5 month birthday

Today Bright and Bold are five months old!

Tack Box

Over the past week, I have been working building a tack box for Bright and Bold. I finished it this morning, and am very happy with how it turned out. I will use it to hold brushes, halters, and other supplies that I need for the steers.

I was quite a big day for Bright and Bold! This morning a group of third graders came to the farm to learn about cows. They come every Friday morning for an hour and a half. Today, they got to learn about brushing cows. I brought Bright and Bold out along with one other cow for the kids to brush. At first the steers were a little bit nervous, but they very soon decided that they liked all of the attention. 

After the kids left, I took the boys for a walk outside now that the ice is mostly gone. I have only been able to take them for short walks inside of the barn for the past few weeks because of the ice so I was glad for the chance to take them outside. They seemed to have other ideas though!

Bold turned around when we were about 200 feet out from the barn and took off for home, Bright decided that the running along was fun and quickly joined in. I grabbed on to their yoke and held on for all that I was worth, as I knew that if they successfully got away from me back to the barn, it would take lots and lots of work for them to ever obey me again. 

I tried to dig my heels into the ground and stop them, but once they got going, they seemed to have no trouble at all in pulling me along. Luckily, there was a snow bank between them and the barn and the idea of going around it didn't seem to cross their minds. They came to a stop right in front of the big pile of snow. I knew that if I sent them back to the barn then, it would only be reinforcing the idea that running away would get them what they wanted. 

I was angry with them but I tried to remain calm, I turned the boys around and we headed back across the field. Once the steers realized that I had my eye on them, and there would be no more running away, they behaved very well. I continued working on getting them to stand, which they can now do for almost two minutes. We walked all the way around the hayfield, and definitely ended with a success, which is important.

I have been taking Bright and Bold for walks in side the barn because it is still too icy for them to go outside. Because there isn't enough space for the boys to do too much walking around, i have been working on teaching them to stand still for a long time. A well behaved steer will stand still when told to, and not do anything else until they are given another command. Bright and Bold's current record for standing still is just over a minute.

Yesterday it was too icy to take bright and bold outside so I took them for a walk in the barn. Because we were in an enclosed space where they couldn't run away, I didn't use a lead rope to restrain them. Usually I keep them on one lead rope just in case they get spooked and try to run, but I try not to use the rope unless I have too. The boys were very good without the lead rope though, they started and stopped very well and they also turned left and right.

the boys are getting bigger every day, they now both weigh about 300 lbs.