"Old Partner"

thanks, Andy. That was very good.

Andrew, you mention on your blog that you can get this on DVD with subtitles. I will never be able to stream video that long with my satellite internet. I am going into town today so I am going to try and get it there. Where do you get that DVD if anyone is interested?

Thanks Andy, I really enjoyed watching it.

It has got to be some east Asian practice because you rarely see it practiced anywhere else, oh no I’m incorrect, you an also see it when people think they need to drive cattle with reins because after 40 years of working cattle, and I don’t mean “old partner” , they cannot learn to train cattle to be driven from behind without reins and nose clamps!

Maybe andy can get his father to teach a short course on driving oxen from behind without reins !

Nose rings were discussed in the following post, I was just pointing out how common it is internationally. Not trying to derail the thread.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?777-learning-oxen-to-drive-with-nose-rings&highlight=nose+rings

Thanks for sharing Andy, this movie was fantastic indeed. The subtitled version would add some insight but there is certainly a universal language between man and beast, husband and wife that needs no translation and made this a great watch even on my little laptop.

Nose rings and lines may not be needed, neither are bridles and lines for horses, but in public a teamster can not control his surroundings and as long as abuse is not an issue there should be no shame in having extra control for the unexpected situation.

Lets say a teamster at a fair has the unexpected happen, the team is distracted or simply testy and not listening to the teamsters commands, it could lead to a really bad situation that could make the management wonder if they should offer ox competitions.

I have a lot of confidence in my team for somethings and not so much for others. As a novice with very limited time to train, I have no qualms about using a pair of halters and single lines to get a job done with my steers. I would like to get to the point where they are not needed, but lack of knowledge and time lead me to do what what I can with what I have, and I am happy with the results. Most of the time my lines are tied up, but when I need them to reinforce a command, they are there, a simple and humane way to communicate and a good way for me to gain efficiency doing tasks that I rely on for income.

It would be great to take the time to learn from those successfully driving from behind with voice only, perhaps someday, but for now a pair of lines makes a real life working situation a more enjoyable one. I plan on using my steers on my riding cultivator next year, I will use lines with no second thought of it, and I am sure that by the end of the season I will use them less, for repetitive tasks make for wonderful training.

I see that even in the movie the farmer still had to correct the behavior of the old cow now and then, we (man and beast) get better with age, but we still make mistakes.