Training older steers to a yoke…

OK so I got ray ludwig’s book and am quite taken, as I frequently am, with getting a pair in a yoke – something I’ve not done before. All mine are trained singly: to ride, pack, drive, pull (in collars) and be good companions 😀

At the moment I have Ted, who’s a yearling (and a bit) Jersey steer. He’s absolutely wonderful, perfectly willing to do anything you want no problem. I’ve had him doing a little of everything except driving from behind and he’s taken to it all like a duck to water, I’m now merely waiting for him to be big enough to ride which with me being heavy (and expecting in a few weeks!) and him being a wee Jersey, could literally be years yet…

Then I have ‘Pretty’ who is a two year old Jersey steer. He has no training whatsoever as he was intended to be a beef animal BUT he was the absolute bottom of the pecking order and looked so bad I thought he was ill, and wrote off the idea of beefing him (not worth it). However, since the dexters moved away to do some conservation grazing and he got a fair share of food, he has blossomed, not only growing and putting on weight but also becoming far more friendly and characterful. basically, whenever I work the other oxen or do anything with the herd (we move them daily) he is there, highly interested in what you’re doing, quietly begging for attention. If you didn’t know he wasn’t one of the oxen, you’d think he was as well trained. I’ve never started an older animal because I prefer to do things the easy way, but he is so interested, quiet and steady I feel confident. So far I’ve just started upping my contact with him – I can brush/touch him all over incl. legs while he’s loose in the field. I’ve also stuck a halter on him with very little drama indeed.

To top it all, Ted and Pretty hang around together a lot, it’s almost like Ted is coaching Pretty to suck up to the humans for a better life than the run of the mill beef herd! But this seems to me the ideal basis for a team?

So…am I insane to try putting a yoke on a trained 1yr old and an untrained 2yr old? (due to Pretty’s bad start they are a similar size) Obviously Pretty has a long way to go – I want to get him leading well and to accept a saddle and some weight at least before I try yoking him. He may not even ‘pass’ that stage.

Has anybody else trained older animals successfully? Or put together a team later in life? etc etc etc

We do have some jersey X dexter calves on the way that I would be very tempted to use as a yoked team if this doesn’t work out, so I can start the ‘proper’ way if it doesn’t work!