Halter Breaking Basics

September 10, 2019

Written by Christina Ward

The boys and I tied the first set of calves up this weekend while Frank was back in the Midwest looking at cattle. It occurred to me that they have really started to grow up and are getting pretty handy. But it got me to thinking about halter breaking basics.

Dad is More Fun?

I’ll admit that it stung a little when Chance told me I “wasn’t as fun as Dad” when it came to halter breaking. Maybe I forgot to say, “Fish on!” as the calf hit the end of the halter like Frank always does. That aside, it was an opportunity to remind them of a few halter breaking basics. I thought I’d pass on a few in this week’s post to you.

Be Patient

Don’t rush calves through your system. Everyone has a program of how they halter break, some are better than others. If you missed the opportunity to break the Sugar Ray and Full Throttle cattle, trust me that this is a safer time to break cattle…most of the time.

In the event you did break those cattle, you’ll likely agree that the cattle of today are more fun to work with. If you are new, visit with someone who is more experienced than you. Get a feel for what their program looks like and see how you can incorporate the tips you like.

When you are looking at a pen of calves to work with, it can seem daunting. Particularly, if you are pressed for time. If you are in a hurry, I’d recommend waiting for a day that you can devote some time without feeling rushed.

This is especially true if it’s one of the first times you’ve worked with your calves. The more rushed you feel, the more anxious your cattle will feel. Okay, I’ve never asked a calf if it feels anxiety, but you get my meaning.

Don’t Push Them Before They Are Ready

I love to wash calves for the first time. But, I have a tendency of wanting to get them to the wash rack before they are ready. I just love it when they are clean and blown out! For tips on getting them clean check out this article. Some of our friends pen wash calves for the first time and that works well for them. We’ve never done it that way.

We get them broke to tie and have them comfortable with being touched. Then, we wash them with their heads locked in the clipping chute and a broke heifer or steer tied on the tie rail in front of them. This causes them to focus on one that is standing quietly and not on us as much.

They are always filthy before their first bath and usually itchy as a result. It feels good for them to be scrubbed on…as long as they aren’t startled by anything. We’ve found that they are more comfortable with that and I get kicked far less!

There Is No Substitute for Being Around Them

We’ve tried it all different ways. We’ve tied them in an alley and combed or rubbed all over them, we’ve haltered them in a chute and let them out and then tied them.

At the end of the day, Frank always says that there is nothing that gets them gentle like getting in the pen with them and catching them to take them to the tie rail.

I recently shared a video of Will catching a calf with the show stick on our Instagram Story. Let me know if you’d like to see that again. It’s a good way to get used to you approaching them when they aren’t confined. The tie rail does that best for us. They see you coming to them and learn to stand when you scratch them.

We Don’t Let Them Drag Halters

Again, you may have a system that works for you and part of that is that they drag a halter. We don’t like our equipment covered in dirt and manure and we don’t like to teach them to pull on pressure.

Maybe it’s the horse people in us, but we think animals should yield to pressure. When they step on a halter and learn to pull it out from under their foot, they learn to do the same thing to you.

They yield, we release pressure.

We’ll cover more on that in an upcoming article.

Rope Halters Only

Frank and Will make special halter breaking halters that are much thicker and longer than a regular halter. The thicker rope distributes the pressure better on their heads and keeps from damaging the cartilage on their ears. The longer rope gives you the advantage. First, you aren’t on top of their face so they don’t feel pressured. Second, it allows you to take a wrap on the fence so you don’t get a rope burn as you work them toward the wall. This is a good time to mention that we have a solid wall with rings in it to tie them to so they don’t hurt themselves if they lunge forward.

The only time you should use a halter with a chain is in the show ring. Rope halters are easy to get on and off, easy to adjust and easier on their heads. Yes, if used wrong, you can hurt them with a rope halter, but you can hurt yourself with a cotton ball if you use it wrong too. Think of all the ways!

I’m going to jump on a soapbox here. There are few things more irritating than the nylon web halters with chains. In an upcoming video, I’ll discuss this in more detail. For now, let me just say they are bulky, the horse lead ropes that most people use to attach to them are clunky and swing around and smack them.

Additionally, most of the time people have those hard nylon lead ropes that you can barely tie a knot in. I’ve seen more unbroke cattle attempting to be lead at a show in one of those halters than any other kind halter. You can’t really tie cattle up the correct way because of the angle those halters pull.

Plus, they are probably more expensive. A rope halter is like $6 or something. Side note: a rope halter is as versatile as baling twine and duct tape! You can tie show stuff to your trailer, you can drag a bunk feeder with your ATV, you can tie a gate, you can tie your rolled-up mats for your bed. They are like WD 40…a million good uses! Oh, and you can get your cattle halter broke with them!!!