A Boy and His Calf

Clarabelle has proven to be a stubborn little Jersey heifer. Halter breaking her was a real chore.  After tying her to an immovable object and letting her pull against it until she was either tired of the struggle or realized that 'resistance was futile,' she finally saw things my way.  It took longer than I thought, though, and longer than other calves I've broken.  I spent several weeks leading her (translation: pulling her) until she figured out that life was much simpler to walk along with me when tension was applied.

Some days I would be real encouraged and she would walk along with me like a champ - other days, she would regress and pull against me until I was sweaty and exhausted.  At long last the task was done and little Clarabelle became a compliant and obedient little heifer, walking along at a leisurely pace, enjoying her surroundings and making the afternoons more pleasurable for me too.

Clarabelle and Benjamin

This is the time of year when the days are getting shorter.  The sun seems to be hitting the landscape at a different angle than the harsh beat-down it assaulted the land with during the long, hot summer. Tricia had Benjamin put the halter on Clarabelle on the days that he doesn't have track practice and he walked her around the perimeter of our little homestead.

Benjamin put on a cowboy hat for the task and he and his heifer went walking.  I cringe looking at him barefooted, because even though she's a small heifer, her hooves are sharp.  If she were to step on Benjamin's foot, it would be very painful and he would not be happy.

Barefootin'

This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago and it reminded me that I need to start the same process of breaking little Luna - our most recent calf born to Daisy.  It is best (much, much easier) to halter break them to lead when they are small.  Also on the to-do list for Luna is to de-horn her.  The dehorning process with Clarabelle was the smoothest and best job we've ever done.  Her head is all healed up and horn-free.

When I was Benjamin's age, I showed sheep.  Every afternoon I would walk them. They became very tame and gentle.  Some would even follow me around.  As the livestock shows approached, I would walk them for longer distances and time so that they would be at their very best come showtime.  I became very attached to those animals and each year it was hard for me to let them go. Livestock shows taught me a lot about responsibility, work-ethic, and growing up and I treasure the years I was involved in 4-H and FFA.  I hope my kids feel the same way and are able to learn valuable life lessons like I did in their involvement with livestock.

Walking around the pumpkin vines with Clarabelle

With Clarabelle halter-broken and the process about to begin to break Luna, I was thinking that just around the time that Luna is done, Amy (our third Jersey heifer that is 2 1/2 years old) will have her first calf.  She is due right around December 31st.  So far this year our two girls (Daisy and Rosie) have given us two heifers. Both of those heifers have A2/A2 genetics.  We're hoping for 3 out of 3! We'll know in a month and a half.

Training a calf is a lot of work, but once the work is done, the dividends pay for a lifetime as the cow will respect the lead rope and will follow you wherever you lead her.  There's a good life lesson in there somewhere.

Teaching Clarabelle to Lead with a Rope

In THIS POST we showed how we began the slow and arduous task of breaking Clarabelle.  Animals (and people) have strong wills.  Like our other animals, we want Clarabelle to lead easily with a rope and the best way to do that is to start when they are young.  That is when you can impose your will on them instead of vice versa!

These animals will grow to be easily five times your weight and will be able to drag you all over the pasture.  It is much easier to teach them good habits while they are young and manageable.  I liken it to the story of the elephant.  When the elephant is small, they place a rope around his foot that is anchored into the ground.  The young elephant tries and tries, but cannot break free. He sort of gives up and when he is older, even though he can probably break the chain that he's anchored to, he doesn't even try, because of what was instilled at that young age.  There's a lesson buried in there for parents somewhere, but we'll not go that direction today.

In the earlier post mentioned above, we recounted how we tie Clarabelle up each day to a tree or a fencepost for about an hour.  She pulls and pulls, trying to get loose, but it's to no avail.  She soon begins learning that she can't win in this tug-of-war contest and stops pulling.  At this point, she'll lead easily back to the barn when I put her up for the night.  Well, after doing that for a couple of weeks, it is time to take her for a walk.  It is not easy.  This is not a task for someone expecting great results overnight.  Here's what I usually get at first:

As Stubborn as they Come

I pull hard on the rope and she pulls hard back.  It first seems like a stalemate, but I'm not giving up. I'm still a little bigger than her, too!  I pull for a little while hard, just enough to where she remembers pulling against the tree or the fencepost.  She remembers that she's not going to win the tug-of-war, and then I give her some slack on the rope.

