Fear of Puddles

[Kevin Cunningham]

What is fascinating about working with animals for me is that it is a balance of perception and instruction. Intellectually I knew that my beginnings of draft power would require more cooperation than I use with my tractor. Although sometimes I would argue that my tractor does know when I really need to get something done and takes the oppurtunity to break down and cause delays and frustration. I could not have truly known however, how this cooperation would work out in day to day practice. I am amazed at when it works. I can hook up to the sled and the steers pull it with me as their guide. I am amazed when it doesn’t. They shy away from a puddle but walk straight into a river. One of my main reasons for starting draft animals was a yearning for a connection that I don’t get from my tractor. I appreciate the fact that animals don’t act like my tractor after all if I tell my tractor to drive off a cliff it would do it without hesitation. No animal would do that and I hope I can learn to act as a firm, steady, and confident driver, but not let my agenda cloud my perception. These little guys teach me so much everyday.

[Tim Harrigan]

@Kevin Cunningham 30953 wrote:

… I hope I can learn to act as a firm, steady, and confident driver, but not let my agenda cloud my perception…

Rock on! There will be no return from that spot.

[Baystatetom]

Thumbs up Kevin, I like your attitude. I agree with both Tim and Carl on this one. I think its okay for them to make a decision about where to put their feet, however they have to listen to your commands. I was dragging in a big crooked chunk of wood the other day and my team went straight on the same path they always walk instead of crowding the edge when I said haw, the result was the log caught my fence and ripped the wire off 4 poles. Which then of course made a hole for the goat and horse to run out of before I fully accessed the situation, but that’s another story. In the woods that could have jammed a scoot or broke a runner, spilled a sap tank, broke a plow point on a rock etc.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Well we finally got some rain after a long dry spell. This has been the driest, sunniest December on record for us! So I have had a chance to try the boys on some more puddles in the driveway. Before my biggest concern is the they would just stop, or Joe would stop more specifically, then Tex would have to stop as well. They would then balk and shy away from the puddle when I told them to get up. I would intentionally walk them up to the puddle because I wanted them to not be afraid. Sometime it took some serious coaxing to even get them to move around the puddle. Since then we have been training every day and they have graduated to pulling a small sled. With the chain between their legs they can’t hop around as much and they are don’t stop as often. I think this is good progress but I still have a hard time getting the to walk a straight line through a puddle. These guys are still young and we are working on trusting each other. So far so good

[Nat(wasIxy)]

I haven’t noticed any of mine show any reluctance to go through water – we’re very wet here so they’d be finished if they didn’t! If it was mere relcutance to get their feet wet uneccesarily (and I think this is the case from the sounds of it) I can live with that for sure, as long as if I need them to go through it and push them to do so, they do it. However shying from puddles is another far more serious matter and would require some work. I’d then probably just push them through puddles until they were happily doing it.

[Vicki]

About the puddles in the driveway: Cattles’ eyes perceive contrast more acutely. The way light reflects or images reflect can make them scarier at some times than others. Walk through them yourself, give the calves time to see that you do not fall in, bring them through, a little at a time, learning to trust you, so they learn that puddles there are not holes. You could work on coaxing them through one at a time on the halter. They will learn that puddles in routine areas are no threat, and you shouldn’t have problems with them balking or stepping around there, though they may shy from puddles in unfamiliar places.

One of my steers always startled at a certain spot; eventually I figured out that he saw reflection in a window there. We took time to go to the window and check it out, then he never startled again. There may be occasions when white concrete meets blacktop, dark manhole covers with echoing sounds underneath appear in light road surfaces, and similar contrasts, where you can patiently enable your steers get beyond their perceived dangers.

I really appreciate the insights from Tim and from Carl here. After twelve years, I still am sometimes not totally clear inside myself on how much to work “with” in contrast to how much to “force” my cattle. We work quite well together, don’t misunderstand. They respect my leadership and are very responsive. I don’t want them to think they can call the shots, but I also do not want to damage the trust that keeps them looking to me as leader. I’ve found that I cannot force my steer to do some things in some instances, and I don’t always understand why he is adamantly resisting. Getting him into the trimming chute at Tillers is what comes to mind, Tim; you were there. We did force him by dragging him with a rope. That is the first time I have ever forced him like that.

[Tim Harrigan]

@Vicki 31113 wrote:

…Getting him into the trimming chute at Tillers is what comes to mind, Tim; you were there. We did force him by dragging him with a rope. That is the first time I have ever forced him like that.

Sorry, Vicki, I missed this post earlier. About the chute, you may not have noticed an adjustment that made it easier for him (was it Silas?). I asked someone to get a long rope for a lead (about 30 ft) and had him run it through the chute opening, and then to step to the side so Silas could not see anything but open space at the other end. Then I got behind the point of his shoulder to encourage him but not have him feel like he was being forced, although there was enough tension in the lead to keep him focused in that direction. Once we gave him that open space he walked in quite easily.

[Author]

Posts