New teamster from Oregon

I had the same question. My boys wanted to drift left, rather than walk in a straight line. Tim Harrigan helped me out by suggesting I press the slightly sharpen butt of my whip or goad into the left shoulder of my nigh steer. If the off steer is pushing left or walking faster than the nigh steer, they will, what I call, drift left. Your not going to be strong enough to force them over but if you put that sharp point there, your nigh steer will correct the problem for you. He’s strong enough to push back the off steer. Not too sharp a point, but enough that it’s uncomfortable for him.
Good luck, have fun, be patient

Dave,

I worked both of my boys singly and together in halters before I put a yoke on. It was awhile mainly because I hadn’t made the yoke yet, but when I did put the yoke on they didn’t hardly react at all. I think a lot of ground work before the yoke makes it an easy transition but then again I am no expert.

Another thing that I thought of does not have to do with walking next to your steer, but does have to do with leadership and personal space. When I feed my animals (steers, horses, even dogs) I am the one in charge. I make my dogs sit and wait until they are released with an “OK.” I make the horses walk out of the barnyard to the feeder in front of me, then I make sure that they are not crowding me before I pour the grain out. With the steers, no matter inside or out, I make them yield the right of way to me, even if that means just taking one step back from where I place their pile of hay along the stone wall in the pasture. I do this because, A) It is safer for me with the big animals and it enforces everyday that I am the lead mare/cow, B) It give me room to work, C) With the dogs, I don’t share food well, if I leave a sandwich in my truck, it better be there when I am ready to eat it, I own all food unless I tell them it’s ok to eat. I am a firm believer in the 5 second rule and I’ll be damned if I am going to fight a dog for something of the floor, so every time something edible is on the floor they look to me for permission even if it is their own food dish.

This is just an personal space issue, so look at how they interact with you any time you are around and make sure they are moving out of your space when you need it.

Best of Luck,

Erika

No no and no!

Now is the time!

Make your mark on them while they are young! There is nothing harder to deal with than a herd sour, barn sour OX!

Go go and go! further and stay away longer!

In fact it would be better if they were completely away from anyone other than you and each other.

Separate now. You don’t need anybody looking back. They only need you to think about.

Agreed. Never thought about the herd thing much, mine have been in various living situations, but now that I think of it, It was probably a really good thing that when I brought them home they lived in 2 calf hutches in a small pasture. They were loose and together during the day and tied up separate at night. When we had a real winter in 2010 I finally had to bring them into the barn, but after 3 months of training and them being separate I never really had too much of a problem with them being herd bound.

Get them out and away from the herd and if you don’t tie them up regularly it is good for them to get used to it ASAP, away from the herd.