Until now, I have not been able to get any kind of corroboration in current cattle practices for the use of cabestros as described by William Heath Davis.  He writes:

“The cabestros had holes in their horns, with a small spike inserted, by which an unruly beast could be attached to one or two other cattle, so to be taken from one place to another, when necessary.”  William Heath Davis. Sixty years in California (Kindle Locations 815-820).

This lovely description of a ranchero gives another picture of their use:

“I knew Don Teodoro Arrelanes in Santa Barbara. He was a thorough ranchero. He was then perhaps fifty-five years of age, six feet in height, very straight, weighing 220 pounds; was genial and polite; had a numerous family, and owned extensive tracts of land, comprising many leagues; among them the Rancho Guadalupe, near Santa Maria, with as many as 20,000 cattle and thousands of horses. Among the rancheros he was looked upon as a kind of chief in that portion of country, by reason of his .good judgment and knowledge of matters pertaining to ranchos. On one occasion I said to him: ” Don Teodoro, how is it you have accumulated so much wealth— such an immense number of cattle and horses ?” He smilingly answered : ” The labor is to get the first 2000, and after that they increase very fast, under ordinary care and management. They require a great deal of care and thought, to make the best rodeo cattle and to prevent them from running entirely wild, and to make the horses useful for their purpose.” Sometimes cattle escaped from the ranchos to the mountains, forgot their former training, and became entirely wild; when vaqueros would go out into the  mountains, lasso them, and  bring them, tied to the cabestros, to be slaughtered or tamed.” William Heath Davis. Sixty years in California (Kindle Locations 2999-3015).  . Kindle Edition.

Please note Don Teodoro saying “to make the best rodeo cattle.”  What he means is that they come when they are called.  See my blog post about Herding Practices: although the Darwin reference is from Rio de la Plata and not California, the practice was the same.

Another example:

“Senor Vejar offered to sell me seven hundred head of tame milch cows, many of them with suckling calves, and fifty head cabestros, for seven thousand dollars.”  William Heath Davis. Sixty years in California (Kindle Locations 9349-9342).  . Kindle Edition.

This shows that cabestros were numerous, 50 of them with 700 cows.  Davis does not say whether they are steers or cows; I believe they were tamed steers.

I met Dan Stein, Professor of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University, at a class I just took at Tiller’s International, “Oxen Basics.”  When I told him about cabestros, he related that donkeys were used for that purpose, to tame unruly calves.  The donkey would have a strong collar, and the calf would be tied to it.  He said there was just enough length in the rope for the donkey to manage the calf by kicking it.  The donkey would not allow the calf to eat until he allowed it, and took it along wherever he went.

I think Californios used tame cattle for the same purpose, just as Davis described it.

Steve of the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village said he has Pineywoods cattle, which are descendants of Spanish cattle left in Florida.  Besides having “pig hollers,” or a special call or yell  that the pigs will come to, there were “cattle hollers” in this area.  The cattle could tell their owner’s holler and would only respond to that one.  This reminded me of herding in California:

“Then, whenever the herd was wanted, all that was necessary for the vaqueros to do was, say twenty-five or thirty of them, to ride out into the hills and valleys and call the cattle, shouting and screaming to them, when the animals would immediately run to the accustomed spot; presently the whole vast herd belonging to the ranch finding their way there.”  William Heath Davis. Sixty years in California (Kindle Locations 757-760).  . Kindle Edition.

I wonder if rancheros each had their own, different “holler.”