Oxen Pictures

[dominiquer60]

I am starting this page to collect and discuss pictures of oxen.

In this case I was looking for a picture of oxen pulling a load and I came across this picture of a Japanese bull tied to a post and hitched to a wagon. The collar is interesting, but what I am curious about is what is on his feet? It looks like he is wearing thong sandals, I assume it is something for traction but doesn’t anyone have any knowledge of this type of ox (or in this case intact bull) footware? The picture that I am referring to is towards the bottom of the page on this link.

http://www.hawaii.edu/cjs/?page_id=266

[Andy Carson]

@dominiquer60 33012 wrote:

I am starting this page to collect and discuss pictures of oxen.

In this case I was looking for a picture of oxen pulling a load and I came across this picture of a Japanese bull tied to a post and hitched to a wagon. The collar is interesting, but what I am curious about is what is on his feet? It looks like he is wearing thong sandals, I assume it is something for traction but doesn’t anyone have any knowledge of this type of ox (or in this case intact bull) footware? The picture that I am referring to is towards the bottom of the page on this link.

http://www.hawaii.edu/cjs/?page_id=266

Fascinating find, Erika. Here’s another photo of your japanese bull thongs, from the back this time with one foot lifted so you can see the bottom. The bottom seems to be one piece. I can’t tell if that is leather or not, but that’s my guess… I saw a couple of these on the road in different views, but didn’t see an in the field. My guess is that they are there to prevent excessive wear during road work. They sure seem easy to make and fit. Possibly useful in our “modern” world in some situations were you don’t want to shoe but are worried about road wear… Easy boots for oxen…
http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/ogawa/ogawa_open-air-life_6-1.jpg

[dominiquer60]

That is what I suspected. Just from the bit of gravel road work with my young team I can see that too much can be a bad thing.

This picture has another neat feature, the pads under the strap that hold up the britching rope. They are like the padded panels on the underside of a saddle to keep pressure off the spine and to prevent sores there as well.

Thanks for finding the better thong sandal photo.

[Oxhill]

@dominiquer60 33012 wrote:

In this case I was looking for a picture of oxen pulling a load…

Here are four good pages I just found.

Andrew

http://robcolclaser.smugmug.com/Events/Big-E-09-Ox-Pull-3200-lbs/9752176_JT4JDC/3/660584509_WADq6#!i=660585613&k=RaTbN

[Tim Harrigan]

Great pictures, Andy. Wow!

[Andy Carson]

I agree, this is a great series of photos. One of the really interesting things about these photos is you can see the different pulling techniques used by different teams. You have a “lean forward and catch yourself before you scrape your nose on the dirt” technique -Photo 9. A very balanced “just walk normally” technique -Photo 13. Alot of the white ones (Chianinas I think) seem to use a technique (if you want to call it that) that might be best described as “throw yourself at the yoke in despiration.” Although not elegant (and probably not sustainable), this seems to be pretty effective. Photo 53 shows a “butt-down, shoulders up” technique that reminds me of horses. I am curious who won. Also, I am curious which of these techniques are useful out of the pulling arena. The horse style butt-down technique seems to hyper extend the back in a way that doesn’t took sustainable to me. In the field, mine seem to use a mix of the “just walk normally” technique and the “lean forward and try to catch yourself before to hit your nose on the ground” technique. I haven’t seen them use the “butt down” technique and they only throw themselves in despiration when it is to get to food. 🙂

[Oxhill]

I found a few more galleries at the same site.

http://www.robcolclaser.com/Events/BF-2010-Oxen-Pull-2800/13574144_K8sVW6#!i=989857745&k=5MkTV

http://www.robcolclaser.com/Events/BF-2010-Oxen-Pull-3200/13575571_cwQStp#!i=989969521&k=jgFbU

http://www.robcolclaser.com/Events/Big-E-09-Ox-Pull-Unlimited/9778843_DdVs4z#!i=663131956&k=txqVs

http://www.robcolclaser.com/Events/BF-2010-Oxen-Pull-Unlimited/13584633_zLjTxQ#!i=990764952&k=QZXGt

Some of them show them pulling lighter weight and so the pulling technique is more true to what you will see in field work.

These are also good images of proper yoke and bow fitting. Notice the bow fits inside the shoulder and isn’t hanging low.

Funny thing is I have hundreds of great ox photos but finding a good one of oxen in mid pull is a challenge.

Andrew

[CharlyBonifaz]

medical question:
since the jugularis vein shows up very prominently in most of these oxen while they pull, is there a chance of accidentially rupturing it or has an animal ever fainted? would that ever turn into a varicose vein?

[Baystatetom]

Andy I like your comment about pulling styles, I have seen mine do all four generally transitioning from lighter to heavier loads, I notice the butt down stretched out style going uphill. I am not into the ox draw scene myself but I am friendly with several guys who are. They all say that you can’t win without Chinaninas. Most of the guys now think nothing is stronger in the 3200 pound class. Maybe that desperate style is what works best, at least 6 feet at a time with several times their body weight on the stoneboat.
Here are some more pulling pictures from the New England Ox Teamsters page http://www.neotaonline.com/photo%20gallery.htm
Erica you can take whatever you want off my facebook page if there is anything there you want, but they are all off my phone probably no the best quality.
~Tom

[Oxhill]

Here are a few more good pulling pictures.

Avert your eyes if you are offended by working cows!

Andrew

[Andy Carson]

More nice photos. Thanks Andrew. The team in the black and white photo really keeps thier noses low. It looks like the nigh ox didn’t quite keep it out of the dirt. I really like the look of this team. Maybe some day, with steady work, my boys will look like this too. Are these shorthorns? I wonder what used to win pulling competitions before chianinas…

[Oxhill]

They look like Devons to me. That is one of my favorite pictures. I have seen great pulling teams of all the typical breeds used for oxen. I am guessing but I think what breed dominated the pulling ring would depend on what time period you looked at. Devons probably dominated at least the lighter weight classes at some point when the population was high. I think the Chianinas came on the seen in the 70’s and have been gaining in popularity ever since. The good old Durham is probably a bit of a constant. The Chianinas and their crosses certainly dominate the free for all class because of their size but why do they dominate any of the others? Is it their naturally lean and athletic build? Do they typically have more heart than other breeds? From what I have seen most of the top pulling teams don’t appear to be what I would consider a handy team. That goes double for the Chianinas. I have wanted a pair of Chianinas since I saw my first team of them but they just don’t fit what I want to do.

[Author]

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