# halter breaking



## logdog365 (Nov 21, 2006)

any one have any good reliable ways to halter break a 4-h heifer? my granddaughter is the handler and i am decrepet so i am not alot of help she is 12 and willing but a little nervous cause the calf is about 600 # she has been handled but wants to take her head and run when she comes out of the barn its hard to know what to tell the kid about what to do since i have never been on the receiving end of something like this we have done goats and horses but i don't know nothing about training no cow help thanks


----------



## bonsai jim (Jul 22, 2005)

(here we go again...)

Going through the same with ours - my son is 12...a steer though. There's a post from about a month ago... started by me.

We've gained some experience in the last month. 

Not much you can do about the head butt.

Practice... every day for about an hour or so. You can try tying it to a tree or post for several hours. 

I've thought of attaching an extra longer lead so it would run out of rope...

You should be using a show halter and jerking straight up.

Some will lead better when hungry, some when fed...

Worst case scenario- put a ring in it's nose. 

good luck....

jim


----------



## logdog365 (Nov 21, 2006)

bonsai jim said:


> (here we go again...)
> 
> Going through the same with ours - my son is 12...a steer though. There's a post from about a month ago... started by me.
> 
> ...


 thank you for reply. tried alot of the things you suggested except the nose ring but i saw that done the other night eeeeeeee!!!!!! you would think the animal would learn but he just got madder and madder .this little heifer is not too bad but if she is in the barn and you are quiet you can put the halter on and lead her out but the second she gets in the light of day she's gone. you can catch her and you can tie her and work on her in the trap thing the (gosh whats the word the thing they stand in with their neck caught by a bar ) well any way she is good about that.iam a little worried she will hurt the kid i have seen the longer rope work pretty good it kind of gives you better leverage or something or maybe they quit running cause you are not right behind them sort of unintentionaly herding them . any thoughts are appreciated thanks


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Showed alot of Cattle.had one of the best herds of Milking Shorthorns in the U.S.

We would just Tie them let them get use to it and having us mess with them.Have broke Bulls to Halter by tieing them to the back of the Tractor leading them around.

big rockpile


----------



## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

I broke a thousand pound young bull to halter Rock's way. He got out, I put a rope on him and led him home behind the tracter. He dragged his feet all the way. Next day I repeated it with less resistance. By the time he was three years old he would stand tied and let me work on his feet.

I do calves the easy way. I put a halter on them and tie them to a post in the corral so that they can pull and tug and holler foul. After a while they get tired of it and just stand. That's when you start handling them; let them run and jump and wrap themselves around the post. Pretty soon they learn that it is way less trouble just to put up with you currying and brushing. Lead them where you want to go and give them a couple of cubes when you get there. 
Ox


----------



## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

The easiest way to break an animal, whether it is a calf, or a yearling or even older. Tie the darn thing up for an hour a day, every day for a week. Then lead it. What your doing is letting the animal respect the halter, get used to the feel of it, and they will learn to not fight it. Calves being the easiet, break this way very easily. Tie them up for a couple days (in a spot where you can feed them), they will lead when you untie them. I used to try leading them, vs tying them, I wasted a lot of time. I instead tie them, then lead them after a few days.


Jeff


----------



## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, those who haven't tried using a donkey to halter break an older calf really ought to give it a try. It is absolutely the easiest way to do it. The donkey does all the work and in two days tops (usually one) you have a calf that will lead anywhere you want to go like they've been doing it all their lives.


----------



## JulieLou42 (Mar 28, 2005)

When I first got my Ginger, I had to tie her to a t-post for about a week til 
I had her first pen built; all I had at that time was her lead rope. She was ten months old. She learned from that experience, unbeknownst to me then, and has never been a problem to lead.

She got out with calf Sunday week ago, and, for the first time answered me when I called her name...she was about 1/4 mile away. She's got the "round-up routine" down pat. I come with the truck and grain, tie her lead rope to the hitch ball and bring her home at about 10 mph. Power was down on the fence.


----------



## logdog365 (Nov 21, 2006)

thanks to evveryone who replyed to my post what a nice bunch of knowlegeable folks you have i anm sure saved us alot of time and this granny a whole lot of anxiety . tie we shall ! every day ! thanks again and as for the donkey-mule if i ha done that is exactly what i would use we had to put down our oldmule but he would have done it if i would have asked him i am sure !


----------



## Tiffin (Feb 23, 2006)

My biggest problem has always been getting the halter on itself. Any help there?


----------



## LadyofTheBarn (Nov 26, 2006)

Tiffin said:


> My biggest problem has always been getting the halter on itself. Any help there?


I'm guessing you're talking about the animal spooking when you try to put it on? The best way to get them used to you is to be around them a lot and do a lot of things like rubbing on their faces, waving your arms around and trying to get it as used to you and your movements as possible. Do this to the point where the cow will look at you like you're stupid and doesn't think a thing about them.

I have tamed six month old calves this way a lot of times. And my show heifer one year, the vet said was the tamest he'd ever worked with in his whole life.

Allison


----------



## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Logdog, our grandaughter is on her second 4H steer, and was told last year by the beef leader in another club to put a rope halter on the calf with an extra long rope on it, and let the calf drag it around for a few days or a couple weeks even. It will step on the rope every now and then, and stop itself. So far, it's worked well with both of them. Also, work every day with the calf, leading it around, and making it learn to respect her. Use caution, tho, as they can break your toes if they step on your feet! Good luck to her, and I can identify with the decrepit part!! Jan in Co


----------



## logdog365 (Nov 21, 2006)

Jan in CO said:


> Logdog, our grandaughter is on her second 4H steer, and was told last year by the beef leader in another club to put a rope halter on the calf with an extra long rope on it, and let the calf drag it around for a few days or a couple weeks even. It will step on the rope every now and then, and stop itself. So far, it's worked well with both of them. Also, work every day with the calf, leading it around, and making it learn to respect her. Use caution, tho, as they can break your toes if they step on your feet! Good luck to her, and I can identify with the decrepit part!! Jan in Co


 thanks for the reply sounds like a good start


----------



## 259. (May 10, 2002)

Maybe some people will fry me for this suggestion, but I'm going to jump in here. 
Try clicker training. I have never trained a cow, but I am learning to use clicker training on my horse. People have successfully used clicker training on all sorts of animals, so I do not know why it would not work for a cow. You can read more at:
http://clickertraining.com/
or for horses:
http://theclickercenter.com/2004/index.php


----------

