running to the end

[bendube]

Our boys have a bad habit: the recognize when the end of a furrow or row of crops is coming, and speed up dramatically near the end. It tends to mess up the plowing, and also is just in general a very bad habit. They are doing exceptionally well on plowing other than this- they practically drive themselves. They also normally do quite well with “Easy” just not here.

My instinct is to not clamp down hard on them for this, because I feel like I’d just get the more worked up, associate that part of the work routine with stress and backfire on me.

Right now, I’m trying to stop them frequently during these sections, but only when I can 100% commit myself to “woah,” and slowly build up how frequently I stop them. I’m also trying to have them back up a tad when stopped (take the tension off of the chain) and rest for a minute or 2 there, to see if they can let themselves down.

I’m even considering trying stopping them, taking them off the plow, driving them around for 5 minutes then putting them back on, to break them out of the pattern.

I know this is a common problem with working animals. What do other folks do?

[dominiquer60]

Sam says, Just before they get to the point where they tend to speed up, stop them and give them a break and let them settle, whether that is 30 seconds or several minutes. Just keep stopping them and resting them before they escalate to a speed that you don’t want. Depending on whether you are you are plowing in or out it may be good to open up another land so that you can go both directions of the field.

Mine like to start rushing when they get tired, “hurry up and get it over with.” So when I see that they get tired or want to rush the end I basically do what Sam recommends above, but I try hard stop them when they are going just as I like them to, before they get bad. I see it as a reward for doing what I ask of them, and cessation of work is the best reward that I know of. Since they are going well at this point they don’t really need to settle but I give them a half of minute and often they will look to me for the command to continue forward, then we proceed. You may have noticed us doing this at Barton, it didn’t take much to get them a little testy as they are very soft and the near was recovering from an injury so there was no need to push them beyond what we did. Normally I don’t mind going slow and resting frequently as long as we are making good progress.

Proper timing and reward is the key to what works for me.

[Carl Russell]

Proper timing and reward is the key to what works for me.

Amen to that…….

Carl

[Donn Hewes]

I find the little intersections were horses and oxen will do similar things interesting. The horses don’t get much chance to speed up, but you can feel them knowing they are approaching the end of the furrow or row. They will often turn a step to the left or right before you want if you don’t anticipate it. Makes an ugly end to a nice furrow.

[Kevin Cunningham]

My team is always rushing to be done with work. I don’t know if it is the same in your situation, but mine started rushing more at the “barn” side of the field. I have started to vary which side of the field I stop the day on. This is easier with a harrow, but it has helped a little with the rushing factor. That way they don’t know which direction they will be done with work.

[bendube]

Kevin, I go even a step further sometimes- I will leave the harrow in the middle of the field. I know its a little inconvenient, but I can finish it up the next day.

I’ve read that if you leave the plow in the field, its best for the share and the moldboard to be left in the ground, so I ended the last work session with the plow 80 ft from the end. They had walked the previous 100 ft perfectly in the furrow at the right pace with scarcely a word from me. Seemed like a good note to end on!

It also makes a very nice visual to show students how the plow works.

[Carl Russell]

It is important to strike a balance between taking advantage of an animal’s habitual nature, and letting them decide what they should be doing. This kind of work is probably some of the most pattern-based exercises we do with animals. I think this is a good example of the challenge of the teamster’s art. When animals begin to develop habitual response, whether they are doing what you want, or not, they are taking advantage of gaps in leadership.

The trick is to find that thin line where you are continually guiding them, but without having to work too hard at it. We want to “let” the animal work, but we also need to keep them guessing, focused on us, looking to us for what they want, reward.

I don’t think the idea is to try to trick them about where the field begins and ends. Rather it is more of a constant agenda, so that they know that rest/reward can come at any time, and is related to not just pace, but obvious attention to the guidance of the teamster. Then they know that as long as they are in yoke, they are working, and every step should be in accordance with what the teamster directs them to do.

Erika’s example clearly exemplifies this. She is driving her cattle. In fact, she is never not driving her cattle…… And they know it.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Upon reflection, I did not intend to make it seems as though I thought that you were not driving your animals.

I was trying to point out one important difficulty of performing tasks with working animals.

We often focus on the working task, plowing, cultivating, mowing, or skidding, and by doing so we typically run into situations where our animals are not “helping” sometimes because our focus is on the furrow more than on the animals.

