Anti-Cow Kicker

Love to see my hometown made the news!

We had a milk cow growing up. A cow doesn't kick out straight as a horse does. (We had a few of those, too.) A cow kind of loops its leg around like a soccer player. Hence, the guard here is at the back of the human's leg for protection while seated for milking. I'm sure that modern milk extracting equipment has made the guard obsolete.

When spending time at a friend's ranch in my early teens, I was told to stay away from 3 things: the gators, those damn geese, and the cow on the milking stand. They let me try milking the goats, but no cow – she might wipe out a non-country type with her kick.

I have seen hand cuffs (hoof cuffs?) that prevent the kick. We would tie the cows tail to her leg to avoid being swatted on the back of the head.

That tail was usually covered with poo. That's why we tied it around the cow's leg. It was not a pleasant taste.

This reminded me of a cartoon which I saw years ago.
- The bull had a big smile.
- The woman on the milking stool was obviously a city slicker..
- The farmhand said "That's a bull ma’am, not a milk cow".