The Calmness of Herding Cattle
Herding cattle is a bit like synchronized dancing. It doesn't involve electric rods or scary sounds or running. Instead, it takes quiet, gentle movements and in some ways, getting into the minds of the cattle. I love working with cattle because I love watching the cattle think. I know which way they are thinking of moving by the movement of their heads. I can tell if they are tensing their body to start running. Or if they are aware of you and okay with you or afraid of you.
A lot of how we herd cattle is in the simplest, smallest movements. I don't rush around (most of the time) trying to push them here and there and everywhere. I've found that if I stretch my arms out, I look big and can push a line of cattle in a straight direction. I've found if I move my right arm in a certain way, I can guide an animal to turn to the left. I often walk behind a herd of cattle off to the side, so they can see me following them, which keeps them contained in a line walking in one direction.
But first you have to herd them, slowly, gently into a group. A group that is moving in the direction you want it to. I do this through a series of movements behind the outlying cattle, the ones that aren't a part of the group and slowly make them join together in a moving mass. You might have seen how cattle dogs group cattle or sheep by moving back and forth to keep them in a tight group. I do the same thing, just a bit slower and calmer.
This works, 75% of the time. The other 25% involves stubborn cattle who want to turn towards you and walk in the other direction. Or the herd is feeling happy because it is cool weather and they just were put out on pasture and they want to run, run, run with their feet kicking in the air in the sassiest free form dance. In these cases, it is easiest to just take a moment to laugh at their joy and then once again, slowly, calmly, work them back to where they are supposed to be.
Cattle herd the best when they have been on pasture for a month or two and they know that a downed line and a farmer means there is new grass on the other side. On those days, they move themselves! These are the best days, when all I have to do is roll up the electric fence 10 feet and as I am doing that, they are dutifully lining up to walk into the new pasture. Easy as pie.
When I first started herding cattle, I couldn't get them to budge an inch. I would spend hours trying to wrangle one animal back into the herd when it made its way off into a different patch of grass. My dad made it look effortless, but I had to depend on poly wire fencing. I spent a lot of time watching my dad, how he would move and watching the cattle, how they would respond. I learned to move with slow, gradual steps instead of rushing, which in the end takes more time when you lose control. For us, being a cattle farmer is about far more than owning cattle. In our work, we strive to understand how the cattle move and think to make our farm as cattle-friendly as possible, which in the end, makes life a lot easier for us.