Breaking Elsie

Each night we go to the barn and separate Clarabelle from Elsie.   We bring Clarabelle into the barn and little Elsie follows, kicking up her heels, frisky and free.  We do this to separate the calf from the momma cow so WE have milk in the morning.  In past weeks (Elsie is now a month and two weeks old), I was bringing a bucket into the barn and milking at night, too.  Those days are gone.  Elsie is growing and as she grows, her demand for milk has grown.  Now in the evenings, she's taken ALL of the milk.

We feed Clarabelle before turning her out to the pasture.  Elsie stays in the barn behind the gate for the night.  Before we leave and while Clarabelle is eating, we get a little breaking halter out.  Elsie is not fond of it.  We put it around the back of her head and over her nose.

The way it works is that the more she pulls against it, the tighter it pulls around her nose, jaw, and head.  As I said, it is uncomfortable for her.  In the initial few times we did it, she was very dramatic.  She would pull against it and flop down on the ground.  Such drama!

With her head in the breaking halter, we tie the other end to a post in the barn - a strong post that doesn't move.  I read one time that when an elephant is a baby, a trainer will put a chain around its leg and tie it to a post.  The baby elephant tries and tries to break free, but can't.  When the elephant grows up, the chain is around its leg tied to a stake in the ground that could be easily pulled out, but the elephant doesn't even try.  The elephant learned as a baby that it is futile.  That's very sad, if you think about it.

We use a similar philosophy with Elsie and the breaking halter tied to the post.  The idea is that she'll learn after pulling against the post for quite some time, that it is futile.  She must be taught that the post is stronger than she is.  She eventually learns this.  For the time being, she'll pull and pull.

We gently rub her neck and behind her ears, talking to her gently.  Eventually, she doesn't pull as tightly against the post and allows some slack in the rope.  It is more comfortable for her, she learns, if she doesn't pull against it.

What we're trying to achieve, and will eventually get there, is for her to be able to be led on a rope without fighting and pulling against us.  I can identify with Elsie in some sense.  I can be hard headed and stubbornly pull against metaphorical lead ropes in my life on most days!  It is easier to halter break a calf when they are young.  We will keep working with her until she gets it.  I am confident she will.