to get him over this fear of people? Everyone that has witnessed his behavior all agree, that he is not mean, that he acts scared to death. I don't want to drug him any more, if I knew that it would help him get over his people fear, then I might be more willing to do it for a short time. We have started him on Melatonin pills twice a day though to see if that helps. He is such a nice steer, I hate to give up on him.
We went to their first jackpot and he loaded well (hauled with another calf) and unloaded fine too. We had to tie them up at the arena panel since we have to get their tie stalls bedded and ready. He and the other calf stood quiet. Then a teenage boy walked up near them and my daughter's calf went nuts, pulling back and rearing up and running his butt side to side. The kid stepped way back from the calves. Mind you the other calf stayed calm. I managed to approach our calf and calm him. Then he stood still again. After bedding the stalls, my daughter went to walk him the 25' and he went crazy again, getting away from her and running wild. We got him cornered and caught up and tied him for a few minutes. A friend of ours who has raised, shown and now fits calves decided she would walk him back to his tie stall for us. She got about 12' and he went crazy again, dragging her and finally cow-kicking her until he got loose again. We once again, caught him and this time left him tied for a couple hours where he was at. My daughter and I went to get him and this time I clipped a nose ring on him. I managed to get him walked to his tie stall but he acted scared to death. We tied him up next to his buddy and after a couple hours he seemed back to normal. I however did not trust him and decided to give him a little Ace so my daughter could get him bathed. He really seemed to quiet down on the Ace and my daughter got him to take to the wash rack and barely got him turned in his tie stall and a man came walking by and the steer went crazy again. So back to the tie stall and we scratched Saturday's classes. We figured by Sunday he would come around. Saturday he spent 6 hours tied standing up with his head tied high. This was after I turned him around in the tie stall and went to scratching on him and all would seem good and all of a sudden he would freak out, pull back and run in to stall cages and such. He would actually tremble. He was fine with myself, my daughter, my daughter's friend and her mom who own the buddy calf he was stalled with and most other females. Men is what seemed to set him off. I started the Steer on Calf Calm on Friday as well as another Sullivans product that came highly recommended. Nothing seemed to work. Market weigh in was Saturday night. I decided I would try Ace again but a higher dose and gave it an hour before weigh in ended. I figured I would wait until it had quieted down and be the last one to weigh in. He seems quiet and I used a buddy calf to walk to the scale. I only got to the middle of the barn aisle and he went running backwards. I got him stopped and a man walked up and the steer actually stood quiet. We put a second halter on him to try and walk him together. Well he went crazy, ran through chutes and in to other cattle. It took 4 men to get him back to tie stall and it was not pretty. Sunday we continued our scratching and turning him around to face the barn aisle but that is all we did. Then tied him up for a few hours. We asked people to approach him and any males that got within 10' he would go crazy. For safety sake we were given a dose of Thorazine to get him loaded and home. We chose to wait until a good majority of the show had cleared out. The Thorazine seemed to work way better than the Ace. We set up some panels for safety and we were able to walk him with his buddy with no problems to the show arena. Once in there, we turned our steer and his buddy loose to hang out while we loaded and cleaned up the tie stall areas. Our steer walked around calmly checking everything out. Then my daughter and her friend caught the steers and played show. The steer acted fine. We loaded up and went home with no issues.
We got him home and he acted like he always did, except he is still acting fearful of strangers, particularly men. He however is fine with my husband. We have been tying him up on our riding arena near our busy road, playing loud music and the girls ride their horses right by him at various speeds, all with no problems. I have been leading him all over and taking him for walks as well.
What can we do to get him over this fear of people? Everyone that has witnessed his behavior all agree, that he is not mean, that he acts scared to death. I don't want to drug him any more, if I knew that it would help him get over his people fear, then I might be more willing to do it for a short time. We have started him on Melatonin pills twice a day though to see if that helps. He is such a nice steer, I hate to give up on him.