First day working the boys at home

[Andy Carson]

So, I was able to find a yoke to borrow to get my new boys in shape for spring. Thanks again Vicki and Mark! Hopefully I have enough time beofre the heavy work begins as they have got a ways to go. Right now, my two new oxen are significantly less strong than my one horse… I am sure this will change with time and effort. It was a major rodeo getting them yoked up. I led Costello out to my hitching post by his collar, tied him, and went back to get Abbot. As I was tying Abbot next to him to prepare to yoke them, Costello decided he didn’t like this anymore and promptly pulled free. Snapped the lead rope in two like it wasn’t even there. Then I spent to next hour or so trying to catch him. He was bucking and running around like crazy, he even ran through an electric fence like it wasn’t on (it was!) and put giant ox prints all over the yard. He knew exactly where not to go so I couldn’t get him back in the sacrifice area. Very frustrating. My wife eventually lured him in with some oats and hay and then we caught him yoked him up with Abbot. That’s why he has the halter on, he amply earned it. At any rate, once they were yoked up they were much easier to work. I hitched them up to my stoneboat without anything in it. I had initially thought this would be too light, but I’m glad I went with no load. Even with no load, they initially pulled hesitantly. After pulling the stoneboat for a few minutes they were in a much less fiesty mood, but then they tired fast. They seemed pretty spent in 20-30 minutes. There is a gentle hill and the ground is soft, but wow that stoneboat can’t weigh more than 300 lbs! I was thinking “Really boys!?!?” but thier breathing was faster and I didn’t want to push them hard on our first outing. Abbot in always faster than Costello, turning everything into a slow “haw” and pressing Costello into me. Abbot is also in better shape in general and breathes less hard on breaks. I ended up having to “gee” alot to correct for Abbots speed. Not hard to d, but i have to it alot. Costello got over his backing when I go in front of him issue today, which is good progress. All in all, I think it was a good outing and despite the many problems, I think the boys did a good job. They need much improvement though, and I have to say 90% is physical conditioning. They aren’t circus performers with thier positioning, backing, and turns, but they are already good enough with these movements for what I need. They are going to have to be able to drag at least 1000 more pounds, though, which amounts to a 400+% improvement in thier pulling ability. It almost seems impossible by the time I need to do spring work, but I suppose I’ll find out. I had been thinking about widening some of my single horse implements, I think I’ll wait on that…

[near horse]

Cool Andy – also sounds like you named the correct one Costello! BTW – are those Shorthorns?

[Andy Carson]

Yes, Geoff, they are mostly shorthorn. Actually 3/4 Shorthorn 1/4 Jersey. I like the concept of a crossbred working animal, and this seemed like a cross I would like. I thought maybe the Jersey would speed up the shorthorn a little. I don’t have enough ox experience to know if this is true of this pair, but it made sense to me on paper. It was kinda a find of opportunity, though. I think there are alot of breeds that would do what I wanted and I am not really picky about color, horn shape, etc. I didn’t name them, though. I had to look up which guy is Costello and which one Abbott was from the famous comedy duo. After I looked them up, I think they were well named. 🙂

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, sounds like there is a lot going on with that team. Do you give them a couple of cups of grain when you bring them up for brushing and yoking? You need to get over the chasing around thing. Sounds like a couple of weeks of just the stoneboat but longer distances until they start to get in shape. They probably have not worked at all for many months.

[Andy Carson]

No Tim, I haven’t given them cups of grain at the hitching post, but I do give them hay. I will probably give them grain in the future. They response so well to bribery, even though I truly hate the concept of having to bribe an animal to perform a basic skill (leading, standing, not running away) that it already knows. I would hate to have an animal that asks “what’s in it for me?” every step of the way, which is what I think excessive bribery could lead to (I know I am painting with broad strokes here -but it’s my general feeling). I have to say that as naughty as they (well, mostly costello) can be out of the yoke, when in the yoke they shape up considerably as far as thier behavior goes. Of course, to be really “naughty,” one would have to pull the other one around in the yoke, and I’m sure this is a major factor in inhibiting some bad behavior.

[Andy Carson]

Ah ha! I read an interesting article about respiration rates in oxen at rest, walking, and when pulling a load (the reference is below). In bos taurus types (like mine and most others on this site) resting respiration rate is about 18 breaths per minute. Simply walking with no load doubles the respiration rate to 38 breaths per minute, so an elevated breathing rate about rest means little in cattle. When pulling the respiration rate goes up again to anywhere from 40-80 breathes per minute. This is fast breathing even for humans and no where near what my boys were doing when they were acting tired. So, the good news is that some of thier low pulling ability is likely mental. I like this news a lot because that giving an animal confidence can (in theory) be much faster than increasing thier muscle mass 4 fold.

