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Isadore is much bigger now but the camera is not working so I'm using a winter photo...

My hopeful future ox seems to be doing very well ~ just when I was convinced that I was going to have to give up on him and send him off to the beef herd! I've been very busy reading my ox training book that did not come back into print until I had Isadore for many months. It's an eye-opener because I've suddenly realized all of the mistakes I've made and the commands I've not taught my rapidly growing beast. Yesterday I figured I had to throw in the towel but I've decided not to give up on Isadore because he's not agressive. Today I tested his level of trust in my by asking him to do several scary things like walking over wooden pallets, walking across crackly silage pit plastic while it snapped in the wind (not on the pit of course but the old stuff laying off to the side...) and walking across loose stones next to a dreadfully creaky barn door. Even though Isadore got nervous, danced aboot and had stubborn moments where he refused to budge he eventually trusted me and carried on and he never tried to rip free and run away. Also, when Erlend dangled and rattled a bucket of feed right near Isadore's nose and I would not allow Isadore to move forward and eat it the calf never became agressive or forceful ~ even though he's easily thrice as strong as I am! He was annoyed and dancey-prancey but he eventually submitted to the "stand" command and waited. (Pouted??) That's a good sign to me!! Food will always make a dominate animal become agressive ~ and obviously Isadore doesn't think he's dominate over me or he would have whupped my hide! **Whew**

I've since learned that most calves only learn one command at a time and it takes about two weeks of consistent training for each command to become cemented in their heads. Yet even as I focus on one command I'm to still use every command in the course of walking him around. So, at the moment I'm focusing on "Back" ~ I'm supposed to get him so that he'll back up in a straight line for 100 feet. Meanwhile I still say all of the other commands (and tap with the goad) while working with him:

Gee ~ turn right
Haw ~ turn left
Stand ~ basically like "stay" for a dog
Step Out ~ step hind end away from me (or cart shaft)
Step In ~ step hind end towards me (or cart shaft)
Easy ~ to walk slowly
Halter ~ hold still while I cram this head collar on yer head!!

Every time I give a command I say, "Isadore..." and then I say the command in a firm voice. When he obeys he is immediately praised. When he disobeys we have a calm show-down until he either obeys or I move him to another command that I know he'll follow so that he can be praised. For example: Isadore refuses to move forward and he wants to move back. We lock horns. "Walk on." I command. Nothing. "Walk on." I command with a tap of the goad to his flank. Nothing. He's not moving! "Walk on." I command with a calm spank of the goad to his flank. (I repeat this two more times...) Nothing. At this point it's totally obvious that he's not going to do what I want and I refuse to beat him or scream at him. I see that he wants to back up so I say in a firm voice, "Isadore... Back. Back..." As I speak I release pressure on the lead rope, Isadore backs up and he gets praised for his obedience! Usually this encourages him to follow the original command eventually. It just takes time and patience ~ not harsh whips and screams. Why beat or scream at an animal until he fears you?? I'd much rather take the extra time to be patient and have Isadore enjoy my company!!

For the longest time I was convinced that the calf was totally not listening to me. Cattle don't have that attentive look like a horse or a dog so it's easy to feel like he's off in la-la land. But lo and behold, he's listening alright ~ and he's learning! Not only that, I discovered that he responds more to my body language then my voice commands so I've started working him without moving myself. For example, when I say, "Walk on" he actually waits for me to step forward instead of taking the verbal cue. (Same with "Whoa.") So now I give a bit of slack to the lead rope, command for him to "Whoa" without stopping myself and I press the goad across his chest while repeating "Whoa" while still moving. (My coordination is dreadful!!) Once he stops I praise him, then I command for him to "Stand" while I back off to the end of the lead rope. He stands, I praise him, then I tell him "Walk on" while I stand still and goad his bum. He's getting it!! I can tell he's confused at times but I simply repeat and repeat while patting with the goad and as soon as he makes one tiny move in the proper direction I praise him! The book says that it's very important to make sure that the calf understands what you want and that you don't make random pokes and prods with the goad because the beast will actually give up from confused frustration and refuse to move ~ so I make sure and always give a very clear command with consistent use of the goad in the same spot every time.

"Walk on" = goad tapped on bum or hocks
"Whoa" = goad pressed across chest
"Back" = goad patting brisket and knees
"Step Out/Step In" = goad handle poked into flank or other end patting flank
"Gee/Haw" = goad handle repeatedly tapping neck

(When I give Gee/Haw I also use my hip while tappnig neck with goad - for Gee my hip presses into his shouler and for Haw my hip presses into his flank in order to encourage him to turn. Eventually I also have to learn him how to pivot in order to turn a ridged ox cart! That's going to take a lot of creativity...)

For a goad I simply use a horse riding crop! When I move him to long reins I'll use a lunge whip as a goad ~ I won't whip him, I'll use the length to reach his body while giving commands. Isadore is also going to be trained on a nose bit ~ this is just like a straight bar bit used in Western style horses but it goes through the nose of a bovine like a nose ring and stays there permanently. A nose bit is essential for any riding ox, which is my ultimate goal for Isadore!

I'm also very busy un-doing a very huge mistake in my training: I must teach Isadore that as soon as he is under any kind of head collar or harness he must be in work mode. No eating grass. No sticking his head in the grain bucket while I unfasten the head collar... Ooops! My bad! So today I took him into the barn and tied him right next to his grain trough where he was like, "Give me that grain! Let me eat that grain!!" Then, while he focused on the grain I schooled him in standing still and waiting. It took about five minutes of patient repetition as he'd swing his hind end around while wrestling with the head collar. I would say, "Over" and then me and Erlend would position his bum so he stood perpendicular to the hitching point and I'd praise him and say, "Stand." More praise and a second later and that bum would be off to one side and we'd repeat the "Over" and "Stand."

As you can guess this went on over and over again. Finally I started to reinforce my "Over" with a spank of the crop and then I'd reinforce my "Stand" with a spank and Isadore quickly caught on ~ but as soon as I started to unfasten the head collar buckle he'd start dancing again. We simply repeated everything over and over until finally I unfastened the head collar buckle without him moving ~ and as soon as Isadore felt that slack in the throat latch he headed for the grain!!!! We firmly returned him to his perpendicular position (with me holding the head collar in place) with firm repeats of the commands, praise, and soon enough Isadore was standing still and not moving while I slowly slid the head collar from his face! When it was off he still didn't move! We praised him and petted him and urged him to go for the feed and then we petted and praised him some more as he chowed down on his long-awaited reward. I'm still amazed by how swiftly cattle catch on to training. It's unbelievable!

Well, I stink of bovine. Time for a bath. We are heading into toon today (and having dinner at the Mart - hooray!!) and I hope we can find time to buy a new camera. Cheerio!!!! Hopefully I can get some updated photos of Isadore soon!!