Rural Heritage June/July 2026

Calf Training: Halters or Collars

by Rob Collins T he total number of English language manuals for training oxen can probably be counted on your fingers. Drew Conroy, Ray Ludwig, Les Barden, Carmen Legge, Tillers’ tech guides and the 4-H Working Steer Manual all dovetail nicely to document many of the best practices in calf training in a no-nonsense style. Before training a team of your own, I’d recommend reading all of these and referring to them often, but taken as a whole, they are a little dogmatic. So, I’m experimenting with a different take on calf training: a series of questions and thought exercises to ponder, recognizing that each team, and even each session, may require a different approach. This first question comes up often when we’re training calves at Tillers

International. Should I use halters or collars (or nothing)? YES, PUT A HALTER ON ‘EM If you decide to go this route, you’re in solid company. Most folks who work oxen start with calves, or at least adolescent animals, and the first step is to halter and tie them. Equally common is the practice of haltering and tying any team, even adult animals, when you get them out, allowing you to brush and yoke them at a hitching post. I’ve done that for years with my teams, and that’s what we teach at Tillers. Haltering initially. If you’re starting with a bottle calf, haltering is about as simple as it comes: walk up and slip it on. The only real issue is to practice with the Chinese-finger-trap-like puzzle that is a rope halter. It needs to be snug on the nose when

Rob Collins with 6-month-old Shorthorns where halters make good safety sense.

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