Rural Heritage June/July 2026

Routing the off animal’s halter through the near bow keeps it out of the way, as demonstrated at a Tillers class.

you pull and have the long end to the left of the animal. That’s it, but students often step back proudly after putting one on a calf, only to find out it’s upside-down, backwards, or both. For an unruly animal, slowly working it into a corner and using body position, or sometimes a good, solid hug while you slip the halter on is the goal. The process can be less linear than it sounds with a skittish animal. Aim for the least amount of stress to get the halter on the calf. Ten minutes of chasing might be worse than one minute of wrestling, so be open to a change in plans. A few years ago, I had to halter a neighbor’s escaped Holstein heifer. We got her in an inside corner between my house and garage and managed to ease her 500 pounds into a halter for the first time. Patience and persistence are the keys, although sometimes the former is needed and other times the latter. Halter breaking Now that the halter is on, teaching the animal to walk on a halter is often the next logical step. Imagine that the goal is, “When I walk forward, the calf walks with me.” Haltering is used as both a precondition of teaching the animal to

drive and as a useful behavior by itself. Because it’s helpful when moving an animal, trailering it, or bringing it to see the veterinarian, halter breaking is worth doing. For halter breaking, try this trick I got from Anneka Baird: pull on the halter to ask the calf to come forward. Keeping tension on the rope, give the rope an “up and down” wiggle. The second the animal steps forward, release the tension on the rope. Repeat. Seeing Anneka demonstrate this technique in a class, I asked her how many sessions it usually took to halter break a calf. Her response was, “Sessions? Just one. About 20 minutes and they’ve got it.” Negative reinforcement vs. Punishment Anneka’s method brings up an important reminder for halters: negative reinforcement and punishment each have a place, but they aren’t the same. Removing the unpleasant tugging when the calf steps forward rewards walking. That’s negative reinforcement. Giving a sharp tug if the animal bolts adds a punishment. Both are useful. However, living somewhere in the middle, where you have some pressure on a halter all the time, confuses and annoys the calf. Make a point to notice how often you are

June/July 2026

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