A first for me

[genebo]

Today was the first time that an animal put me on the ground!

It was that butthead, Jackson, the foolish steer.

He has never made friends here. He always hangs around the edge of the herd, and most of the cows will chase him if he gets too close. Brenn, McBrenn and Adam One have a tolerance for him, and leave him alone.

Whenever I put out feed or hay, I give Jackson a separate ration. He gets to eat some of it before one of the cows takes it away.

This afternoon I was trying to give Brenn a few pillows of hay. He is standing guard around the pen that holds Bambi during her heat cycle. Jackson was trying to snatch a mouthful of the hay as I was carrying it. I stopped to let him get a mouthful, then moved off.

A cow, I don't know which one, started to chase Jackson, so Jackson took off running. Right into the back of my knees! I folded over his back and he carried me a short distance, then I rolled off onto the ground. I was mad!

I jumped up and called him every bad name I could think of, took a swing at him with my foot, and told him what I would do to him if I could catch him. Then I cooled down.

As soon as I was cool, Jackson came to me, loking for something else to eat. What a butthead!

What the heck, I scratched him and explained to him the folly of his ways. I doubt it will do much good.

Dumb steer!

Tell me you can't see the devilment in his face:

Attachments:

[Deleted]

Gene you are very lucky! Jackson would keep well in the
freezer until your A G M event. What is a A G M ?

[genebo]

The two Dexter associations hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for their members. It is usually held in an arena where there can also be a show and sale.

Chad Williams is heading up the ADCA AGM for 2015. It will be held at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg, VA next June. There will be events for the members to participate in, a show of Dexter cattle, a sale of Dexter cattle, and concession stands. Chad has lined up a well known chef to prepare and sell Dexter beef. He is going to supply a steer, and I have offered 1/2 of Jackson to be sold to the attendees of the AGM.

They say you're not supposed to give a steer a name, nor should you pet him. Jackson came with a name, and it is impossible to ignore him. He's right there with you all the time. I think he believes he's more of a person than a Dexter. That could be. My other Dexters are smarter than some people.

I wasn't hurt at all, just angered, when he took my knees out from behind. He's so short that his head just naturally caught me at that height. I'm not going to put him in the freezer early because of the incident. He's not mean, he's just foolish. We were back to business as usual this morning. I took Brenn and Bambi some hay and butthead Jackson came over to try to steal a bite as I was carrying it. I gave him a two finger slap on the nose and he backed away and looked at me, as if it hurt his feelings. Then he went around the other side to try to steal a bite. He has been like that from the first day. I doubt he will get any smarter.

I think he gets it from his mother's side, that carries Lucifer. I said I would never have a Lucifer descendant here, but broke my rule because he was steered and I really, truly wanted to taste beef from a descendant of Brenn. Others who have eaten Brenn's descendants' beef brag about how good it is and I felt left out.

I read where a lady in Florida had a steer just like Jackson. She used the term butthead to describe him and I picked it up. It's so fitting.

I like everything about Dexters. By nightfall I was laughing about Jackson's stunt. I was also very glad that he is a little short legged Dexter. Can you imagine one of those huge beef steers they raise now-a-days if it had Jackson's personality? Why, the fall from it's back could have killed me!

[Deleted]

glad you were not hurt but just think of how much you could have made if you had got that on tape. Pretty sure I have seen that stunt in a cartoon before.
No reason to be mad at him if he was trying to get away from another cow doubt he even noticed you were in his way. 
I have been knocked down once similar situation yearling bull calf running and playing with the others ran by me to close grazed me with his shoulder but it was enough to knock me forward. I never tried riding him though like you did.
Seriously though this is probably the most common dangerous scenario. playing/fighting and they just dont know where you are.

[genebo]

I agree 100%. No harm intended. I think it was "pecking order" pushing and shoving. Jackson is at the bottom.

The thought that crossed my mind as I was falling off his back was, "Where are his feet?" The thing I fear most is getting stepped on.

Once Beth was eating a little too close to the bull's spot at the trough, so he shoved her aside. She stepped squarely on my foot! That hurt a lot! Thank goodness it had been rainy and the ground was soft. My foot sunk into the ground instead of being crushed.

Whenever the dehorning craze gets too far out of hand, I like to remind people that the only way they can make their cow completely safe is to cut off her feet, too.

Why don't you bring your camera and follow me around for a while. You can get tons of cutesy shots, like the time a calf stole my wallet out of my pocket.

[lonecowhand]

Sure , Blame it on Lucifer! Glad to hear you were not hurt, maybe they'll have a steer riding competition at the AGM!