learning oxen to drive with nose rings

@bugman 4234 wrote:

Iwas thinking the same thing. And where do you get the rings? What does the vet charge for the piercing? Thanks for any info

well i’ll tell you what i know: i personally think nose ring system, if used properly, does not make the animals headshy. what makes them headshy are wrongly attached nose-rings, nose rings who are connected between animals themselves. this system of control sucks, if i may say, rather don’t use any nose rings than this, as the animals constantly tug at each other’s noses as they go, which hurts them, so they asociate payne with movement. this makes them headshy.

the “right way” to do it, if i may say so, is to attach a line that leads from each animal’s nose ring directly and only to the teamster’s hands. in the sence the nose ring serve as brakes, if you use a yoke. (and i recommend it if you use lines) if you pull the left ox’s nose ring, he stops and the right ox keeps walking and the yoke turns left. same to right. you pull both if you want to stop.

noserings can be used on any breed of cattle, but are, i think, most affective on alert and excitable cattle breeds, or cattle which are being trained mature.

here is a text which i saved, from ayudarna fellowship, or hare krisna, on the subject…

“Because of the fine control one gets by nasal harnessing, driving them becomes accessible to everybody regardless of size, sex or age. This makes ox driving easy to take up. The simplicity of the system means anybody can take it up, train the oxen and work them.

A friend of mine wanted something to do for the bulls, so I asked him to train the bull calves. He was a bit bemused because he had no experience with oxen what to speak of training them. The two bull calves had been castrated at one year of age and at the same time had nose rings put in. We put the oxen in a small training yoke. Their nose ring, looped around the back of the head and then secured to the center of the back of the head. A small two wheel cart (more or less a seat on two wheels) was fixed to the yoke. My friend sat on the cart and from the start he was driving the bulls all over the field. To move left he called Haw, he stopped the left bull by pulling back on the rope attached to the left bull s nose and, at the same time, gently tapped the right bull to keep it moving around the left bull. To turn right he called Gee, pulled the right bull and tapped the left bull. To stop he called Whoa and pulled back on both bulls. To start he called Get Up and tapped both bulls.

As you can see this system is so simple that anybody, even without experience can do it. Obviously to have the bulls working well you must work them regularly. Gentleness and firmness should be the attitude of the driver.

The bulls of Bhaktivedanta Manor are all harnessed by the same method. They system is so amazing that the bulls are used extensively for padayatras, festivals and carnivals. All these involve the bulls pulling a cart through very busy roads, where lorries, buses, cars, etc. are rushing past. The nasal harness gives pinpoint control of the bulls.

Personally, I would encourage everybody to take up any system of training bulls, but I must say, from my experience and by confirmation of scripture, the system of nasal control seems the most practical and easy to implement”

oxen become sore nosed if the nose ring is put in too soon, when they are still calves. my best guess is to learn the calves to follow you, and tame them. when they grow big enough, than put the nose rings in. and simple two lines work best, no four lines (one for each side of turning) are needed.
nose rings should be broad, not to deform the noses, like those on the pictures bellow.

with nose rings, and ofcourse training and practice, you will more easy learn oxen to plow alone. my guess is thar once the cattle learn to defy lou even to the least degree, while you are walking by then, they will always defy you more openlly once you move back to plow. with nose rings, cattle know you can always control them and make them listen by pulling the rope, they can, compared to another team with equal training but no nose rings, always be better controled than those without nasal cont. the point is, cattle you walk by know thast you can’t punish them as effectivelly when you’re not around. cattle driven with nose rings always can be, and are used to, being controled from behind. they may not see you, but they know, if they act up they can expect a tug.

you can use nose’rings in oxen in head yoke, like in cuba.
well i hope i could help!

Marko