What is your ideal working position?

I used to work right along the side, but slowly moved ahead a step as I got used to them and the work got repetative. I think my team has learned that when I am out in front, I just want them to go forward. When I’m next to them, I might ask for forward, stop, back, gee, or haw, or some other signal and pay attention. I also have to pay more attention in that position because they are expecting I am going to ask something of them and watch me closely for that signal. I end up walking more freely out in front. I do not know if this is good, bad, or indifferent. It’s just what I ended up doing…

I like to drive from a few steps out in front. My teams have learned to follow me so I don’t have to keep giving small turn commands as we move through the forest. This also helps with narrow skid trails so I don’t have to be in the brush all day. Not sure if that is any better or worse for farming type stuff. Mine have actually started driving themselves, I hook the chain say get up and they head out from the stump to the main trail by themselves. Not sure if I like that or not but so far its been good. I think you and your team will gradually learn the best way to work with each other. No need to be just like everybody else, the perfect way for you is the one that works.
~Tom

@Kevin Cunningham 38954 wrote:

… I am also constantly having to haw them towards me, because Joseph, who I have come to learn is herd sour, keeps walking away from me. The result is that I am constantly pestering Joseph on the rump to make him haw. He also has a tendency to lag behind Tex the nigh steer….I inadvertently having been working from a “come haw” position to make up for the constant left ward progression. This is also the only place I can reach their rumps from, because they are getting much larger. My constant badgering of Joseph does not help his already fragile ego and he has been acting up a lot lately…..So I am trying to remedy all this by moving my working position forward….The forward position seems to have the benefit of both steers seeing you, and you are also in front, the dominant position. The down side is that I can’t reach the back end of the steers from here…

It is good that you are experimenting and seeing yourself as an integral part of the way the team works. But your description makes me think some subtle changes in perception and actions might also help. You say you are working toward the back to give better access to the off ox rear end to bring him haw. You also pester him on the rump to speed him up. And he has been acting up a lot. And he seems herd bound and keeps walking away from you.

He may be acting up because he is confused about what your intentions are. If you want to speed him up tap him on the rump and tell him to step up. Before long he should respond to the request without the tap, at least you will not need to tap him every time. Generally, try to separate that tap on the rump from the request to come haw. Sometimes I combine those, but for a specific reason and not when traveling in a straight line. If you need more flexibility and reach to touch him, get a longer whip and a lash that is compatible with what you are trying to do. If you want to bring him haw a little, just reach over and let the lash touch the off ox on the off side near the point of his shoulder. That will cause him to move away from the touch, towards you. I have a command for that, ‘ haw a little’. If you want to bring them tighter a little faster, touch a little harder.

You want to get to the point where your requests and actions are purposeful and deliberate with clear intention understood by your team. If you sense you have to badger them, look for gaps in your communication or training that need to be filled. You might want to decouple taps on the rump from ‘haw’ and ‘hurry up’ for right now.

@Kevin Cunningham 38974 wrote:

…Of course it is easier for me to look to my human teachers for answers but maybe I need to look more to my animals. I am learning to read them better, but sometimes I am stubornly following some path and inadvertently ignoring what they are telling me….I am excited about being able to move more to the front, not as a fixed position but as it has the ability to expand where I can work them from…. So maybe there is no ideal place, but rather there is ideal work from all positions. And I am finding that currently working from the front is really helping my leadership abilities with a steer that is questioning my authority.

It is good that you are open to communication from your steers. It can be hard because there can be a nagging suspicion that they are taking advantage of you if you doubt yourself. But when it is important you will know because they will be increasingly forceful if you refuse to listen. One way they may demonstrate it is by becoming unruly. But that is not the only reason they may be unruly, and they may be unruly to resist some aspects of training that may be necessary.

It is great to be able to work from any position. What is not great is to work in a specific position because it seems to solve problems that are likely actually unresolved. Sometimes I work from the front. I think of that as my ‘brain dead” position. Cattle are generally happy to just follow along there, you can almost see the lights go off, and often they may noticeably relax because they don’t have to think because you are probably asking so little of them. That said, it can cut both ways. You can use it as a useful technique and perhaps a way to get your team to relax, but on the other hand they are not as engaged mentally as they should be. And from a practical point of view it is difficult to lead and see all you should from that position for some tasks. So this may be a useful tool for you, just keep it in perspective as you move forward.

If this steer is nervous you should try to get past the point where you sense you are pestering him with the lash. That is just going to continue to make him nervous. If you move him to the nigh position he may be a little jumpy at first, but it allows you to avoid bothering him with the lash it may work better.

Also, not every steer has the temperment to be a good ox so don’t get down if you just can’t get over the hump with this team. They will teach you a lot for sure.

…can he see properly? shying at little things, always looking at stuff (or trying to), perhaps holding his head low to examine the ground in front of him, feeling a lot more secure in the herd, makes me wonder…?

sometimes they are just nervy and don’t enjoy work though, i had a very nervous one but the trouble is IMO there’s so many better, easy ones who love the work i dont want to waste time on the steers that dont like me, or work, or strange things etc. personally, i’d train tex as a single and try another pair.