I was tempted to call this episode: “Just Because People Tell You Something Can’t Be Done, Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Done”. But I thought that might be a little long so I called it instead: “Cow CAN Stand on Three Feet.”

This is part 2 of our conversation with Kyle Hetzel. Kyle is a zoo keeper. In this episode he shares his experiences working with barnyard animals. Kyle started out working with big cats, sea lions, giraffes, wolves and other wild animals. But he is currently working in the children’s zoo section of a large west coast zoo. Kyle wants to bring what he has been learning from the wild animals to the handling of domestic animals.

I met Kyle through my clinics and Science Camp. Kyle shared video of the work he’s been doing with the barnyard animals in the children’s zoo. It was so inspiring. There’s so much “just get it done” handling with horses and other hoofed animals. To see Kyle training the goats and horses under his care for voluntary medical procedures was inspiring. It’s good training. It’s caring training. There’s a lot here that needs to be shared, so that’s what we’re doing in this podcast.

In this episode we talk about cooperative care in handling horses and other barnyard animals. What does cooperative care really mean? Kyle describes in detail the control his animals have throughout the training sessions. Learn about foot care for a steer named Slider, plus the goats, even the giraffes. I ask the question - how do you trim the hind feet of a giraffe? You can find out in this fascinating conversation with Kyle.