February 12, 2019
by Terry Lidral
For Jerry Hargis of Hargis Ranch, it’s all about routine when it comes to working with young bulls. Hargis Ranch has been raising bucking bulls for over four decades with great success at all levels of the game. With bulls such as 1993 PRCA Bull of the Year Grasshopper and PBR Bull of the Finals Strawberry Wine to their credit, Hargis’ list of accomplishments includes futurity, derby and classic winners as well as a number of PBR Finals and NFR qualifiers.
“I’ve worked with so many bucking bulls that I’ve lost count,” said Hargis who ran a business training other people’s bulls for competition for many years. “I prefer to start working with my bulls just after weaning. It’s important to know that bucking bulls are smart. They can learn bad habits pretty quick. I want my bulls to learn how to do things right and I want to teach them that I am the authority figure early on.”
Hargis has firsthand knowledge of working with older bulls who have had no prior training.
“You get a bull that weighs 1500 pounds that has no respect for your authority, they learn that they can run through a gate or fence and it’s hard to break that habit after they’re grown. There’s a real potential for injury there – for the bull and for the trainer,” Hargis told us.
Hargis fully believes that training a bull early on will lead to an easier bull to handle and one that is better able to handle the rigors of the bucking chutes and competition.
“I start working with my bulls when they’re pretty young – 2 to 3 weeks after weaning. My calves take their first trip with a dummy about a month to 6 weeks after weaning. For the first few weeks of training, I work with the calves on a daily basis just getting them used to running through the chute and out of the arena.”
Because he has a number of calves, Hargis begins their training by working them in a group as they tend to stay together. It’s a lot easier because if one sees the out gate, the rest will follow.
“The first thing I teach my calves is to find the out gate,” said Hargis. “The first time, I send the whole set through the chute and out into the arena. I don’t stop them. I just run them through the process. In a group, at least one of the calves will see where to go and the rest will follow. I don’t use a dog or force my calves to the gate. I want them to find it themselves. I want them to learn on their own where they have to go so they will do it every time. But I don’t want them to stay in there and get comfortable in the arena. I want them to get in and get out.”
“If you only have a few calves, or even one, you can run them through just the same. It simply means that you might have to help them find the out gate the first time,” continued Hargis.
Hargis repeats this and every part of the routine on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day. It’s a schedule he feels works to better prepare the calves for their first trip with the dummy. And it’s a routine he takes step by step until it’s perfected.
Once the calves have learned to find the out gate, the next step is working on sending them down the alley to the chute.
“I set the chute gate open and run them 2 or 3 at a time on up the alley, out into the arena and out the gate. I don’t want them stopping. I want them to learn that they should go straight out of the arena,” Hargis told us. “I get success with this routine because I make sure the bulls know that they get to go to the feed pen if they go through the out gate.”
For Hargis, the routine has not been successfully learned until he gets at least a 95 percent rate of completion on a continuous run from loading alley to feed pen.
“I work the routine to get the calves to run from the backpens, through the loading alley, through the bucking chute into the arena and out the gate all the way back to the feed pen on their own. Occasionally, you’ll get a young bull whose brain stops working and he forgets where to go. But they all learn the routine. No bull gets to buck with a dummy until they have learned how to make it all the way through the process without stopping and without help.”
Hargis also uses routine to prepare his young bulls to stand in the chute waiting for the dummy.
“Bulls can learn bad habits in the chute. Or they can learn good ones,” Hargis explained. “I’m against putting a young bull in a full sized chute.”
In a full sized chute, a small bull has the space to turn around. Hargis doesn’t want his bulls to learn that extra space means they don’t have to stand still. And it’s a matter of keeping a young bull from hurting himself.
“I make the chute just big enough for that calf. I have as little space as possible so that the calf can’t move very much when the chute is closed. I can’t give them the chance to know how to turn around. If you shrink it down, there’s no room for the bull to fight the chute and there’s less chance of injury.”
As far as getting a young bull accustomed to the dummy before the first trip, Hargis doesn’t feel it’s worth his effort.
“It’s an extra step to put the dummy on without bucking and I don’t feel it helps me all that much. I work by myself and it doesn’t add a lot of value to what I’m trying to do,” Hargis told us. “You can find a young bull that will just stand there. And once in a while you might get a calf crop that will just all take the dummy fine. But most young bulls are going to want to fight the chute to some degree the first time they buck with a dummy no matter what, so I don’t bother to do dry runs putting the dummy on, then taking it off without bucking.”
On the young bull’s first trip, Hargis wants to make the experience as positive for the bull as possible.
“It’s important to be patient and calm,” Hargis told us. “You want to get the bull out without hating the dummy. You want to put it on quickly and smoothly. He doesn’t have to be standing straight. Just get the bull out before he starts to fight the chute because a young bull will fight you forever. The calmer the bull stays, the less chance he has of injuring himself. And you don’t want them learning bad habits.”
Hargis makes his decision on whether to keep or cull his calves from their first trips with the dummy.
“I have been in the business for a long time. I can usually tell if I want to keep the calf on the first or second trip. Sometimes it takes 2 trips as the calf’s heart is going a hundred miles an hour that first time and they don’t buck their best.”
Hargis cautions about making too quick of a decision about culling a calf.
“My wild ones always get another chance,” Hargis stated. “I’ve bucked hundreds of young bulls and I know what I’m looking for. A new person may want to buck their calves several times so they have a chance to fully see what they’ve got.”
Hargis weans his calves in November and bucks them in December. The timing is a matter of practicality.
“I wean the calves by November 1st and I’m bucking them by December,” said Hargis. “That way, I can cull the calves I don’t want to keep before I put my cattle out on winter wheat pasture.”
But he knows that his timing might not be right for everyone.
“It’s about what is convenient and what works,” Hargis explained about training young bulls for their first trip with the dummy. “Some people can train every day and some can train 2 or 3 times a week “
In Hargis’ opinion, training doesn’t have to begin right after weaning, but it should be earlier rather than later.
“It’s a matter of teaching the young bulls the right way so they don’t get into bad habits. And they need to learn that you are the authority figure early on before they get size and strength to know better.”
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Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.
Fascinating insight into a man who really knows his stuff and has a working plan. I especially liked his comments concerning how everyone needs to determine what works for them. Beautiful article. Would enjoy seeing what other folks have to say!