Carl wrote about how steers and oxen rely on their teamster’s body language — when I’m in the back, they can’t read me, and they’re a little distressed.
but they can hear you besides the importance of body language I was told by an “oldtimer” to always keep talking to the oxen and found various people working with horses in the woods to also continuously speak out especially when behind and hooking up etc.; singsong-like…..
as flight animals cattle have, like horses, about 300° (or more) view radius. If one doesn’t use blinders they are very well able to see you and read you when you walk behind them.
I think it’s more the unfamiliarity of the situation or that a position behind the animal is understood as “move away from me” in animal talk.
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