Heart rate and respiratory adjustments during work of increasing intensity in Hinterwaelder and zebu oxen. Animal Science (1997), 64 : pp 233-238

[Howie]

The only bribe that mine get is to come and get tied up when they are called. one cup of sweet feed
Everything else is by command.
I think cattle do need a signal to tell them it is work time or play time.
When I drop a bow on their neck there is no more play. I am lord and master.
You should be strict when the bow or yoke is on them, but you should be affectionate when it is not on them.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks Howie,
I did end up giving them grain when I worked them yesterday and it went alot better. I suppose since everyone seems to do this, I should not look at it as a bribe so much. I suspect this “not giving them a treat until the work is over” thing comes from horse experience, or at least my horse experience. No matter, this seems standard and I have no reason to reason to reinvent the wheel here. As far as thier power output, it’s still quiet poor compared to what I was expecting. Any hill especially kills them when going up with the sled. I got the thinking this morning that thier power output (althought still not useful to me yet) might not be at bad as it first appears. They do, after all, have to lug around thier substantial bulk. As they can already move themselves around, any small percent improvements in pulling ability are going to go directly into increased sled weight. As I suspect the bulk of thier power output now goes into moving themselves around, small percent improvments in total power output might yield relatively large increases in weight pulling. In other words, with consistant work, they might get in shape faster than I initially thought. They do seem to be honest about thier work and even though I was suprized at how little they could pull right out of the gate, they do seem to try hard and work until they are legitimately tired.

Any thoughts out there or how long it usually takes to get a younger team that hasn’t pulled heavy before into good enough shape for field work? I am sure this depends on so many things, but are we talking about weeks, months, years? I was hoping that I could make substantial progress in a couple months of good hard work…

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, your comments relative to production remind me of some of the discussions that some of us who work in the woods with draft animals have had regarding production. The thing to keep in mind is that when working with draft animals it is not a race. You have to learn to listen to your animals and respect their ability accomplish the task at hand, and that can change from day-to-day. Tillage with draft animals is slow and steady, not continuous work near their load limit. So continue to ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish, not just what do you want to accomplish. If you want to disk the ground, why? Can you disk at three inches and accomplish the same thing as disking at four inches? You have seen my draft measurements, you know what the implications are for a days work. Springtooth harrow? Good weed control/seedbed finishing tool, can you accomplish your seedbed goals tilling at 1.5 inches versus 3 inches? Same with MB plowing. Just ask yourself why? Why 6 inches? Why not 4 inches? I know plowing at 6 inches might look better, but so what? Why is that important? I always tried to make the work easy for Will and Abe and they would move the big loads when I asked. Don’t try to find the load that will stick them and then back off. Start on the other end and hope you never make the mistake of sticking them or even discouraging them.

[Andy Carson]

Tim,
I appreciate your comments and I do not truly know if we have a different philosophy or not. We are probably looking at different sides of the same coin. I do not think that working with draft animals ought not be a race in the sense that it should not involve rushing from here to there in a hurried, unthoughtful, and stressful manor. These are bad. Nor do I think it is ought to be a competition with my neighbors or piers on who got thier work done faster or who has the strongest animals. I do, however, have defined goals I want to accomplish and seasons and weed pressure that dictate times that these tasks must be accomplished by. So, by that measure, I am in a race, but a slow one dictated by the land itself. I think we are both believers in physical animal conditioning, but I like conditioning to be harder than the work I actually ask. That way, I never have any doubts that they are up to the job, and this allows me to divide my attention to other things like watching implements, keeping a straight line, etc. Because I like to condition hard, I have to keep a close eye on the animals to make sure I pull them back before they fail, which I think is absolutely critical. I especially like long slow work because any signs of exhaustion or failure come on more slowly and you have ample time to catch them. I look for these physical signs of being tired very closely when conditioning, and like to monitor breathing rate and other signs of effort. Another advantage of long slow work is that if the animals are on the brink of failure, once you give them a break to catch thier breath they pull the load home (IE, you don’t have to leave a sled or weights out in a field). I also appreciate your tips, Tim, about the depth of tillage. I have really stretched the min till concept with my single horse last year and learned alot in the process that can be aplpied this year too. I have modular springtooth sections, and can certainly pull fewer if needed. I can’t, obviously, pull less than one however. Disking is my primary concern as my new disc is hard work for my single horse. I can probably find a way around using it if I have to, or remove some weight, but was really hoping they would be in shape for it. I feel like the extra conditioning and extra attention, if done carefully and thoughtfully as I have done for my horse before, can only be helpful reguardless of the short term outcome. Is this actually different from your approach? Is this approach soemhow “horse-centric”?

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