Solid Gold calf...trouble breaking

[idahoag]

I have a Solid Gold heifer that I am trying to break for my kid's 4H market heifer.  She has been crazy from the beginning!  She immediately tried to take me and not the "I'm going to bluff until you leave me alone" type....the only reason she was stopping is because she was hitting the end of the rope.  Now, after a couple days, I can walk up to her and pet her but, for no apparent reason, she still blows up all of a sudden and tries to take me.  On a short rope she obviously isn't as bad because she doesn't have the room but as soon as I give her more rope so she can eat and drink, it starts all over especially when I carry hay to her or a bucket of water to water her.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Davidsonranch]

I hate to be a downer, but last year I was posting almost the exact same scenario with a Two Tone calf my daughter had.  Despite just about every trick in the book including sending her to friends and different atmospheres, it NEVER worked out.  I think the key is are they "scared" or are they simply "mean".  From your description, like our Two Tone, sounds like she just might be mean.  I'm a big 6ft 250 pounder, and after personally getting knocked out, kicked about 50 times, and my daughter getting pinned on fences, butted, kicked, I decided it was not worth someone getting hurt.  Only takes one bad one to ruin it for a kid.  I don't care if she is the next state champ or barn burner, I would sell her while prices are ridiculous and find a new one. JMO

 

[idahoag]

That is not what I wanted to hear!   You might be right.  We have had them try to take us in the past but you could always tell that they were bluffing.  This one....not so much. 
Thank you.

 

[Buck]

After 25 years I have halter broken alot of calves. It has to be in the hundreds and I agree with Davidsonranch. Some of them are just nuts! When I was younger I would try working with them longer than I do these days but on these types of calves the outcome was always the same. I have had them that if I kept going it was going to be a fight to the death. Theirs or mine! Cut your losses and start over. If you purchased the heifer to show I would go back to the person I bought her from and see if they may help.

 

[Nasc]

We had a Walks Alone Steer a few years back, similar situation.
Tried several methods, ended up getting him shown but it was the most gut wrenching fair week we ever had.
It's no fun for anybody when you know you have one that has a history of going off in a blink of an eye.
He ended up being County Born and Raised Champion, daughter won senior showmanship and we all was glad when he went on the trailer after the sale.
I can't say we ever got the spirit out of him but one thing is for sure he took some spirit out of us.
I use to think there wasn't one out there that we couldn't put the work in to get them tamed down, now I have a different prospective.
After two weeks of working them if they have not improved they get shipped, we call it the A.S.A. Rule (the name of the walks alone steer, daughter didn't want to call him ASS.)

I could go into several stories about this calf....

In the end I think the majority of his issues had to do with poor vision.
Late in the project we noticed a very small ulcer at the bottom of his left side eye.
I think this explained why certain things (like truck doors slamming) wouldn't bother him but take a miss step or kick a pebble while walking him and he would go off.

Also we have a friend who is into horses and he suggested using an all natural supplement they used on their horses for stomach ulcers. His point was as nervous as the calf was it had to be causing distress in his stomach which he felt was compounding the issue.
I can't think of the products name right now, it was Papayas based. Any way we started him on that about two weeks out from fair and it seemed to smooth his edge out to a degree.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted on how it goes
Nasc

 

[cowpoke]

There is not one calf no matter how good worth hurting someone for.I agree with each post and usually those type of calves are easy to spot before purchase just by their behavior.A calf that has too much attitude usually has his head up and will look showy but my experience has been they aren't worth the trouble as we have shown a few like that that won  but just not worth the tension it causes .Too many older people and children to risk an accident.

 

[idahoag]

Buck, you might actually have something there.  After couple days she has settled down and now that you have mentioned the vision think I'm starting to wonder.  The only times she tries to take me is when I am directly in front of her or I have hay or bucket directly in front of her.  I can approach her from the side, pet her, and brush her but as soon as I move in front she blows up.

Looks like everyone says the same thing.  If nothing changes over the next few days I think I may just give up before someone gets hurt.  Damn, I hate giving up in anything!

We did raise this heifer but we also had a spare.  We chose this one for my son, who is in his first year of 4H....8 years old, and we chose it mostly on disposition in the pasture.  Amazing how things can change.  The spare is dog gentle so we got lucky.  This one will most likely end up in our freezer.

Thanks for suggestions all.

 

[Belties R Us]

I have a different perspective to share. I purchased a show broke shorthorn steer last year. Super easy to lead. Just as we always do we turn them out over the winter to grow, as we don't show them over the winter. So come May we brought them all back in to start working them again. Within two day's the other two calves we had lead just like before, absolutely no problems. But that shorthorn was terrible. Knowing he was very broke before we didn't give up on him. Two weeks in it still took two of us to lead him. He was tied every day as well as washed and dried. But he would not break. The normal keeping them turned so he couldn't pull away didn't work. He would jerk forward and take off at a sprint. Last ditch effort we took him and another calf to a clinic. Dad hated the idea and I had to drag him there. Two halters on him to get him safely loaded and unloaded from the trailer as well as into the grooming chutes. He ended up getting away from us twice. And we know better then to let go. By the end of the two days he was completely broke. I guess maybe it was the change of scenery. Or the constant attention. But something finally clicked and he was broke from then on out. We haven't run into an unbreakable on yet but I definitely believe they are out there. Not worth getting hurt over.

 

[idahoag]

Update:  So after four days the calf finally stopped charging me, decided to calm down and all my kids can pet her while tied up.  I tried the Mr. Nice guy approach and that didn't work at all.  Finally, I decided to treat her like one of our cows that takes me when I'm tagging her calf.....I got a big stick.  She took me, I popped her.  After three times she never did it again and changed almost immediately.  I was completely shocked by the turn around.  She even leads better than the other three that we were breaking!  I really figured she would be in our fridge eventually or go to the sale.  Got lucky I guess. <party>

 

[cowpoke]

Glad it worked out.The horse whisperer method works better in print on some animals and also some children.Sometimes you need to get their attention first.