problem heifer

Help Support Steer Planet:

pigguy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
662
Location
kansas
one of my heifers that i have been breakin for 2 weeks now is being a pian in my a$$. as soon as she takes a step she jumps up in the air. what can i do to fix this? (cow)
 

renegade

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
725
Location
Caldwell, Idaho
I have had the same problem with a heifer i just purchased. She just isn't giving in. Usually by now most of my cattle will let me walk up to them but not her. ??? its really odd.
 

knabe

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
13,639
Location
Hollister, CA
get a longer lead rope and let her do it, as long as there isn't malice on either side.  use the indian deer tracking method of staying on the periphery of one eye and she will keep turning towards you.  reward  wtih relieiving the pressure by backing up.  when she doesn't move again, get on that periphery again.  this will let her know that the best place to be is with you.  build on this in the smallest increments possible and you will be amazed how fast this works.  this is theeee most overlooked trustbuilding step that is overlooked and shows up in most behavior problems.  basically what happens in her mind is, hey, if i just stomp around a bit, i get a reaction and the dude leaves. i pretty much ignore this behavior unless they run at me.  think soft spine and soft neck when they bend to look at you.  you will be amazed that when their neck is stiff, how easy it is for the hind end to move.  more later with a specific observation.
 

jason

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
3,046
Location
Emporia, Kansas
keep working with her and don't let her think she is in charge, you have to let her know that you are in full control.
 

pigguy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
662
Location
kansas
she didnt do as much today but when she did she would jump about 5 foot, she is like 3.5 or 4 foot
 

justme

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
2,871
Location
Missouri
We have one that came out of the chute like a bucking horse...it ended up putting my husband into the hospital for a week with a blood clot.  Be careful...My husband is 6'7" tall and this little heifer puts her front feet over his head with all 4 feet off the ground.  She never calms down when in the pen...always nervous.  I'm giving up on her...my 9 year old doesn't need to be in a ring with something like her.

Becareful...if she's calming down great, if not sometimes you really have to think twice...in all the years I've shown ect...its the first animal I've had that I couldn't break.  Granted...I'm not "super show person" like some but I've managed some showstrings ect.

Good luck...I'm anxious to hear any other suggestions too
 

pigguy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
662
Location
kansas
when she jumps in the air as soon as she lands she runs in a circle, so i just started to yank her head down as soon as she went up and then when she went in a circle i was in an alley way so she would hit the fence, i got her to walk about 50 with out jumping today by doing that, then i let her back in her pen so she would know she got something from doing good
 

knabe

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
13,639
Location
Hollister, CA
put slack in the rope as soon as she stops doing what you don't want her to do.  stand there, allow her to relax.  find out what is the least you have to do to get her to look at you by putting tension in the rope.  as soon as she looks over, and with a soft eye, hers, not yours, release.  you want to think about the smallest increment possible and quit before you get greedy about just one more time.  repeat this like every 15-30 minutes the first few days, and decrease the number of intervals, but increase the session time from like 1 minute to like 5 minutes.  the other thing i like to do, is just kneel down and ignore them while holding on to the lead (long lead).  i always make sure their is slack in the lead before i drop it and walk away.  sometimes they get that look on their face like, hey, he just walked away and didn't expect anything.  the other thing you can do if it has a positive curious response is play with going in and out of their vision bubble, and when you go in, there is slack in the rope and no pressure from you, in fact you back up when they look at you.  repeat.
 
Top