Rotating steer...

[kobo_ranch]

Silly question, but son is having trouble after practicing and practicing trying to get his steer to cooperate with the show stick and setting up.
He likes scratching but the minute you try to mess with his legs he kicks at the show stick... or he rotates and turns his rear end away from it.  (therefor messing up his stance and would aggrivate his fellow showers next to him)  He has been working at it for a while and still not much progress.  Wondered if any of you have any advise or suggestions for him.

 

[3dfarms]

Unfortunately the only advice I can give you is keep at it, make a lot of laps in the practice pen and work with his legs as much as you can.  After a while he will get used to the stick and should calm down.  Some animals work great right from the start, and some take a LOT of work to get ready.

Another reason I have seen cattle kick at or move out of position quickly when being setup is if a novice showman is working the stick and just putting too much into the stick and hurting/aggravating the animal.

Hope this helps.  Good luck.

 

[aggiegal]

The best way to start one getting used to the showstick is to work them initially in the trim chute.  They can't go anywhere and they can't swing side to side as you are experiencing.  I'd put him in the chute and work about 15-20 minutes per day, working him all over with the stick, even rubbing over his top and sides...so he knows it isn't going to hurt him in any way.  This has always worked for us, even with that crazy kicking simmi a couple of years ago.  He will eventually get used to it and realize it's easier to cooperate.  If he quits kicking 3-4 times in a row...call it a day and that's his reward.

 

[MCC]

Go slow. The chute idea is a good one. When you take him outside to set him up lead him along a fence so he can't swing away from you. He has got to get use to the stick. Once he does he won't kick at the stick. Go slow and don't try to overwork him he will just get tired and harder to handle. Once he sets up right scratch him and walk off. Next time set him up twice etc. Soon he will set up like a champ.

 

[AAOK]

The answer to most any question other than feed is....................[color=red]much, much, more work with the Rice Root Brush[/color]

 

[vc]

Along with what AAOK said, we have found that the least amount you mess with the feet the better, work on getting the steer set up with the lead and not the stick. There are several post on here that explain the technique so I wont go into it.
We have also found that close is good enough some times, if the steer is close to being how you want him set up, leave him be, it is better to be close than to be fighting them the whole time your in the ring.
I can't tell you how many times in the early years of showing, my boys would have the calf looking good and start picking at them to try and get the feet perfect, the more they messed with them the worse it got, once they figured out how to lead them into setting up and stopped messing with them constantly things got a whole lot better, for them and the animal.