So far, we have covered terminology and how/ what to
feed your show calf. So now you are probably wondering, what is considered “show
ready” for your calf? Well, the first step is halter breaking. This can get
tricky as you do not want to hurt your calf or yourself. This process can be
time consuming, frustrating, and a lot of hard work. According to The Brahman Journal article called Low-Stress Halter Breaking, this
process can take up to one month or even longer. The article explains that once
calves are tied up for their first time they do not eat the same or drink the
same due to being stressed out because of the halter which is why you want to
halter break as soon as possible. Once you get the halter on which you can
conquer anyway you would like, whether you put them in a shoot or rope them and
walk up to them and put it on, you must start by gentling the calf by walking
up to your heifer or steer and scratching them, petting them, or brushing them.
The Brahman Journal article, Low-Stress Halter Breaking explains how
it is very important to get all of the calves’ biggest fears out of the way
while they are still tied up, such as, using the show stick, brushes, or even
just being around you. The next step in this process is leading your calf which
it is recommended to use gloves so in case your calf gets scared, you do not
rope burn your hands. As you are leading your calf practice setting them up
with the show stick. This is helpful for when you are in the show ring and they
already know how to set up because of all the work that was put in while you
were halter breaking. There is a helpful YouTube video called, Techniques to Halter-breaking calves with
ease, that I would strongly recommend watching. This video shows how to set
your calf up as well as showing how your calf should look in the show ring for
when it is officially “show ready.”
The official link for the Brahman Journal article, Low-Stress Halter Breaking is:
The official link for the YouTube video, Techniques to Halter-breaking Calves with
Ease is:
I hope you find both of these links useful, Happy
Halter-Breaking! J
Helpful information. It seems that a person who is a novice might find it difficult to pet or scratch the cow. How does someone get over this fear?
ReplyDelete