steer roaching back

[sewwhat]

We have a very heavily muscled 13 month old show steer that is starting to roach some when walking, especially if walking slow with head down.  When he picks up the pace it is much better, but in the show ring you have no control over the person walking in front of you.  He used to walk like a cat till recently, judges now saying he is reaching too far underneath himself.  Is there anything we can do.  Last judge said you can't hardly get one more muscled with style, just didn't like the way he walked.

 

[knabe]

give him a pressure massage.

 

[OH Breeder]

Sometimes hoof trimming may also help you with his movement. If you don't have a good foot person, then get one. Also, there are chiropractors for cattle. I have heard of them working on cattle kind of what Knabe is saying, but they get out of alignment too. IF they are off or something is out of place an adjustment may be warranted.  Then, some cattle you can never correct this fault.

 

[keduhpn]

Was he always like this? We had a heat seeker calf last year that had a roached back when he was young. I thought it would straighten out as he got some weight on him, but he didn't. He just got worse and eventually got way too straight and crippled up on us before he got to 900 lbs. If you ever have one like this when they are young....get rid of them asap.

 

[sewwhat]

He does not have a roached back when standing, stands straight and true.  It is just when you put him on the move, and is better when walking with his head or or moving fast.  Tends to roach when traveling slow, or stop and start.  One judge said he reaches to far up under himself when walking, causing the roaching.  We had his hooves trimmed a couple of months back, good hoof trimmer in our area, but could be part of the problem.  He is so heavily muscled that I figured he was getting stiff, like a muscle builder who cant straighten out his arms.  Told my daughter that he maybe he needed exercised more and stretched.  We live in a small town in the middle of no where so an animal chiropractor is out. 

Any supplements that would help loosen him up.

Thanks

 

[yousesteers]

IF he does not do it when his head is up and when he moves a little quicker it sounds like something a good showman could fix give yourself plenty of space between you and the calf in front of you when you lead out you can then set your pace where the steer best presents himself and then keep his head high when he walks a little excersize wont hurt and give him the pressure massage like KNAbe said my use a rolling pin or just your hands on his back

 

[sewwhat]

Thanks for all the replies.  Will try the massage and have his feet checked.  We started thinking back and we really started noticing it after he got his hooves trimmed, which was right before show season started for us.  We will check into a different trimmer.

Thanks again

 

[inthebarnagain]

Sounds like the hoof trimmer is leaving too much toe or taking too much heel.  Check with some show horse people in your area, you would be surprised at how many horse chiropracters are around, they just don't advertise.  We have one that works on our cattle all the time, after leaving the racetrack!