Not all the cattle on Granite Oak Farm are cuddlers. This trio is out standing in the field while two other members of the herd are greeting visitors in the barn.
Kassandra Hartford settles in with Lilly for a snuggle at Granite Oak Farm in Harrisville, where Laura and Brian Bradford offer cow-cuddling sessions Saturdays and Sundays.
Not all the cattle on Granite Oak Farm are cuddlers. This trio is out standing in the field while two other members of the herd are greeting visitors in the barn.
I thought about the potential slobber I might encounter and decided to go with old jeans with grass stains on my knees, a sweatshirt I last wore when I was staining the deck and a pair of scuffed brown boots.
This would be my first time hugging a cow, and I didn’t know what to expect.
I jumped into the car, and as a last-minute thought, grabbed a ponytail holder out of my bag.
That was a good move, because it turned out a rambunctious 1-year-old named Caramel has a penchant for grabbing hold of long hair and trying to eat it.
Brian Bradford gets some kisses from one-year-old cow, Carmel, at his farm in Harrisville.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Cuddling a cow
When I arrive at Granite Oak Farm in Harrisville, Brian Bradford, who works in the IT industry, is mucking out a stall in the barn.
“What is it they say? ‘If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,’” he says laughing.
His wife, Laura, agrees.
“It’s very stress-relieving being on a farm. There were times in my previous job — I was a hotel manager and in group sales when we moved down here — when I would be super stressed.”
The Bradfords launched a cow-cuddling program in Goffstown two years ago, and then moved this past July to an 1830 house and 24-acre farm in Harrisville, where they offer visitors half-hour and hour-long cuddling sessions on weekends.
Showing visitors how friendly some of the resident cows at his Harrisville farm can be, Brian Bradford gives Lilly a hug.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
One memorable visitor was a guy from Canada. He said when he crossed the border into the U.S. and the customs official asked the reason for his visit, he blurted out, “cow cuddling” and handed him a printout from Granite Oak Farm’s website.
“We’ve also had people from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont,” Brian says.
One repeat customer is Colleen Rook of Saugus, Mass., whose husband, Jared Fraser, surprised her with a trip to the farm.
Rook admits that at first friends and colleagues assumed she was going there as part of some sort of animal therapy program.
Colleen Rook gives Caramel, an affectionate one-year-old, a kiss during one of her visits to Granite Oak Farm in Harrisville.
Provided by Colleen Rook
“I was talking it up weeks before because I was just so excited. A lot of people thought it was for my 3-year-old autistic son (Cylis Fraser), and I said, ‘Nope, it’s for me!”
In a photo they took during the visit this past August, Cylis contentedly sits on a stool outside the stall, his earphones plugged into his IPad.
Inside the stall, Rook says it was like “time and space stood still. The rest of the world just melts away — all your problems, all your stress, and you’re just there with an incredible creature.”
Now she has a Granite Oak Farm T-shirt emblazoned with “I cuddled a cow and I liked it.” (Possibly a play on the title of Katy Perry’s 2008 pop tune, “I Kissed a Girl.”)
Rook, who says she also has a cat, dog and turtle at home, says the cows were less prone to drooling than the beloved mastiff she once had.
“It wasn’t too bad for us. We’re used to it. I was brushing (one of the cows) as much as I could, giving her scritches and … itching her ears.”
It was such a great experience that the couple stopped eating red meat.
A mooving experience
One of the two current cuddlers is Lilly, an Angus Holstein cross with midnight coloring and a mellow disposition. She’s completely amenable to humans brushing, hugging, lounging on and kissing her. Her big, rounded belly hints at her impending motherhood, so she’s been even more focused on food.
She stood for most of my visit, but when I go to leave the barn, she puts her nose over the stall. I lean in to say goodbye and she lifts her big eyes and … then gently takes my chin in her mouth. Surprised, I’m overcome by a huge case of the giggles.
Across the barn, the more rambunctious Caramel is a Jersey girl with a mix of amber, red and brown hues. She has a playful air of reckless abandon, constantly searching for something or someone to lick.
Laura Bradford, who with her husband, Brian, run Granite Oak Farm in Harrisville, gives Carmel a scratch while the cow licks her other hand.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Imagine a cat’s tongue only much (much) bigger and coated with a much-rougher grade of sandpaper. (Cows need that traction to yank up and chew grass and other plant life.)
My whole hand, even when balled up, is swallowed up many times and it sounds like someone is sanding down drywall when she tests out my sleeves.
Caramel, who actually gets a higher amount of bookings, tends to leave a bit more slobber, so Laura points out the barn sink in case I want to rinse off. It’s a hand-washing sink but it works on faces, necks and arms, too.
“It’s all about spreading the bovine love. You can’t have a bad day when cuddling a cow,” Laura says.
It’s not guaranteed that a cow will settle down on the ground for a cuddling session. Even so, as the Bradfords demonstrate, you can still throw your arms around them, lean on them, rub their bodies and plant a kiss.
“There’s lot of laughter coming from a stall or there’s full on dead silence because they’re laying down with a cow,” Laura says.
There are seven cows on the farm, and several are on what they jokingly classify as being on “sabbatical.”
Some guests find it peaceful to snuggle up to a napping cow and read a good book. Others are animated and come as part of birthday and anniversary surprises. Lilly even was part of a celebration of life for a family who wanted to pay tribute to a mom who always loved cows.
Three times is the charm
Kassandra Hartford, who lives in Fremont, grew up around cows, from area fairs to relatives’ farms, and now lives on a road with four cattle farms.
“My landlord raises and sells cows for beef. I can hear them mooing if I open the bathroom window,” she adds.
She’s also a teacher who has a decorated “cow corner” in her classroom for her young students.
Kassandra Hartford settles in with Lilly for a snuggle at Granite Oak Farm in Harrisville, where Laura and Brian Bradford offer cow-cuddling sessions Saturdays and Sundays.
Provided by Kassandra Hartford
The first time Hartford cuddled a cow was at the Bradfords’ Goffstown site with Mocha, a short-horn heifer who is currently taking a break from bookings.
At the Harrisville farm, Hartford is a fan of Lilly and her serene temperament.
“She was laying down the entire time. I just got in and sat next to her and leaned over on her and hugged her. She’s totally fine with it. I was telling her she was a good girl and she was making these little grunt-type noises. It was cracking me up because it was almost like I was having a conversation with her.”
Hartford says she’ll be back for another visit.
The Bradfords hope to expand the enterprise to include cuddles with goats, sheep and a certain floppy-haired cow baby they’re bringing back from Ohio.
Fees for cuddling a cow at Granite Oak Farm, 128 Chesham Road, Harrisville are $35 for a half-hour session for one person and $55 for one person for an hour. It’s $10 each for up to two additional people in a group.
