Trying to get off to a good start

[Rod]

Ok I am trying again (going to be my last try) and want to get it right this time. I have just brought home a 3 year old team of Holsteins who seem to have had good training in the basics. Should I yoke them up and put them to light work or let them settle in, perhaps with some grooming in a few days and walks in yoke for a while so we can get to know each other? I want to do this right as I have had a few unsatisfactory experiences with working steers recently and really need good advice so I can get off on the right foot. A local mentor would be even better but I don’t know anyone around here doing oxen.

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod, put them under a relatively light load, maybe a sled or stoneboat with a weight of 400-500 lbs. If they are soft from the winter keep an eye on their breathing and stop more frequently than you might later on. They are more likely to goof off and cause you problems with a light or no load than with something they have to think about, particularly after a winter of no or infrequent work. Don’t think that a team that has been trained will just fall in line and work nice with a new teamster. Any team worth their salt will start testing the operational limits the first time out. Don’t worry about it and don’t over-react, but realize that you have to earn the leader position with the team. Good luck with your new team.

Have you had a chance to work with steers before? Tillers has a workshop coming up and there are others, although they seem to be mostly later in the summer. It would be well worth your time by helping you judge their behavior and calibrate your response.

[Howie]

Hopefully you got to watch the person who trained them drive. Hitch them tomorrow and do your very best to copy the trainers style of driving. Try to watch how the yoke is riding and make sure the bows are up high enough.
Start them on a light load and put them to work, being careful not to load them to heavy. If you never stall them they will get so they think they can pull Carl’s world.:p

[Patrick]

Try this workshop too. You won’t be sorry. I hear that you can even bring your team along.

http://www.berrybrookoxsupply.com/ox_events.htm

[Victoria Reck Barlow]

Rod, if it were me I’d go with your first instincts — introduce new things slowly, and give your boys a chance to get acclimated to their new home.

I’d spend tomorrow handling them — grooming, lifting feet, walking with one on a halter (allowing the other one to stay close if he wants). The next several days I’d groom them, and then put them in the yoke and walk further afield — give them a tour of your place, stopping frequently and just standing with them, so they can look around and take it all in. I’d talk or sing, praise good behavior, and scratch necks a lot.

I’d give them a little treat of grain at the beginning of each session together, so they associate good things with you. I’d make sure that each day was successful, and ended on a good note. Along with the yoke time, I’d also try to fit in as many halter sessions as possible, to build a relationship with each boy individually (so long as I could do it in a way that didn’t provoke anxiety in the one not being worked).

After a week or so, you will know them much better, and feel more comfortable with them, and they will have developed some trust in you. Then when you ask them to navigate with a light load, you will feel more confident, and they will sense that in you.

At three years, these boys have some life experience, and expectations. It’s reasonable that they might be wary, and they also have to find their place with your other livestock. Because cattle are so conscious of their surroundings, they’re going to be overwhelmed for a while — as you know. Taking it slowly can’t hurt, and I think it really helps in the long run.

[Vicki]

Rod, you’ve gotten good advice already. I’d add only that you evaluate wether they seem nervous or fearful about the change or not. If not, as is likely, do yoke them and hitch them light real soon. If you worry about possible runaway, can you keep them inside a fenced pasture at first while evaluating their respect for you and/or the goad?

If they do seem fearful, take some time to get them used to you by grooming and yoking, even if you only yoke them to leave them standing or tied awhile. Then run them through a drill of basic commands. It’s like test driving a sportscar to see how it handles.

In either case, establish a routine for feeding, grooming, yoking right away.

Have fun!

[Rod]

Well, after two days of bonding and grooming and today we yoked up and went for a short walk. At first they were a little squirreley but settled down after I started driving them from the front which is what the previous owner/trainer did mostly. I think they are going to be fine, they had a new yoke on, I left the collars on with a lead just in case which was also different for them and were they a little nervous around my noisy dog but otherwise did real well for our first time out. Thanks for the excellent mentoring comments, what a great resource this site is!

[Rod]

Did even better today. Drove from the side and front. They have picked up my pace and no longer race ahead like the first time out. Haw and gee great, stops are good, back needs work. Took a long walk in my pastures all went fine. What a pleasure driving well trained animals.

My Nigh ox needs a little correction on one point. He crowds me to the left when I walk beside him. I have tried giving him butts with my whip end (the blunt handle end) but I don’t like it as he thinks we are having a butting contest ( which I would be sure to lose) Any suggestions. I have an electric dog collar for dog training and was thinking on putting it on my arm prongs out toward the ox and using it for correction. What do you think?

[Tim Harrigan]

I would not use the shock collar. You do not want him to be afraid of you, just stop crowding you. If you have a wooden goad just saw a sharp point on the end. When you are driving just hold it up about the height of his shoulder, parallel to the ground, perpendicular to the direction of travel, with the point at the limit of how close you want him to walk. If he starts to crowd over, hold your line. Do not jab at him but if he wants to crowd into the sharp point it is his choice. He won’t do it very often. If you do not want to saw your goad then saw off a nail and drive it in with the sharp end out about 1/8 inch. Don’t jab at him, but neither should you give any ground if he drifts over into the sharp end of the goad. He will drift back into his own lane and stay there.

[Crabapple Farm]

I also think the shock collar is a bad idea – not a good way to win his trust.
I’ve had similar issues with my nigh ox.
I think it comes from being used to being driven from the front, in which case standing at the shoulder or behind is body language for wanting them to make a haw turn. While you aren’t saying it in words, he is seeing you say it with your body. And remember, body language is clearer to oxen than verbal. He thinks that he is following your directions.
What you need to do is clarify that you don’t want him veering into you – a tap on the rump to speed him up while saying his name. Slow down the off ox if necessary. This was more effective for me than rib-jabs.
But if they are used to being driven from the front, it will take a little while for them, particularly the nigh ox, to get used to you being in a different location. Particularly if you are switching back and forth. I change my position around depending on conditions, and think it is valuable to have oxen used to that, but with a new team you might want to try to limit how many variables you throw in to the training at this point. They still need some time to get used to you, and vice versa.
-Tevis

[Howie]

DO NOT JAB HIM just carry the stick so if he gets to close he bumps the sharp point. The trick is to let them think they are training themselves.:D

[mstacy]

Rod,

I am wrestling with the same issue. I have a young pair of Devons that have grown accustomed to being driven from the front. To some extent that was a result of skidding firewood on packed trails that were not packed wide enough for me to walk beside them through the winter.

Now that the snow is mostly melted I am starting to work on driving from the side again. I am going back to halter training the nigh steer alone to get him used to it again.

Regards,

Matt

[Rod]

The pointed stick worked fine. It took about 15 minuets for the nigh ox to get the idea and then he walked right where I wanted him to. I used a similar technique for a problem I had while when driving in front. In the beginning they would bum me with their horns and the end of the pole as I walked along. What I did was choke up on the whip handle so I had maby a foot or more sticking out behind my hand. This part I waved back and forth in front of the animals noses and bumped them when they got to close. Same thing, they caught on fast and no more horn bumps when I am not looking.:)

[Tim Harrigan]

Great, problem solved. Thanks for the update.

[Author]

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