大象传媒

Hoo boy! I just put the halter on the calf...well, not alone: Erlend helped because I couldn't get near calf for all the kicking he did. Before we captured him I let him smell the halter and then I rubbed it over his shoulders and back while he flinched and cringed. Eventually he stopped being super-terrified of the strange object.

While my brave Erlend walked through several Bruce Lee kicks he captured the calf and held the bucking beastie in the corner of his pen with his backside aiming away from me. I said, "Be careful or you'll get kicked!" and Erlend laughed and informed me that he's been kicked by cattle "more times then you've had hot dinners..." He's brave. I'm a wimp - I'm even afraid of the calf!! (For a good reason because at all sizes these beasts pack a punch!)

I tried my best to put the halter on calf's fuzzy little head in a gentle manner so he wouldn't be terrorized - complete with lots of shoulder-scratches and praise. And I said, "Halter." while I was putting it over his nose and behind his ears. It took a couple of tries because I didn't want to put him in a head lock and grind the halter onto his face. We didn't rush it and calf did surprisingly well! He didn't like it but he didn't go ballistic with panic either.

(Do bovines respond to praise? Does anyone know? I've NEVER trained a hooved animal before, let alone an independent critter like a bovine!)

Now calf is playing a losing game tug-o-war as we step back and let him duke it out with the halter. Like the sheep we were going to show last month, he'll eventually figure out that he can't beat the halter and he'll learn to stand quietly by default. Our ram lamb "Magnus Magnusson" is fantastic when we tie him! He just stands there all patient and cute. But I have a bone to pick with whomever came up with the, "Gentle as a lamb" saying. WHAT A LIE! Lambs are not gentle. You have to endure kicks and butts and bites before you can get a lamb to stand still and be nice hahaha! Boy oh boy, whomever coined that phrase has never wrestled a lamb. I still have scars. My huge coffee table of a Texel yow lamb "Inga" still whips my hide whenever I tie her. She REFUSES to stand quiet. Uh uh, ain't gonna happen! She'll run up to me for scratches like a loyal dog. But stand for a halter? Nope!

I don't know if this calf will ever be tame enough because this is my first time ever training an ox. Who knows how many mistakes I'm making? To help cure his fear I've taken to closing a gate around on him and this lets me stand right by his side without getting my knees blown out with his flying hooves of fury. My guess is that gentle desensatization (sp??) with lots of shoulder scratches is the key.