She stood there, panting and taking turns eyeballing each of the four of us. She had never been away from her home, her safe place, and now she was five hours away staring at four brand new faces in a brand new barn as we just stared back. The look in her eyes read of fear with not a glimpse of trust to be found. Yet.
She didn’t trust any of us as far as she could throw us, and at a year old and around 1000 pounds, she could’ve thrown any of us pretty far if she so desired. Two attempts got her off of the trailer with no injuries to anyone, but it was certainly the journey getting her to her pen. She breathed heavy and plastered herself against the barn wall, where she adamantly stayed any time one of us tried to approach her. Getting too close to her was met with a bolt in the other direction. If she could have climbed the panels of her pen, she would have. We all knew she wasn’t crazy, but she wasn’t going to just be one you walked in there and started petting. Lately we had an easy time breaking heifers to the point of being show ready...the girls on our show string had taken to the life quickly. We knew this new addition was far good enough to be there with them, we loved her already and wanted others to see her as well.
For some reason still unknown to me, she took to me. Maybe it was my determination to make her trust me, or maybe it was because I was the lady with the feed. Either way, we all started a journey with our new heifer. It was a slow pace, set by her. Some people would say that she had an “attitude” , that she just needed a firm hand. But I knew...we all knew...that she was just going to take some time. She just needed some patience. And a little more walking forward instead of going in reverse. Little steps. Picking up the halter. A few steps. Brushing and petting. A few more steps. Leading to the edge of the pen. A few more steps. Leading to water. A few more steps. A bath. A few more steps. Clipping. A few more steps. Her debut and a test of trust. And finally, with a little more work, a flawless showering appearance.
I myself have not worked this closely with a show heifer in a while, but I also feel very connected to her. Proud doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about how far she has come. I would love to brag on my family’s domestication skills, but it was mostly her. I am a person that likes to have some sense of control in situations, but we all had to relinquish most of the control of this relationship to her. It has been a different experience for sure, and a learning one all the way around.
She is our Cora.
She didn’t trust any of us as far as she could throw us, and at a year old and around 1000 pounds, she could’ve thrown any of us pretty far if she so desired. Two attempts got her off of the trailer with no injuries to anyone, but it was certainly the journey getting her to her pen. She breathed heavy and plastered herself against the barn wall, where she adamantly stayed any time one of us tried to approach her. Getting too close to her was met with a bolt in the other direction. If she could have climbed the panels of her pen, she would have. We all knew she wasn’t crazy, but she wasn’t going to just be one you walked in there and started petting. Lately we had an easy time breaking heifers to the point of being show ready...the girls on our show string had taken to the life quickly. We knew this new addition was far good enough to be there with them, we loved her already and wanted others to see her as well.
For some reason still unknown to me, she took to me. Maybe it was my determination to make her trust me, or maybe it was because I was the lady with the feed. Either way, we all started a journey with our new heifer. It was a slow pace, set by her. Some people would say that she had an “attitude” , that she just needed a firm hand. But I knew...we all knew...that she was just going to take some time. She just needed some patience. And a little more walking forward instead of going in reverse. Little steps. Picking up the halter. A few steps. Brushing and petting. A few more steps. Leading to the edge of the pen. A few more steps. Leading to water. A few more steps. A bath. A few more steps. Clipping. A few more steps. Her debut and a test of trust. And finally, with a little more work, a flawless showering appearance.
I myself have not worked this closely with a show heifer in a while, but I also feel very connected to her. Proud doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about how far she has come. I would love to brag on my family’s domestication skills, but it was mostly her. I am a person that likes to have some sense of control in situations, but we all had to relinquish most of the control of this relationship to her. It has been a different experience for sure, and a learning one all the way around.
She is our Cora.