This summer while working with an intern, I said to him, “the primary purpose is not to get logs on the landing, the primary purpose is to get responsive animals.”

It is my belief that if we drive for responsiveness first, and the working task second, then we will accomplish both better…… which is why I had highlighted Erika’s comment about timing and reward…..

Keep up the good work, Carl

[Kevin Cunningham]

Carl, I have taken to calling the “work” I do with the cattle “training sessions” in order to help shift the focus away from the accomplishment towards the training process it self. Because I struggle so much with my team, every time we go out I am now working on “training” rather than “working.” It has always been a part of my vocabulary to say I am going out to “work the boys” I am trying to make that shift because I can see how important that distinction is. The work is almost a byproduct of the training, and my boys need a lot more training.

[Kevin Cunningham]

To be clear about my comment this is not something I have been doing for years. This is a change I am trying to make since this Monday.

[dominiquer60]

Somebody at the Walktober event last weekend asked a good question, “How long does it take to train your oxen?”

I looked at her 2 kids on the ground and told her,”Cattle are just like children, as long as they live at your home, they are always in training.” She understood the point well.

With that said, it is nice that productive work can be a product of training. I see pictures of teams pulling tires and blocks and think to myself, “I am glad that I have things to do around the farm with my oxen, because if I didn’t I would never have time for all of that empty training.” It is good that some folks enjoy and have time for training laps with loads, but I certainly don’t.

[Kevin Cunningham]

I find that my team does better when I am doing productive training. I can and do drag rocks around the farm when they need some exercise but they seem to prefer doing some “work.” Most of my problems occur when they get bored. They are doing better about field work, circling with the harrow, but I still have some of that rushing at the end tendency. What they seem to really excel at is the varied pace and challenge of logging style work. They are the most attentive when I am pulling stones off the river bar or twitching limbs to the burn pile. And maybe the effect the accomplishment has on me rubs off on them. I am excited to see the boys get bigger so I can do more and more around the farm. Although that is part of my problem, I am impatient in training and what to jump straight to a handy team, which makes me push my team too far and then backslide in the training. Slowly I am learning this.

[Carl Russell]

And maybe the effect the accomplishment has on me rubs off on them.

Now we’re getting down to it.

There is no doubt a “chicken and the egg” syndrome here, but when you are confident about the work, or at ease during execution, then they will be much more attracted to your leadership, AND in those situations you will also be more inclined to put energy into more consistent leadership because you know you can pay less attention to the task.

Garden work, or other work where detailed execution is required, straight furrows and the like, can derive a certain anxiety that rivets our focus on the task, but also conveys to the animals our uncertainty, or discomfort, which in turn is not attractive, or might even be upsetting to them.

When we are comfortable, or certain, then directing animals through the complexities of work can be a very effective way to reinforce leadership, making very responsive animals. The converse is true also, so finding those tasks where you can really see their attentiveness is key to building a responsive working relationship. Then build on that up until you can keep their attention even into unfamiliar, or uncomfortable, or complex situations….

Carl

[Donn Hewes]

Doing both together, the work and the training; eventually seamlessly. As a teamster developing this natural attentiveness to detail, leads to good working relationships. When it appears the animals need no training the attentiveness to their behavior / responsiveness is still present and part of how we work at our tasks. For true teamsters it becomes a permanent part of their way of working; becoming seamlessly blended in their style, attitude and demeanor.

[Kevin Cunningham]

The animals certainly pick up on the emotions of the teamster. Even when I think I am doing a good job of hiding or controlling my stress and anxiety about a certain task they seem to know that I am lying. This year we planted a half acre of potatoes, more than we have in the past, and more than we wanted to dig by hand. I made the goal to use the steers to dig them with our little potato plow. The crop was in, the need to harvest was urgent, my fear was high, and they knew that. We managed to do it but I went through a lot of problems with them in the process. Ultimately I hope that we came out on top even though the path was kinda ugly. They would stop and try and twist in the yoke, and at one point I realized that they were pulling at their maximum for their size and condition, but I still had to get the potatoes to market. So we planed it out, one, to two rows a day, plenty of reward when they made it to the end of a row without flipping out, and by the end of the field they were digging full rows without stoping and I managed to control, my fear. The whole process taught me a lot about expectations and abilities. Next year the potatoes won’t be so daunting.

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