Getting a steer's head up

[Kyshowgirl]

Hello, this is my first year showing cattle. How long should I leave him tied up and how high should I be tieing his head up as he walks with his head too low. Thanks

 

[TexasRedsAndShorties]

There are lots of helpful tips on YouTube as well but I feel like how long you do it is kinda just everyone’s opinions of course play it safe and ease into longer periods of times I’d start maybe 15 minutes at first and just move it up. Personally I get a lot of my tying in by just working their hair and washing but before you do that make sure they will just quietly tie for a while also while walking make sure you are encouraging him to hold his head up it’s not easy on your poor arms but you’ll get used to it lol! Good luck pms are always open if you have questions

 

[Kyshowgirl]

There are lots of helpful tips on YouTube as well but I feel like how long you do it is kinda just everyone’s opinions of course play it safe and ease into longer periods of times I’d start maybe 15 minutes at first and just move it up. Personally I get a lot of my tying in by just working their hair and washing but before you do that make sure they will just quietly tie for a while also while walking make sure you are encouraging him to hold his head up it’s not easy on your poor arms but you’ll get used to it lol! Good luck pms are always open if you have questions

Thank you

 

[bofhtx]

Also my daughter's first year showing. Once he was fully halter broken, we started tying his head up while we cleaned his pen, brushed him, etc. We try to get his head tied up where his nose is almost parallel to the ground. Like you would see it if you were showing him. We've worked ours up to an hour, sometimes a bit more. Sounds like a lot but it helped TREMENDOUSLY when showing him. My daughter used to have to struggle to get his head up. Now he holds it up himself with little effort.

 

[vc]

The other reason you want to tie them with their head up is to get them used to standing for longer periods of time, calves can spend an hour or more in the chute getting clipped and fitted, if they are not used to standing with their head up for longer periods of time, they will get real antsy in the chute or try to lay down as soon as they leave the chute.

 

[Chris Best]

Hello, this is my first year showing cattle. How long should I leave him tied up and how high should I be tieing his head up as he walks with his head too low. Thanks

A good bit of your tying up time is going to be from washing and rinsing, If you aren’t satisfied with how he’s holding his head in the ring, look into a bungee. Stockup Supply sells em for $120. Yes they are a little pricey but they can make all the difference. We like to tie up every day as well as wash every day because we have our steers in the cool room for fort worth so they are getting ALOT of time hung up and being worked. In total each steer is being tied up for about an hour and a half-2 hours each day. They stay on the bungee for about an hour of that time while we do pens and put feed and hay it before washing. The bungee will give them tension on their head so they have to fight the tension in order to drop their head opposed to just learning to rest their head up when they have a halter on. We have seen a world of difference in their overall posture just from the bungee. I’m sure there are other vendors who sell bungees, pretty sure I’ve seen a couple on TikTok shop.