Maneouverability?

[Nat(wasIxy)]

I was asked today about how maneouverable oxen are compared to horses – especially when logging – given that a team can turn a complete circle on the spot I thought they must be pretty equal!

thoughts?

[Howie]

Oxen are more manueverable. They have less equipment to get in the way and if things get in their way they will slow down and feel their way.

[Carl Russell]

Howie;11240 wrote:

Oxen are more manueverable. They have less equipment to get in the way and if things get in their way they will slow down and feel their way.

Absolutely agree. Oxen when used loose, are extremely maneuverable. They are not as agile though. Even when hitched to a cart or sled they are quite handy.

On another note, that is one of my pet peeves. I think most people who have used both horses and oxen don’t waste their time comparing the two. They are quite different, and yet the same in many ways.

Carl

[Nat(wasIxy)]

Not as agile? What do you mean exactly please?

The subject came up because somebody asked on another forum about logging some small woods with a heavy horse, and it was getting very complicated an expensive for them to find stabling etc. for this horse…so I said ‘why not oxen?’ and since then we’ve been trying to come up with a reason why you would choose a horse over an ox? what do horses have that oxen don’t?

After working with both, oxen are the clear winner for me, because I don’t find horses nice to be around even though I was a typical horsey girl when young!

[Carl Russell]

Personal preference is always the most important factor in the choice as far as I am concerned, but this has nothing to do with workability.

As far as agility, I mean that horses are typically lighter footed, and carry their weight in a more athletic way. Since running is their first line of defense horses are more fleet of foot, which is an excellent trait for working in the woods.

Cattle on the other hand are more inclined to stable, purposeful movement. This also is extremely valuable working in the woods.

As far as workability goes, I have found horses and cattle to be very similar. This must be because I have an affinity for both. I have used them both interchangeably, working horses in the morning, and cattle in the afternoon, doing the exact same work, and have found the particular differences to be part of what makes working each interesting.

Sometimes people hold the slowness of cattle against them, but I have found them to be powerful enough to pull heavy loads long distances maintaining stamina.

Some horses can be pretty fast, and require a lot of work to keep up with, but I have found that to be of great advantage in certain situations in the woods.

People who compare horses and oxen, trying to figure out which is better, should realize that these animals are not machines. A teamster will get out of their chosen beast what they put into them. The limitations have much more to do with the human than they do with the particular species.

Carl

[bivol]

@Howie 11240 wrote:

Oxen are more manueverable. They have less equipment to get in the way and if things get in their way they will slow down and feel their way.

lol in my country the mountain loggers always thought oxen were “stiff”, but i guess that was cause they used horrible yoke design like whitters yoke, and the animals were uncomfortable to say the least…

[bivol]

@Howie 11240 wrote:

Oxen are more manueverable. They have less equipment to get in the way and if things get in their way they will slow down and feel their way.

lol in my country the mountin loggers always thought oxen were “stiff”, but i guess that was cause they used horrible yoke designs, and the animals were uncomfortable to say the least…

i agree with Howie!

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