Getting Comfortable

After the animals are comfortable with the process of putting on and taking off the rope halters, they are released from the head gates.

This is a scary time for them. They do not understand why this thing is on their head, and why it tightens around their nose when they pull back. The learning curve is different for every animal, some take to it quickly, while others struggle, jump and tangle themselves in the rope, and can even flop themselves over. Constant supervision is needed during this phase of training to make sure the animals are safe.

These three yearling bulls calmed down after about an hour of testing the process. Once they were standing with the rope slack, they got comfortable and starting chewing their cud. They were also treated to a few sliced apples for their good behavior before taking off the halters for the day.

We will do this step for 3 days before moving to the next lesson which is moving the animals from the stanchions with the halters on.