Rural Heritage April/May 2026

other animals my steers had ever seen since they left their mother at a week old. As the only livestock at my house, my team is very curious and vocal near other livestock. They spent a majority of the day mooing and trying to meet the other steers in the vicinity. My objective for the day was going out among other animals and people, both on halters and in the yoke. I was tremendously impressed by how well they did with the crowds, dogs, other steers and small children, which had been their biggest fear. Periodically throughout the day they had access to grain and water to minimize stress. While in the yoke, the calves had halters on to ensure they would not run off or get hurt if spooked. We walked through the small fairgrounds past many people, horses and the tractor pulling area. It is safe to say that they were exposed to a lot of stimuli they had not experienced at home. The next time they would go to a fairground, they would participate in a variety of events. The largest risk of attending fairs with your steers is the health risk associated with bringing animals from many different farms together. This greatly increases the likelihood of exposing your animals to The author’s father Tom Osmer walking Joe and Mack in their new 5-inch pine yoke and making new friends on the Belknap Fairgrounds.

Mack meeting a much larger Bob at Belknap Fair.

team when they were one week old and continued to desensitize them throughout the entire training process. Belknap County Fair In early August, when Joe and Mack were 12 weeks old, I brought them to the Belknap County Fair. This fair is not only the smallest fair in New Hampshire, but is also only 30 minutes away from my home. This closeby event was a great opportunity to introduce them to riding in a trailer and traveling in a confined space. I wanted to ensure that they were comfortable in trailers early on to avoid stress and injury down the road when they got larger and stronger. For the fair, I did not sign up for any events, since I wanted my steers to be able to experience the environment and work primarily on being desensitized. Loading them in a trailer went smoothly; their curiosity often made it easy to get them to load up and go to new places as calves. When we arrived, my dad and I tied the calves in a barn with a 2-year-old team of Montbeliarde/ Holstein crosses, which were much larger than any

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