[Tim Harrigan]

Bivol: Thanks for the nice translation and interesting story. I particularly liked the picture of hauling hay up the mountain road on a sled, it looks like something I would be doing (minus the mountain).

I have been trying to gather information about traditional, small-scale hay handling and drying systems like I saw when I lived in Switzerland many years ago, such as the Heinzen and Reuters systems that were common there and in Germany, and likely still are in some places. Mostly they were small stack methods to get the hay off the ground and up where it would dry in the cool and damp mountain air before being taken to a more permanent storage structure. Are you aware of such traditional methods of making hay in your country?

[Tim Harrigan]

Nice. You are an interesting guy.

[Tim Harrigan]

Great, problem solved. Thanks for the update.

[Tim Harrigan]

Ivy, you need to find the right balance in taking your steer from unruly to responsive and well-mannered. Kindness predominates in all phases of training, but kindness is not always shown by hugs and kisses. What you learn in working cattle over time is where the limits need to be set, and you learn to measure your response in getting them there. It is a serious mistake to overreact in a harsh way if they do not understand what you expect of them. But, you need to lead them, in a stepwise fashion, through a learning process whereby they quickly come to understand what you want. And then you need to enforce it with just enough insistence that they clearly understand that your way is the easy way. Like water flowing over a rock.

I am sorry if I seemed to be pushing you to a position of unyielding harshness but I did not sense thay you needed any encouragement on the hugs and kisses side. If your steer gets to where he is always testing the limit of what you will accept you will never relax and really enjoy working with him. You will see teamsters who are loud and strike their team frequently. And, you will see others who are quiet and can direct their team with a quite voice and nearly imperceptible movements. What separates them, in large part, is their ability to read behavior, communicate clear expectations, and enforce them in a clear and kind way.

You have to realize that we have little evidence to establish our recommendations in response to questions in a site like this, and if we could watch you we may make very different observations. Most of what you need to learn is not in a book or on this site. That means we can not tell you exactly what to do. You just need to work through the process and your team will tell you what is working and what is not. Training a team is an interesting challenge because every animal is different and every team is different. You make some mistakes and you get some things right. Over time, as you gain experience, you hope to get more things right than wrong. Don’t get discouraged, but don’t let him run 🙁

[Tim Harrigan]

He is acting like an 8 month old calf. He is also learning what he can get away with, and he is learning that he can get away with a lot. I might be wrong, but I do not think bovines give a second thought to a good glare and scolding. Your relationship changes when the yoke goes on–it has to be all business. First of all, do not let him run from you. This is one of the worst possible habits that he can learn. Keep your hand on his lead so you can snap him back if he starts to run. Have your goad ready and wrap him on the nose if he starts to run. I can’t tell you exactly how to get his attention but he needs to regret goofing off in the yoke. Do you have a single yoke for him? If so, he should be pulling something like a car tire that will make him work a little bit. If he has to pull he will not be thinking about running. If he runs with a load maybe it is not heavy enough.

[Tim Harrigan]

Good point. Applies to halters and collars on oxen as well.

[Tim Harrigan]

Howie is correct, the bows are too low. It looks to me like they need to come up at least 2 inches or so but is hard to tell from the pictures. Try a couple of inches and send another picture. And send one with just standing with the yoke on, no load or pole hanging on the yoke.

[Tim Harrigan]

I would not use the shock collar. You do not want him to be afraid of you, just stop crowding you. If you have a wooden goad just saw a sharp point on the end. When you are driving just hold it up about the height of his shoulder, parallel to the ground, perpendicular to the direction of travel, with the point at the limit of how close you want him to walk. If he starts to crowd over, hold your line. Do not jab at him but if he wants to crowd into the sharp point it is his choice. He won’t do it very often. If you do not want to saw your goad then saw off a nail and drive it in with the sharp end out about 1/8 inch. Don’t jab at him, but neither should you give any ground if he drifts over into the sharp end of the goad. He will drift back into his own lane and stay there.

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod, put them under a relatively light load, maybe a sled or stoneboat with a weight of 400-500 lbs. If they are soft from the winter keep an eye on their breathing and stop more frequently than you might later on. They are more likely to goof off and cause you problems with a light or no load than with something they have to think about, particularly after a winter of no or infrequent work. Don’t think that a team that has been trained will just fall in line and work nice with a new teamster. Any team worth their salt will start testing the operational limits the first time out. Don’t worry about it and don’t over-react, but realize that you have to earn the leader position with the team. Good luck with your new team.

Have you had a chance to work with steers before? Tillers has a workshop coming up and there are others, although they seem to be mostly later in the summer. It would be well worth your time by helping you judge their behavior and calibrate your response.

[Tim Harrigan]

I am not sure what you are suggesting. Avoid these types of observations here? Or initiate some type of educational effort?

[Tim Harrigan]

Cattle get in the habit of following quite easy, they seem to prefer it, it seems to me, because they do not have to think. But having them behind is not a convenient place to be because you can not see them and you risk tripping if you start walking backward. Step to the side and stay at the point of his shoulder. Speed him up with your lash if he starts to fall in behind you. Make him walk at the speed you want; quick, easy or at a walk. You should be able to drive him from in front if you want, but you should decide when and where, not him. That is a bad habit.

[Tim Harrigan]

Check with Tillers International. They had a class a few years ago where the project was an ox cart. I am not sure if they still offer that class, but if they do you could take the class and buy the finished cart at the end.

[Tim Harrigan]

The nice thing about small yokes it that they are easy to make. And once you make one you can use it for your next team. The smaller sizes might only last a few months, but as they get older they don’t grow out of them so quickly. I was looking at when my team switched yokes. They used a 5 inch up to 400 lbs; 6 inch from 400 to 600 lb; 7 inch from 600 to 900 lb; 8 inch from 900 to 1150 lbs; 9 inch from 1150 to 1400; then were in a 10 inch up to 2000. Might be a little different for other animals, a lot depends on how thick they are in the neck. How long you use a yoke will depend on what kind of animals you have and how fast you let them grow.

[Tim Harrigan]

Seems like it would be long enough so the hitch points of the traces just clear the sides of the ox and run straight back to the single tree.

[Tim Harrigan]

OK, I am with Vicki. If I can figure out how to insert a pic directly I will, otherwise I will place a couple more in the working cattle category of the photo gallery. Notice how heavy the caulks are, for ice presumably. Compare to Anne and Elke’s for stone protection.

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