Training tip needed

[Rod]

I have a new pair of 2 year old Dutch Belted steers and need some advice about a problem I have when they are pulling a load. The steers are 4h trained and the youngster who had them did very good job of it. They are a pleasure to walk with unloaded, turn , stop back etc. Very calm and quiet team and seem willing to please and learn. I have had them three weeks. The previous trainer had used them for pulling this season in the 1600 LB. class and I suspect that training might be the source of what I am having trouble with.

When I hook them to a load that they can pull they take off running and disregard my whoa or whip action etc. I have to run after them until they decide to stop. They stand well and do everything else that I ask but when I hook a load it’s off to the races and forget the commands that work so well when they are not hooked to anything. I have tried light loads (empty stone boat) small logs and a fairly heavy sled. The sled was a little better because they had to pull it uphill and could not get going very fast as it was too heavy. My guess is that they are conditioned to really haul out when hooked. The youngster that had them could run a lot faster than I can and likely could get out in front of them to stop them when he wanted. What can anyone recommend for training activities to work on this problem?

[Baystatetom]

Its partly their age. 2 year olds are fast. Like folks have said in other threads here recently body language counts more then voice commands. You have to stop moving when you say whoa, or they will continue on their way. You may have to put a halter on the near steer and give him a tug when you say whoa. I hate to sound abusive but just like Yosemite Sam said “When I say whoa I mean whoa”, be firm with the goad stick. Don’t break their nose or nothing but get there attention because at that moment its not on your commands. You could also stop them more frequently before they get a full head of steam or turn a figure 8 so they have to pay more attention to your commands. Stay after them the more yoke time the better.
Good Luck
~Tom

[Rod]

Today was much better. I have been training them to drive from the front so they would learn my pace which is a lot slower than their previous owner. I put a couple of real rough nylon rope halters on them today and tried the stone boat which they ran away with yesterday. By walking along a fence and building in front I was able to keep them down somewhat and then from the side the halters worked good to check their pace.The halters had a good effect and by the end of our session they were wrapped around the bows and I did not need them any longer.

[Baystatetom]

@Rod 30670 wrote:

Today was much better. I have been training them to drive from the front so they would learn my pace which is a lot slower than their previous owner. I put a couple of real rough nylon rope halters on them today and tried the stone boat which they ran away with yesterday. By walking along a fence and building in front I was able to keep them down somewhat and then from the side the halters worked good to check their pace.The halters had a good effect and by the end of our session they were wrapped around the bows and I did not need them any longer.

I have been fighting with my off steer for two years now trying to slow him down. At least my near steer moves at a reasonable pace and kind of acts like an anchor.

[Rod]

My off steer does the same thing but not as extreme as what you have described about yours in other posts. The training I have been working on for driving from the front seems to help my steer in this area.

[Rod]

@Baystatetom 30677 wrote:

I have been fighting with my off steer for two years now trying to slow him down. At least my near steer moves at a reasonable pace and kind of acts like an anchor.

Driving horse teams that are not in alignment are sometimes evened up by the use of a buck back strap. What this device is if you are not familiar with it is a line running from the forward horses bit to the evener of the slower horse. In effect what happens when the fast horse pulls ahead the strap tightens and more of the load is transferred to the fast horses bit and it gets to pull the increased load with it’s mouth.
A similar principal might work with an ox team if a training halter was tied back with a rope to the load chain so that the slack in the rope was taken up when the fast ox pulled ahead and conversely let out when the fast ox evened out. It might take some experimenting to get it right but is a possibility.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

Does the strap to the bit not interupt your communication with the horse?

[Rod]

Not when the horse is in alignment. With normal team line setups it is not possible to communicate individually with each horse since each line is split to both horses and a pull on that line effects both horses equally.

[Doug]

Rod,
Thanks for the idea of the buck back strap, my off steer is the anchor in my team and that sounds like something I could try to get him to keep up.
Doug

[Baystatetom]

I had tried tying his nose down by hooking the halter to his bow but it didn’t have much effect, he just held his nose lower while he charged ahead. Maybe hooking it to the load chain is the way to go. He does calm down after he gets tired. Of course I am pretty tired by then too. I have been trying to wait him out, this yoke has a fixed staple but my next one I can move. I figure I’ll just dump some more weight on him. I think I got good advice in the just work them more idea. Just a matter of finding the time.
~Tom

[Rod]

I noticed when I used my steers normal halter it had little effect when I tried to slow the boys down but when I switched to a rough rope halter that tightened on his nose when pulled on that it had a good effect. Or the chain hook location, that should work because if he wants to pull ahead he starts to pull the whole load with that halter which tightens up on his nose as he does so.

[Vicki]

Rod, it sounds like you’ve come up with your solution; and I learned a lot by reading about it. So I have no tips for you, only to say that yes, I think the running off with the boat is conditioning from pulling training, which you are easily modifying now, and I do think they will slow down on their own after three years of age.

I had a similar problem with a 4H team I bought that had been trained for cart class. They were fine in almost every way, except that whenever I hitched them to the cart, they took right off to the races without my command!

[oxman]

Rod, what you explained is a classic error in using oxen. Most teamsters when hooked on a load will take off right away, especially in a comp. The animals expect that, even delight in it. To solve this simple problem, just don’t do it for a while. They’ll get it after a bit, hopefully.

Carmen

[Droverone]

That’s a great pair of cattle, I watched them at Brooklyn fair last year! The best of luck with them! You got a lot of potential there!

[Author]

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