Post by BissyAndBessie on Sept 10, 2008 12:20:37 GMT -5
For Stacy, cause I can't get her dang email to take all these pix!
Disclaimer:
Bessie is a nonreactive lazy personality cow. I would not recommend this if you are a beginner to handling large animals, and have a really flighty cow.
DH is used to handling mean Stallions, breaking difficult weanling foals for halter, as well as rehabbing rogue horses.
We needed to get Bessie up from the back of a 8 acre field to her new field.
Leading wasn't working, so I suggested that we use the "foal rig".
Well that didn't work as Bessie is a lot heavier than most foals.
DH modified it for a cow, and it worked.
You will need 2 people to do this.
First set of pix is to show those of you that don't have a cow control halter how to make one. Go to your farm supply and get a leadrope for horses that has a chain shank on it, or you can just get the shank and clip that to your lead.
I wrapped the chain around the chin of the halter to make it not so severe for Bessie, but if we were going to actually lead her somewhere, I would not wrap it.
OK, next we have a long, SOFT, THICK, rope with a ring in the end. If you don't have a rope like this, no big, just go buy a long rope and a rock climbing carabiner (farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2846228072_6c6ab2235a.jpg) and make your own.
Put the rope around the neck, and then along the body, around the back legs and back to the ring.
THE ROPE IS HANGING TOO LOW IN OUR PIX. You want it up higher so it doesn't catch on her hocks. We didn't want to upset Bessie by putting it up higher, since she was standing so nicely for her photo shoot. As you can see in the last shot, she seemed to be thinking "You have got to be kidding me!"
Next are some pix of how the tied off knot looks, we found that you need it tied off, so it doesn't tighten up and pull her back at the same time as pulling her forward. This arrangement just puts pressure on the back of her legs, and also gives control over her neck. If you wanted even more control. you could run the leadrope through the halter nose band.
OK, now about handler placement. Put your strongest person handling the "buttrope", and the weaker person on the chain shank. Boo and DH model where to stand for each person. Boo being on the chain shank and DH holding the "buttrope"
Now the person on the "buttrope" pulls, and the person on the chain tugs. Lots of good girls are in order when they go in the right direction, but if they try to bolt off in any direction, or go too fast you can control them. Have one person pull on the rope to redirect them the right way.
We prefer one step at a time at first. We don't like them to go fast, it is too hard to stop them. You can, but it is hard. Better not to let them start to get out of control.
An animal doesn't learn or retain anything if it has gone into fight or flight mode, so slow and quiet is the key.
When she tried to bolt, I used DH as a post and then dropped her in her knees so she wouldn't run forward. DH asked me "why did you do that?she saw headed to the barn." I said, "yes, but I wouldn't have been able to stop her if she got going." DH said "good point!"
We got her stopped, and restarted under control.
Ok, now for pix of how to hold the rope so she can't rip it out of your hands. It's called "belaying". Rock climbers use it all the time to support the weight of their buddies, and I have been using it for years on big horses. (I am 5'5" and weigh 110, so I tend to get drug around a bit by large animals. )
You wrap the rope just under your belt line, on he start of the cushy part of your but, and then finish with it about Where DH's hand is holding the end of the rope in the pix. You are actually supposed to have it end up down nearer to your thigh, but our rope was too short to show this right.
The last pix is of DH clowning and showing how it works when you pull....goof hehe Love you hon!! Oh sorry, back to the post..
Well that is about it, I hope I haven't bored anyone, but If one person is helped, it was worth it.
I tried a lot of the suggestions here, the natural driving methods, all that. Evidently Bessie was wise to all this. Anyway, we had to get her out of the big field, and this worked for us. We got this "rig" on her while we were in the middle of leading her, as it was getting dark. I just didn't want anyone to think that you have to have the cow standing quietly to get it on.
Disclaimer:
Bessie is a nonreactive lazy personality cow. I would not recommend this if you are a beginner to handling large animals, and have a really flighty cow.
DH is used to handling mean Stallions, breaking difficult weanling foals for halter, as well as rehabbing rogue horses.
We needed to get Bessie up from the back of a 8 acre field to her new field.
Leading wasn't working, so I suggested that we use the "foal rig".
Well that didn't work as Bessie is a lot heavier than most foals.
DH modified it for a cow, and it worked.
You will need 2 people to do this.
First set of pix is to show those of you that don't have a cow control halter how to make one. Go to your farm supply and get a leadrope for horses that has a chain shank on it, or you can just get the shank and clip that to your lead.
I wrapped the chain around the chin of the halter to make it not so severe for Bessie, but if we were going to actually lead her somewhere, I would not wrap it.
OK, next we have a long, SOFT, THICK, rope with a ring in the end. If you don't have a rope like this, no big, just go buy a long rope and a rock climbing carabiner (farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2846228072_6c6ab2235a.jpg) and make your own.
Put the rope around the neck, and then along the body, around the back legs and back to the ring.
THE ROPE IS HANGING TOO LOW IN OUR PIX. You want it up higher so it doesn't catch on her hocks. We didn't want to upset Bessie by putting it up higher, since she was standing so nicely for her photo shoot. As you can see in the last shot, she seemed to be thinking "You have got to be kidding me!"
Next are some pix of how the tied off knot looks, we found that you need it tied off, so it doesn't tighten up and pull her back at the same time as pulling her forward. This arrangement just puts pressure on the back of her legs, and also gives control over her neck. If you wanted even more control. you could run the leadrope through the halter nose band.
OK, now about handler placement. Put your strongest person handling the "buttrope", and the weaker person on the chain shank. Boo and DH model where to stand for each person. Boo being on the chain shank and DH holding the "buttrope"
Now the person on the "buttrope" pulls, and the person on the chain tugs. Lots of good girls are in order when they go in the right direction, but if they try to bolt off in any direction, or go too fast you can control them. Have one person pull on the rope to redirect them the right way.
We prefer one step at a time at first. We don't like them to go fast, it is too hard to stop them. You can, but it is hard. Better not to let them start to get out of control.
An animal doesn't learn or retain anything if it has gone into fight or flight mode, so slow and quiet is the key.
When she tried to bolt, I used DH as a post and then dropped her in her knees so she wouldn't run forward. DH asked me "why did you do that?she saw headed to the barn." I said, "yes, but I wouldn't have been able to stop her if she got going." DH said "good point!"
We got her stopped, and restarted under control.
Ok, now for pix of how to hold the rope so she can't rip it out of your hands. It's called "belaying". Rock climbers use it all the time to support the weight of their buddies, and I have been using it for years on big horses. (I am 5'5" and weigh 110, so I tend to get drug around a bit by large animals. )
You wrap the rope just under your belt line, on he start of the cushy part of your but, and then finish with it about Where DH's hand is holding the end of the rope in the pix. You are actually supposed to have it end up down nearer to your thigh, but our rope was too short to show this right.
The last pix is of DH clowning and showing how it works when you pull....goof hehe Love you hon!! Oh sorry, back to the post..
Well that is about it, I hope I haven't bored anyone, but If one person is helped, it was worth it.
I tried a lot of the suggestions here, the natural driving methods, all that. Evidently Bessie was wise to all this. Anyway, we had to get her out of the big field, and this worked for us. We got this "rig" on her while we were in the middle of leading her, as it was getting dark. I just didn't want anyone to think that you have to have the cow standing quietly to get it on.