first time doing "real" work with my new ox team

@Countymouse 33743 wrote:

….. Truth be told, I was kinda getting tired of making circles with my sled. I think my team was too. ….

This is a very important realization. Real work is so much more satisfying, and your purposeful initiative is attractive to the animals. I always find more training opportunities while working than during training exercises. Also finding ways to create working cadence is a huge mechanism for gaining their trust, as well as improving their working stamina.

Thanks for the update, Carl

@Vicki 33766 wrote:

Carl, what do you mean by “working cadence”?
……

When animals are put to use there is more at stake then a certain amount of time to exercise. The project usually has physical parameters, acreage, depth of soils disturbance, etc. To accomplish these factors the energy of the animals needs to be managed. Watching the exertion and stamina of the animals, the teamster has control of the “gas pedal”, the “fuel tank”, and the “available horse-power”. To be effective these aspects of animal power need to be subtly managed for most efficient delivery of the finished product.

A working team is looking to the teamster for guidance, not only in terms of Gee, Haw, Back…, but also in terms of how hard to exert themselves, and perhaps more importantly, in terms of purpose. If they get over-tired they will lose effectiveness, and they will lose trust and the desire to follow. They will also lose interest if the teamster has no purpose, no intent, or is just not that interested in, or knowledgeable about, what they are undertaking.

By establishing a working cadence the teamster sets a goal on completion of the project, formulates a realistic appraisal of the effort required by the team, and takes control of applying the team to the endeavor. When the team is getting tired, it doesn’t mean they are all used up. If the teamster still has work to do, or starts with a knowledge that what they want to do is more than the team can do easily, then establishing a cadence of exertion and rest that conserves energy will not only get more work out of them physically, but it will also maintain enthusiasm.

When a team starts to come to the upper limits of exertion, they naturally want to stop. If they get so tired that they disregard the teamster and stop on their own, then they will stop looking to the teamster for guidance. However, conversely if the teamster demonstrates his/her knowledge of the extent of available power in relation to the work being done, and stops the animals while they are still exerting with alacrity they will be even more attracted to the initiative.

The positive feedback loop that is established here is much more powerful than the same process in reverse. Meaning a teamster can lose ground through ineffective working cadence, but not nearly at the rate that they can gain from an effective working cadence. The reason why I like working exercise as apposed to training exercise is precisely because there is much more opportunity to bring more purpose to the endeavor, and I can make much more progress.

With my minimal experience I agree that oxen could get bored with the repetition or training. Walking around in circles is not as exciting for them as going to new parts of the farm or pulling something different. Exciting isn’t always a good thing, for us, but it keeps it mixed up. There is also a sense of accomplishment from the teamster when “getting stuff done” and I think the animal senses that and feeds off that energy. It must be nice to finally be breaking ground.

Great thread, a lot of good information here. Glad you are having success Andy,

Ed