# did you know~ a steer can jump REALLY high



## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

So~ for the third year in a row I hauled some steers off the the butcher in my horse trailer. Those who have known me a while know this is always a small nightmare in which I try to encourage the steers into the trailer then pray and cry while driving them to the butcher with my van. Not a top dollar equipment operation here~ but it works. I spend the weeks before each September trying to convince myself I should spend the money to buy a big truck and trailer~ but I only do a few steers a year and it wouldn't take long to spend a LOT more than I make.

So after last years fiasco in which a bull turned himself around in the trailer~ and then the van broke on the way to the butcher I tried to minimize the potential problems~ double and triple checked the vans maintenance and I removed the divider from the trailer with made it MUCH easier to encourage the steers into the trailer and less of a worry they would injure themselves in the trailer trying to turn around. Cool Beans!

Sept 6~ load two steers into the trailer....they get right in and the run to the butcher is easy. Wow. I can only haul two steers at a time~ so I have two more appts but that wasn't too bad.

Sept 12~ One steer to load~ a little trouble getting him into the pen but once he was in the pen he got right in the trailer and drove to the butcher no trouble. Way cool!

Sept 19~ we have to take the BIGGEST steer who is a horrible fence offender and trouble maker and the smallest steer who is pretty sweet and gets in the trailer all the time. We are ready for battle~ chase the big steer all the way around the pasture with the tractor~ finally get him in the pen and he loads right into the trailer. WOOT! No time to load the little steer we will make two trips~ the big steer is a potential trouble maker. Off to the butcher~ no trouble! DOUBLE WOOT! All that's left is to load the little easy steer!

You see it coming don't you?
I should have seen it coming.
But no~ I'm basking in the glory of getting FOUR potential problem steers to the butcher with NO PROBLEMS!!

So the little steer loads into the trailer no trouble. And he is a little steer. Really too small to send off this year~ but I'd sold all the rest of the steers and I don't want to feed him through the winter. The little steer rides to butcher just fine. He stands in the trailer while we fill out the cut sheets. Sometimes his nose sticks up over the back doors of the trailer~ but the doors are a good 4 1/2 feet high so his nose isn't much over the doors.

All is right with the world and I'm thinking about steaks. Drive around back to unload the steer~ parked and waiting for the nice man to wave me forward so he can set the gates and we can unload the steer, I walked back to see how much further I would need to pull forward to close the gates for unloading......

WHEN HE JUMPED OUT OF THE TRAILER

I'm not kidding or exaggerating! I wish I'd had a video on. He reared up on his back legs and launched himself OVER the 4 1/2 foot back doors!!! and hit the concrete behind the trailer HARD

At which point I may have been screaming some not so nice words~ I'm not really sure what I said exactly~ of course I'm the only one who saw it but I made a big enough deal that my friend Carol who was still in the van jumped out in a panic to match mine! 

And the nice man planning to help me unload the steer opens the back door....to find the now angry and injured steer standing MUCH to close to the back door and looking for a way to escape me and my friend Carol..... Who are doing the "Puff up they hate that!" bluff waving our arms and pretending we can stop him from going.....well just anywhere he wants to go!!!

The trailer is parked too far back to close the gates
The steer is NOT in the trailer anymore, he is injured and clearly upset
He has sharp little horns and he clearly is sure he wants to LEAVE

The man runs off to get help~ and a tractor to block with

It really doesn't go on muchlonger than that~ Thank God with five or six people doing the "Puff Up! Puff Up!!" bluff and one man with a cattle prod the steer did go into the pen he belonged in.

And Thank God that was the last steer to go in this year.
Steers can jump REALLY high~ and I'm sure I'll be seeing that in my nightmares for a long time to come
The Trailer needs a gate to go over the higher part between the door and the roof
It's amazing the many, many, many nasty things that come to mind in that moment when the steer is staring you down and some man asks you "well... why did you let him out?"


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I read that entire thing with my heart in my throat!
So glad nobody was injured. (well, except that steer)

"Why did you let him out?" LOL!
He is lucky you werent holding the prod when he asked that. 

I have a serious lack of trust when it comes to those half doors on horse trailers
after watching a welsh pony heave itself out while the trailer was MOVING. 
Yeah, that is why you keep the dividers in.
Luckily the animal was only lamed (got out of being shown that day)
and it wasnt splatted by a semi truck.
Terrifying.

Glad you are all done for this year. Whew!


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Yeah~ I'm thinking to get a couple of those webs that go across the truck tailgate to stretch across there~ need to actually touch one and see how tough they are first. Maybe weld something across there~ or make a heavy chain web to hang across there~ weld on some points to fasten it to. 

