horse collar harness instead of a yoke?

[mink]

i guess i’ll start by saying i raise hereford beef and know nothing about working an ox. my question is how come people use a wooden yoke instead of a collar like a horse? seems like it would work the same , but maybe it would push to much on their shoulders? or cut their air off? i dunno , maybe a stupid question but i let-her rip anyways

[Droverone]

There were people that did use a leather harness on oxen and drive them like horses!

[Oxhill]

It’s not a dumb question. An ox can’t just be put in a common horse caller and work well because a horse and ox are built different. As Droverone stated historically some people did use modified or purpose built leather collars and harness on oxen. From what I can tell it seemed to be most popular around Minnesota, North Dakota and the corresponding part of Canada. Oxen have also been used with Head yokes, Forehead yokes, Wither yokes, Shoulder yokes and various other types of collars. They all have their pros and cons and none can claim to be the best for all things. It is critical that a teamster understands the design construction details and fit of what ever system they use. When the shoulder yoke is designed, constructed and fit properly it works very well. Historically it was popular because leather was scarce and wood was plentiful.

[Vicki]

A horse collar will rub the points of the shoulders of oxen, bruising them. Oxen’s shoulders rotate forward as they walk. When a bow yoke fits properly, the bow is snug against the neck allowing the points of shoulder to move forward. Most of the forward push is against the neck seat of the yoke with some spreading to the bows. You can see this in photos of pulling oxen in competitions at various websites; I believe the Hine Family webpage has some pics showing this.

[Author]

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