a training question – young steer likes to follow behind me.

Cattle get in the habit of following quite easy, they seem to prefer it, it seems to me, because they do not have to think. But having them behind is not a convenient place to be because you can not see them and you risk tripping if you start walking backward. Step to the side and stay at the point of his shoulder. Speed him up with your lash if he starts to fall in behind you. Make him walk at the speed you want; quick, easy or at a walk. You should be able to drive him from in front if you want, but you should decide when and where, not him. That is a bad habit.

It sounds like you and Lucky are off to a great start! And you got the right idea: use only the amount of “rod” needed to get compliance. Have fun!

He is acting like an 8 month old calf. He is also learning what he can get away with, and he is learning that he can get away with a lot. I might be wrong, but I do not think bovines give a second thought to a good glare and scolding. Your relationship changes when the yoke goes on–it has to be all business. First of all, do not let him run from you. This is one of the worst possible habits that he can learn. Keep your hand on his lead so you can snap him back if he starts to run. Have your goad ready and wrap him on the nose if he starts to run. I can’t tell you exactly how to get his attention but he needs to regret goofing off in the yoke. Do you have a single yoke for him? If so, he should be pulling something like a car tire that will make him work a little bit. If he has to pull he will not be thinking about running. If he runs with a load maybe it is not heavy enough.

Ivy, you need to find the right balance in taking your steer from unruly to responsive and well-mannered. Kindness predominates in all phases of training, but kindness is not always shown by hugs and kisses. What you learn in working cattle over time is where the limits need to be set, and you learn to measure your response in getting them there. It is a serious mistake to overreact in a harsh way if they do not understand what you expect of them. But, you need to lead them, in a stepwise fashion, through a learning process whereby they quickly come to understand what you want. And then you need to enforce it with just enough insistence that they clearly understand that your way is the easy way. Like water flowing over a rock.

I am sorry if I seemed to be pushing you to a position of unyielding harshness but I did not sense thay you needed any encouragement on the hugs and kisses side. If your steer gets to where he is always testing the limit of what you will accept you will never relax and really enjoy working with him. You will see teamsters who are loud and strike their team frequently. And, you will see others who are quiet and can direct their team with a quite voice and nearly imperceptible movements. What separates them, in large part, is their ability to read behavior, communicate clear expectations, and enforce them in a clear and kind way.

You have to realize that we have little evidence to establish our recommendations in response to questions in a site like this, and if we could watch you we may make very different observations. Most of what you need to learn is not in a book or on this site. That means we can not tell you exactly what to do. You just need to work through the process and your team will tell you what is working and what is not. Training a team is an interesting challenge because every animal is different and every team is different. You make some mistakes and you get some things right. Over time, as you gain experience, you hope to get more things right than wrong. Don’t get discouraged, but don’t let him run 🙁