Fighting in the yoke

@clayfoot-sandyman 24551 wrote:

…what’s particularly frustrating is when they go for each other in the yoke because they’ll be walking along nicely when one (it’s always the same one) turns his head and attempts to knock the other with his head –

…feel like I need to go right back to basics.

Yes, keep working on the basics. Ixy is correct, they are not respecting your leadership if they are willing to ignore you and start fighting in the yoke. It is about business when they are yoked and you need to work on making sure they respect your leadership.

If it is always the same one starting it then it should be easy to see it unfold. Keep your eye on the instigator. If he so much as turns his head to his partner, correct him and thump him on the head to bring his attention back to you as soon as you sense them starting to drift away. If the other steer begins to react, thump him as well. Don’t wait until they are fighting until you put a stop to it, get after them right away.

Use a short goad without a lash that you can control and respond with quickly. Use one with some give to it that will sting if you want it to. Back when my steers were coming on one year old and they needed to understand that grazing in the yoke was not an option, I had a goad with a rubber handle. I turned it around and when they started to put their heads down I thumped them on the poll with the rubber handle. It is surprising how fast they figure it out. You do not need to knock them cold, give them a chance to understand the new rules. The goal is not to hurt them, it is to bring their attention back to you and keep it focused on your direction and leadership. React quickly, and if they keep doing it you will have to explore where the minimum force is to get them to understand you mean business.

Don’t get angry, just be quick, consistent and fair, but determined.

I do not like a lash on a goad in the situation you describe. If they get to jumping around and you start trying to whack them on the nose or poll you don’t know where the lash will go. You don’t want to put an eye out. And don’t use a heavy stick that can break a horn off.

One more thing, don’t be too quick to assign all the blame to one steer. It may look like one is all to blame, but they can communicate in subtle ways. The innocent one may be doing more to get it going than you may realize.

Are they trying to establish their social order after being tied for awhile and unable to do the pushing that guys generally do in adolescence?
We had a team that went from avery wide yoke at their former employment to a narrower yoke that we had. The off ox was dominant , and problematic in his dominance in his former home. Something they didn’t tell us when we bought them. He would try to joust in the yoke because he didn’t like his brother “in his space”. I was able to discourage that behavior. But…..we had to ship them anyway for dominance issues. It turned out he was supposed to have been the nigh steer but kept poking the teamster with his horns. Their solution was to put him in the off postion out of reach. WRONG answer.
oxnun