A little about Gladhour Farm and the ongoing thought lines going through my head:
1. Irish Dexter Cattle--LOVE 'EM! However, we had a droughty summer. Hay is hard to find and, when findable, not affordable for a person who relies on Dexter cattle for significant portion of survival income! So a major issue has been how to sell some and feed the rest....
2. Babydoll Southdown Sheep--also love THEM, at least my favorites, and like them all. Have several rams I need to sell and find great homes for. These rams are all black and QR, and all of them are nice-tempered so that I am not afraid to turn my back or go into their pen at night. I can't say that I have always felt that way about all rams.
3. Passing down the history of this land and love of it. This is such a long-ranger that it runs the risk of getting lost in the "urgent" even while it is for me most "important."
And biggest CURRENT thought lines:
BIG #1 for focus NOW: Getting ready for the MDBA (Missouri Dexter) show and sale near Springfield.
Blessed this fall, after several years of throwing out the idea and having no takers, to have SIX kids out of three families coming here after school and training with the cattle, we are all working hard and trying to learn everything we need to know.
My favorite way to train calves is to start before they are weaned, bring mothers and babies into barnlot together and overnight them, send mothers to pasture and babies to "school" during the day, re-uniting them in the evenings and overnight, and continue this for several weeks. This way the babies in "school" have "human time" and learn from me and the young people in the program that such humans don't hurt them and indeed can be trusted to provide good leadership (or other goodies like the best hay at the end of our sessions) and pleasant grooming.
This year the kids took on the project around the second weekend of September and we have been pushing to get ready to show on October 20. We started with some calves so that the kids got to know the program a little, but I could not take unweaned calves and their nutrition sources so far for a show. And we had to be on a faster-paced schedule. So we haven't been able to do, fully, the slowest, most gentle-training techniques that I like the best for this time period, and definitely not for the animals going to show. In fact we did a very shortened version for a couple heifers I took to exhibit at the nearby "Old Time Harvest Days."
The kids got to say a lot about what they knew about Dexters to other kids, and we walked behind the tractors in the "Parade of Power," the highlight for me...after all, Dexters HAVE BEEN oxen at times!
When the various costs associated with the decisions to go so far and participate in a show that is only connected with ADCA have finally boiled down, I have decided to take only two animals. We have been working with a red heifer to show AND sell, and my gentle bull that came from Spruce Grove Farms/John Potter. John has been a master at imprinting on his calves.
I expect to be leading the bull. He walked with me with very little effort from the very first try. But since he knows me mostly and he IS a bull, I think the leading falls to me. The bull is wonderful to work with and produces nice calves, all polled which are most in demand. But since he is a PHA carrier and I have a LARGE herd, I have to restrict his access to pasture to be sure that I also restrict his access to only the females I want him to breed. That means that he only gets nutrients from hay rather than fresh grass, and his exercise is also limited. So to think of kindness for this good-tempered bull means that I will take him and hope to find him a happy home where he will be the ONLY bull in a pasture and where he has a harem made up of all non-PHA-carrying cows. That way, there will not be any negative consequences for his owner except the cost of testing whatever calves s/he might want to sell or use as additions/replacements, and s/he will have the positive (for many people) result of being able to have polled calves out of any cow. Unfortunately for showing, his condition will reflect the fact that his diet is hay. I hope a judge can look somewhat past condition to true structure as he is really a nice bull with good length and nice straight lines.
The heifer is a pretty thing but STUBBORN. Though she walks well on halter for the girl who has been working steadily with her, I wanted to make it easier for the younger kids to show her in showmanship too, so tried to get her more universally "broke to lead" while there was another adult here to help. We tried and she planted her feet! So now she is a bit sore. She also did her feet angle no good in the process. I hope she feels comfortable by the time of the show!
In trying to get ready, I called an ag teacher of nearby high school who set up for us a chance to watch a family preparing to show their animals at the American Royal. So we (kids, parents, and I) observed the walking and the use of show stick and the washing of those two animals yesterday. Now I wish I could get my heifer's feet trimmed. I know that body clipping might also be good for her in the show, as well as show feeding. Show-feeding goes against my principles as I think animals are better served for THEIR sakes with a normal diet, and I also think that the new owners are better served with a natural diet. But show feed certainly puts on condition that judges like. Clipping is still a possibility, but I have to weigh cost against possible benefit. Wish we were back in the days (when I started with Dexters) when they were a no-fit breed and were shown in shows with natural hair, just bathed. And when video shows showed the animals in their own home environment in motion under their own steam with no exposure to other cattle and no vet exams/costs!
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