It was terrifying. I think I figured it could be done because I've commented before worrying about a big one being able to get high enough to do it but I didn't actually think it was physically possible~ especially considering how short he was.
It is
And it was terrifying to see


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Thank God the pony wasn't more seriously injured. We talked about that~ about how bad it would have been had he done that on the road. Scary


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## Grumpy old man (Aug 6, 2013)

Little steers can really jump I have 1 that has 3 blue ribbons from the local hunter jumper horse show ! :cowboy::cowboy::cowboy::cowboy:


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

i have seen a 2400 lb bull angus holstein cross bull clear a 6 ft tall gate made of pine 2x6's he plowed through the next 3 gates and ended up in the parking lot at the auction they tried corraling him with trucks and trailers ended upshooting him when he hit a 4 lane state road


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## Kristinemomof3 (Sep 17, 2012)

Yep, I showed cattle for 10 years in 4-H, they could really jump if they wanted to.


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## opportunity (Mar 31, 2012)

It is amazing how they can jump. I lined all my cows up in a pen and they all jumped the four foot gate and escaped one after another. I figure a coral/pen must be at least 6 feet to bluff them.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I had a heifer years back that would stand up on her hind legs and walk around upright quite often. Strange critter she was. When sale day rolled around I took her and another one about her size to the local auction barn. The first one came through the ring, and brought a fair enough price, then my walker came through, the bids had just about stopped, at about the same price as the first one then she stood up on her hind legs... walked all around the sale ring and took a flying leap up into the auctioneers box! She didnt make it all the way in, but managed to knock over a bunch of stuff in the box. The crowd all roared with laughter, and the bidding took off again. That heifer brought another hundred bucks!


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

Have you not seen that bull in the fighting ring who flew over 6+ feet into the crowd??
Just because they are big, cattle or you never really see them jump, doesn't mean they can't...
There's actually a ton of videos of them doing it...
[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWAIjYs9Lws[/ame]


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

WOW! No I had not seen that before


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## solsikkefarms (Jun 1, 2013)

That's the reason we welded re-bar across those openings above the doors in our trailer. Our first steer jumped out twice on the way to the butcher.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

I have learned that any potential weakness will eventually be exploited by cattle - they are prisoners with nothing else to do but look for escape options. Some are more motivated than others.

For your situation, I've seen removable pieces you can put on the top of the doors.

Essentially have a plate that fills the opening with a couple pieces of rebar welded on extending down from the plate.

Then weld vertically to the top of the door, couple small pieces of pipe for the rebar to slide into. If you don't want the plate you can just lift the attached rebar out of the pipe and take the whole thing off.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I can imagine your face when you heard, "well... why did you let him out?" I know it wasn't funny, but I had to laugh at the man thinking you let the steer out deliberately.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

It wasn't funny at the time~ but now....yeah...it's funny! It has to be funny~ cuz if it's not funny it's sad. I'm woman enough to know when I"ve done something stupid~ and the fact that I did that and lived through....IS FUNNY! and I'd like others to know so they don't have to learn it the hard way too! Have a good laugh~ and remember....they can jump REALLY High! LOL!


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## credee (Aug 17, 2013)

wow. need some sort of neck-stanchion in the front of the trailer ? we used to "bait" them in with grain and hay, on the loading ramp, etc, when I was a kid. works with hogs, too (not the hay) I once saw a huge Holstein heiffer jump 11 fences. She got her feet caught in the top barbed wire the last time, fell heavily, and died that night. Vet said she probably busted something inside of her with that fall. I stood in her way as she charged the gate I was blocking (stupid 13 year old kid) with a SWITCH.  At the last second, she turned aside and jumped that fence. sheesh. These were all RUNNING jumps, tho, like a horse would do.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I really would have thought a cow was too blocky to do a running jump like a horse~ but then I didn't really think one could do a standing high jump like that steer did......... 

I think you should be blessing your guardian Angel~ standing in front of the fence with a switch! You sound as silly as I am! It's a good thing we are both Lucky!


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

This brought back memories of our first steer. I watched him jump the fence and remember thinking, NOW I know where the line "and the cow jumped over the moon" came from!
Good you can chuckle about it, sure must have been upsettingbat the time. As for the guy asking you why you let the steer out, must be my dh's brothet cause that sure sounds like dh! Lol!


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

I actually think cattle getting loose is fairly common at the processors. I just was there to pick up our lamb meat. Sign in LARGE writing says "We are not responsible for animals until they are INSIDE the pens".

