How to Speak to Horses and Cows

Guidance means using the reins to steer and squeeze with one leg or another to encourage the horse to move in the desired direction. Steering a horse matters, but where you look also makes a difference. Look at the ground, and you are likely to end up there. Set your sights on the middle of the trail and the horse will likely go there. Driving instructors give similar advice: Look at the shoulder of the road, and you'll end up in a ditch. Look in the middle of the lane, and you stay on the road.

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What Do Cows With Big Horns Have to Prove?

At Miles Smith Farm, we have two kinds of cattle: Scottish Highlanders and Angus/Hereford cross-breeds. There are many differences between these breeds, but one is particularly striking. The Highlanders, both males, and females have enormous horns, and the others do not. In ancient times all cattle had horns, but as a result of selective breeding, many breeds of cattle lost their horns.

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When do you milk a cow?

Every so often, someone will ask: "Do you milk your cows?" It might seem like a tempting resource, but beef cattle like my Scottish Highlanders produce just enough milk to nourish their calves.

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Is a Gentle Bull an Oxymoron?

I currently have three bulls – two Scottish Highlanders and one Hereford. They are all gentle. We are raising beef cattle here, not producing ferocious contestants for rodeos or bullfights.

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Repurposing an old boyfriend

Although I was not one to break too many rules, the day they took 1969 yearbook photos, I photobombed as many clubs as possible. I did enjoy Folk Singing even if I never actually joined the club. Fifty years later, there is my smiling face among the members of that club, plus Gymnastics and Equestrian club photos. Sorry, Equestrians, yours was the one club I would have liked to join.

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Summertime and the Living is Easy -- Mostly

Thirteen of our 15 expected calves have been born, mostly without incident. Last year's calves are getting fat on summer grass and the vegetable scraps we collect twice a week from Shaw's in Gilford. Twenty-eight head graze at two different remote pastures, and our Scottish Highlander bull is back at the farm for a rendezvous with our Highlander cows and heifers.

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