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When I was 17 or 18, I had a yearling Holstein heifer that weighed about 800 pounds mount me from behind in our barnyard. I weighed about 150 and was caught completely by surprise. Of course I folded right over and went to the ground, getting stepped on some in the process. My back bothered me for years after that--I probably should have gone to a doctor or chiropractor right away, but didn't. It didn't cripple me, but could have if things had gone a little different. The heifer was one I had raised myself from a day old calf with a nipple pail, and she had got lots of attention. She was a pet that always followed me around. I thought she was extremely tame and would make a great gentle milk cow. I guess I trusted her more than I ever should have. I figured out later that she was coming into heat and maybe would not have done that to me if she was not so used to being around me. She never did anything like that again, but we ended up selling her to a local dairy, where she was a quality producer for a number of years. I learned something that day--EVEN TAME ANIMALS SOMETIMES DO UNEXPECTED THINGS THAT MAY BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO YOU! I had always treated our Hereford bulls with due respect and caution, and never had trouble with any of them. But it was and is just as important to treat any animal carefully, especially if they are a lot bigger than you. You just don't completely ever know what they might do.
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