You might consider having a piece of plywood that fits above the trailer doors, can be bolted in place for easy on, easy off. Presents a solid wall from the inside of the trailer to the cattle if he turns around. No advantage of charging a solid wall to escape. Cattle seem to go for light places that look like holes to get out of.

Glad the steer got caught fast, didn't seem badly injured. WHY do people come up with such DUMB comments?? 

On the other hand, maybe he sees this often, and people DO let the cattle out loose, before the signal he is ready for them!!


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

The one who asked why I let him out I *think* was the next guy getting ready to drop his steers off who came over to help. The guys who worked there told me they see animals get loose all the time~ but mine was the first on in 11 years that JUMPED out of the CLOSED trailer. I think most of their customers use stock trailers. I've learned my lesson about using the horse trailer without some modifications. I'm learning~ and i'm real glad the learning curve isn't too painful!


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## credee (Aug 17, 2013)

A friend of mine said that he saw a 2000 lb beef/bison cross jump a SEVEN FOOT fence. Man, that would shake the ground like an earthquake, I'd think! That big holstein did, but she fell onto her chest, no legs to "soak up" the energy of her fall.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Yeah, if you think cattle can jump, you would be AMAZED at what Bison can do!! I read about how ranchers had to change their thinking when the Bison were first being handled. Some accounts WAY back when the Bison were almost extinct, trying to round up and ship those few left, were just amazing stories. Chutes and fences were 7ft tall, had the Bison moving along and they went up the chute into the railroad car and THRU the other side, jumping down to trot off and graze. Other animals just climbed up and over the 7ft fences like cats, to get outside. Or lowered their heads and ran right thru those tree trunk rails, turning things into kindling wood.

My friend on the Posse had several calls to go after loose Bison when they first got popular to own. Said they were almost impossible to collect up. They ran 40mph thru EVERYTHING. She had to stop when they went over the 6ft fences like deer, because her horse could only do 4ft in the western saddle. Her horse got mad chasing them as they tried to hook her beside them, was biting hunks of hair off. Dropping a loop on them was suicide, they weighed almost twice what even the big horses did and would swing around to come after the horse!!

Just not like cattle to handle at all, hard to find, and almost impossible to catch and contain them with the Posse folks. The Sheriff finally issued a warning if the Bison got loose again, they would be shot. The owner did have BIG fences, had done everything possible to contain them, but they still got out. Bison did end up being shot where they found them after escaping again. Too big a danger with them loose.

I will believe about anything I hear in Bison stories of big jumpers or wrecking stuff. So any Bison crosses would be right up that same alley for me. Just amazingly agile, strong, athletic, for such BIG animals.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

On the homemade cattle trailers I have built, I make the sides 6 1/2 feet tall. I have never had a cow get out and some have tried. My other reason for using that height was so I could walk in the trailer without bumping my head on cross pieces.

KEH


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## WJMartin (Nov 2, 2011)

Cheryl, had my DH read your OP because our new to us trailer sounds just like yours, he is welding extra bars across the gate top. lol Thanks for the heads up.


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## mulemom (Feb 17, 2013)

A little warning for anyone using a two horse trailer with double doors. Most of them have a latch bar that goes from the center post to a slot in a bracket in the door. Twice I have had horses that like to sit on the butt bar-twice I've had that bar break and the force of the horse hitting the door bent that bar on the door and pulled it completely through the slot and let the door fly open. The first one I figured it was because it was an older trailer. The second one was my boss' brand new $15000 aluminum trailer. I don't know if a cow could hit the door that hard but after the second episode I always ran a chain all the way across the back to hold the door 'just in case'. We're new to cows and not real happy to learn they CAN JUMP. Glad to learn it here-guess we'll stick with our 'horse high' fences.eep:


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Cattle are not bad to go over fences if they are comfortable and well fed inside the fenced area. The darn sure CAN go over them, but are more likely to go thru them. 

Stock trailers around here are mostly covered, and the rear gates go all the way to the roof. Those intended to double as horse trailers have a higher roof, but all have gates to the roof.

When handling cattle I treat them as loaded guns. Same principle; carelessness can kill you. I had a crazy limousin heifer snubbed to a tree so that I could burn off her horn buttons. Leaned over to see if I had a satisfactory job and she kicked at me. Her hoof came within four inches of my head. Had I leaned in a bit closer I'd have been one dead son of a gun. After than I pulled their heads thru a forked tree until I had a corral and head gate. 

Added thought: Crazy cattle go to market.
Ox


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