Post by canesisters on Aug 31, 2015 12:15:03 GMT -5
Friday was a not-so-great day, but by the time I got home it was looking better. The weather was really nice and Eva was at the barn door. So I decided to take her for a walk. It had been a while since out last walk (keeping her comfortable with halter & leading) and all our previous walks had been inside the fences. This time I decided to go down the driveway.
I got her halter on and we came through the barn. Let her graze around the barn for a little bit. Then started down the gravel drive. We stopped off in what was going to be the next section of the rotation grazing pasture (only partially fenced, lush & ungrazed yet this summer). She was LOVING that. We walked on down the drive and she was super alert but didn't appear fearful or nervous.
After a little while we headed back to the barn, stopping by the open field for a little while again. Once we got back to the barn and into the paddock, I unclipped the throat snap on her halter and suddenly my happy heifer turned into a BERSERK BOVINE!
She wheeled around, taking her half-on/half-off halter with her. Tore around the side of the barn and across the pasture to the fence line separating where she's been grazing for the past 2 weeks and the next section that she had just sampled. She galloped the fence line a couple of times an then popped over it as if it was 1' tall!!!
ONE WEEK BEFORE I LEAVE ON VACA AND SHE LEARNS TO JUMP THE FENCE!?!?!?!?!?!
Thankfully I knew better than to go running after her. I walked back down the drive and slowly got between her and the road. Then, doing my BEST to have an "Oh hey there, I didn't know you were way down here too" attitude I eventually got a hold of her halter, secured it and got the lead back on. She wasn't real happy about going back up to the barn. She was even less happy about the hour of 'standing tied' practice while I decided what to do next. I decided that since this was VERY out of character for my couch potato cow - it was most likely my fault for (1) showing her that lovely grass (2) not realizing how excited she had gotten with several new sights, sounds, views, etc (3) for not thinking what would happen when an excited, food driven cow met a poly-wire electric fence that was only about 3' high.
It took about 12 hrs of work and 2 trips to the hardware store - but the perimeter fence is now 3 lines (instead of 2) - a little over 4' high - with the top line of a heavier gage poly-wire.
I turned her out Sat afternoon and she calmly walked down to the new section and started grazing. There hasn't been any sign of the Berserk Bovine again. I know that she hasn't forgotten the hop over the fence. I'm praying that she no longer has any reason to WANT to try it again - and that the somewhat higher & slightly more visible fence is discouraging enough.
It's going to be HARD to enjoy Disney if I'm worrying about whose going to be on the farm when I get home.