Any thoughts on safety with oxen?

[Tim Harrigan]

This morning I was reading some interesting comments regarding horses and control/runaways and it made me think of some of the potential hazards of working with oxen. In particular I was reminded of a situation I witnessed where an ox teamster was driving a left-discharge side-delivery rake that extended out far enough so it was behind the teamster. She happened to step in a hole and fell down quite hard and was stunned. Luckily, the team was trained to stop if the teamster fell down so they took a couple of steps and just stopped. If not, no one was close enough to stop the team so that hay rake would have gone right over the top of her. So it is important that your team responds ‘whoa’. But not only that, it is a good idea to train them to stop if you fall down. They have excellent vision to the side and to the rear and they will know if you fall. So in your training, once you get them to stop reliably on command, extend their response by intentionally falling to the ground and giving them the command to stop. It has to be automatic for them to stop without a verbal command. If you ever do fall you may not be able to give a verbal command, at least not in time.

In the case I mentioned everything turned out OK, but it could have been a real tragedy. This is the time of year when we are getting out with our teams as much as we can so the potential for accidents is real. Anyone else have any experience along these lines, or safety tips to share?

[Vicki]

Great post, Tim. I’d like to hear from others on this.
I’m fortunate that my team stops when I fall, which happens occasionally in the mud or snow on our woods trails. They do it on their own, I didn’t have to train them. But I always praise them to reinforce this.

[Rod]

Mine stop also lucky for me because when my nigh ox steps on my foot down I go. Do not wear rubber boots! Ouch.

[Tim Harrigan]

Yes, Rod, that is the counterpart of the teamster using a pointed stick to teach the steer what appropriate personal space means. I stepped in towards my team this spring to avoid some low branches and brush and got the side of my foot pinched. My fault. My foot hurt for two weeks. I always wear steel toes, even under rubber boots, but I don’t think they have ever stepped on the toes.

[Tim Harrigan]

Vicki: Yes, the mud and snow, and I manage to get my feet tangled in brush now and then back in the woodlot.

I do not take Will and Abe off the farm very often, once, maybe twice per year. They are solid as a rock on the farm, not much startles them. When I do get them out I am always surprised by how many ways I see that things could go bad. Kids are the greatest potential problem. They tend to run in packs, are loud and will run in from any direction. And people with dogs can be a fright if they don’t realize dogs need to be controlled. Last fall I was pulling a wagon and while we were unloading a kid reached up and poked Abe in the butt with a stick. Abe jerked the wagon, of course, but he held steady and no problems, but those are the things that can ramp up real fast. The point is, when you get a lot of people around that have no experience or understanding of large animals you have to be on full alert. Cattle are not comfortable with unfamiliar things and you never know what they will perceive to be a serious threat.

As I have said before, if you want to do parades or fairs or shows, great. But start young and go often. Build their ability to withstand the confusion that comes with those events. I think in those situations I ask more from my team than I ever do with logs, stoneboats or other loads. Protect yourself and your team. Its not fair to ask too much.

[Rod]

How about horn knobs to protect against that wayward horn while you are trying to get the yoke on?

[Howie]

one man’s opinion:o

If your steers are able they will continually sharpen their horns. If this is the case then their horns should be blunted or have horn knobs.
How different people put the yoke on is kind of a sore spot with me. They should be trained to accept the yoke with no hassle.:(

[Rod]

Boy that would be great, it’s always a hassle to get the heavy thing on. Any tips?

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod: If you step into their horn it is your fault. But they know exactly where their horns are all the time. If they are bumping you then you need to discourage that.

[CharlyBonifaz]

they know exactly where their horns are all the time.

and I think they know exactly where their tail is, swaping the one fly….

[Howie]

Rod

First off IF you don’t need a heavy yoke use a light one.:) Ask Robin how much the yoke weighs that she has for her big Swiss.;)

Stand the team side by side, tell the near ox to step back, stand the yoke on end next to the off ox, put one leg of the bow through the top hole over his neck, pickup the other end up and tell the near ox to come under, put the bows in and you are ready to go. OR

Stand them side by side, hang the bows on their necks, tell the near one to step back, set the one end of the yoke on the off ox, holding the other end up tell the near ox to come under. Put the near bow in and go around and put the other one in. 😀

[Rod]

I guess I can work on that.

[Vicki]

Rod, you may consider yoking and unyoking a few times a day just to teach them what you expect from them during that. Decide on a routine that works for you, and drill it over and over, so you and them make it a calm graceful “dance.” Let them know no goofing off and moving all around, and any horn infraction merits a crack.

[Vicki]

About safety when working: a post on RH reminded me of this: be prepared to get the bow off an ox in a hurry in case of accidents. Tim Huppe says he always has a sharp hatchet with him when working in the woods. I understand from Howie that an advantage to wooden bow keys, especially working in hills, is that they can be broken off quickly with a blow if the team gets into trouble.

There are safety concerns about a log or drag or sled of maple sap going down the side of the hill or slipping off a skidpath, taking out an ox’s legs, or breaking a neck.

[Tim Harrigan]

What about hooking to a load? Sometimes when I hook to a log, stoneboat or sled for instance I hook to the load first, then come up between the team and hook to the yoke. Other times I hook to the load and come around the outside and hook to the yoke from in front. Each way presents a different set of problems should things start to go wrong. What is your procedure for hooking to a load, and why?

[Author]

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