Walking style

[Rod]

Our farm pastures are contain many examples of cow paths which everyone here are probably familiar with. These paths are never straight and wander as they flow in definite directions. That’s how cows walk.

My Oxen do the same thing when in the yoke and it can be a little annoying when the path is narrow or obstructed with snow banks etc. I find myself trying to straighten them out especially when they wander onto my walking path. I can see where driving from the front would resolve this problem.

My question is, do others try to train their oxen to walk in straight lines or is it too difficult to do and just adjust where they walk to the bovines wandering habit? Also if training is done to straighten them out what techniques are used other than geeing and hawing them to death.

[Plowboy]

Rod some day you are going to want to do precision work like plowing with your steers. I don’t have oxen but have several friends who do. I also know some that failed trying to train them. You need to be the boss and make them go where you want to go even if it means using the goad a little more than normal to reinforce your commands. You are in charge and they work for you. You control the speed, direction and stopping. If you aren’t strict with these essentials then your team will walk all over you eventually and at their age they are getting bigger each day. The best team I know of is about 4 miles from here and they are yoked each day even if it’s for ten minutes. They are sharp on commands but even at 6 they still try to get out of line once in a while. Dan usually sees it coming and when it starts they get a scolding accompanied by a whack to straighten them out and get back to the task at hand. good luck

[Paul T. Ferrari]

Rod,

The best advice I can give you is that cattle will do what you make them do. It sounds cruel but that is the only way to make a solid team. To me it sounds like your boys are just doing what cattle naturally want to do. Basicly they want to wander around, chew on grass, lick interesting things, and lay in the shade. You’re correct in observing that cattle do not seem to naturally follow a straight linear path through anything. However, they are intelligent creatures that can modify their behavior to your expectations and commands. Set a goal: five times a week, for the next three weeks, yoke them, pick a straight and narrow path, and force them to walk in a straight line. At first, make them do it for 20ft. Once that is easy for them, make them do if for 50ft. When that’s easy 100ft. I like to count fence posts. I will say to myself “We’re going to walk in a straight line until we pass that fence post on the corner. It’s easiest to have them walk on the side of the road. I know my off-ox loves to walk on the shoulder of the road. I think it gives him a straight line to follow. The other part to this is that if they don’t walk in a straight line for the distance you have set, you have to turn them around and start all over. You can not stop doing this untill they get if perfect. This reinforces two lessons. The first is that you are leading them. The second is that you’re practicing walking in a straight line, which they are perfectly capable of doing. If they’re doing anything less than exactly what you have in mind they’re leading you. You’re reacting to what they are doing. It should be the other way around. Good Luck.

[Paul T. Ferrari]

Rod,

The best advice I can give you is that cattle will do what you make them do. It sounds cruel but that is the only way to make a solid team. To me it sounds like your boys are just doing what cattle naturally want to do. Basicly they want to wander around, chew on grass, lick interesting things, and lay in the shade. You’re correct in observing that cattle do not seem to naturally follow a straight linear path through anything. However, they are intelligent creatures that can modify their behavior to your expectations and commands. Set a goal: five times a week, for the next three weeks, yoke them, pick a straight and narrow path, and force them to walk in a straight line. At first, make them do it for 20ft. Once that is easy for them, make them do if for 50ft. When that’s easy 100ft. I like to count fence posts. I will say to myself “We’re going to walk in a straight line until we pass that fence post on the corner. It’s easiest to have them walk on the side of the road. I know my off-ox loves to walk on the shoulder of the road. I think it gives him a straight line to follow. The other part to this is that if they don’t walk in a straight line for the distance you have set, you have to turn them around and start all over. You can not stop doing this untill they get if perfect. This reinforces two lessons. The first is that you are leading them. The second is that you’re practicing walking in a straight line, which they are perfectly capable of doing. If they’re doing anything less than exactly what you have in mind they’re leading you. You’re reacting to what they are doing. It should be the other way around. Your the boss. Good Luck.

[KevinFlys]

Can you simply tell if Runescape is a great game maplestory powerleveling or not without you becoming a member? The answer to that would be, NO! Well you can make a few predictions about Runescape and see the moral of the game when being a regular user and not a member but becoming a member brings a whole lot of additions to Runescape that you would never see if you were not a member. Being a member of Runescape has so many benefits and I will try to list them all here for you. Runescape tells you them, but I’m going to detail it a few features for you here. runescape money

[Author]

Posts