Let's rest a little bit, Clarabelle.

While there is slack in the rope, I rub her neck and speak gently to her, touching her belly, her legs and back.  In a little while she's beginning to equate slack in the rope with favorable, pleasant times and a taut rope as unfavorable, unpleasant times.  I never whip her or raise my voice to her.  I want her to attribute times walking with me as a good experience.  I give her praise when she walks.

In time she's walking a couple of rounds around our property, with pep in her step. Sometimes she even lifts her tail and wants to run out ahead of me, but I pull her back in.  I want to teach her that she is to follow me.  With each passing day, she's improving, and it is very rewarding to see progress being made.  The weather has cooled off somewhat in the late afternoons when we have our little strolls.  People wave as they drive by on the road and we wave back (or at least I do), as we watch the sun cast long shadows across the grass outside the fence.

Me & Clarabelle on a September Afternoon

With perseverance and hard work, Clarabelle's stubbornness is just a shadow of what it once was!

Breaking Clarabelle

Clarabelle is our little Jersey heifer that was born on June 20th.  She is a cute little thing, full of personality.  Each night we separate her from her mom, Rosie, so that she doesn't get our milk and she plays games, running from us while kicking up her heels.  She is an affectionate little thing and enjoys to have her neck rubbed.

It is easier to 'break' a calf to lead as young as possible and we decided to start breaking her on her 2 month birthday.  I had a goat halter on her, but she is growing so fast that it doesn't fit her anymore, so I purchased a 'breaking halter' specifically for this task.  It has a special ring that allows the tension to be released quickly.  I'll show you why this is important in a minute.

Calves, like people, can be headstrong, stubborn, ornery!  If I put the halter on Clarabelle and tried to make her walk, she would dig in her heels and resist, causing me to pull and strain.  Eventually I'd be able to drag her, but there is an easier way. You just have to be patient.  It doesn't happen overnight. I halter her and tie her about head-height, leaving about 12-18 inches slack in the rope.  We make sure that we're nearby and constantly checking on her as we don't want her to fall and potentially choke herself.

Clarabelle doesn't like this at all!

Clarabelle likes her freedom.  She doesn't like being tied up and try as she may, the Chinaberry tree she's tied to is not going to move.  That's the point.  "Breaking" Clarabelle means exactly that - we are breaking her will.  She will understand, over time, that resistance is futile.  She is not going to win in a tug of war against a tree...

Or a fence post, for that matter.  Each day we'll leave her tied for an hour or so. While she's tied, we talk to her calmly and rub her down, massaging her neck, petting her back, touching her legs and belly.  She comes to look forward to this just as you would if someone would massage your back everyday at a certain time. Despite the lack of freedom caused by the rope, she at least can look forward to the treat of rub-downs and pleasant talk.  The first several days, she pulls mightily against the immovable object, straining with all she has.  Eventually, she doesn't pull quite as tight.

After a while, she doesn't pull at all.  As I mentioned, this takes patience.  We'll continue to do this every afternoon for weeks.  When I untie her and try to walk her to the barn where she is separated in her stall, I hold her with about 12-18 slack and walk her.  At first she walks pretty good, knowing she can't out-pull me, and I reward her with kind words of encouragement.  Then her stubbornness kicks in and she pulls against me.  She gets real dramatic and falls over on the ground in desperation.  I laugh and nudge her to get up and she complies and we eventually make it to her stall. 

For getting to the stall, she gets a good neck massage.  I've read that you can also reward them by feeding them a range cube, but I've not tried that.  

Clarabelle's stall in the barn

We will continue working with her.  As with anything difficult, it is important to be consistent, persistent, and patient.  Perfect practice makes perfect and good habits instilled at an early age will continue throughout her life and like I mentioned, it is much easier to break a 130 pound calf than a 300 pound calf.  The Jefferson Davis Parish Fair will be coming up October 6 - 10th and maybe we'll bring Clarabelle for Benjamin to show if she's walking with a lead rope by that point.