[Sca-cooks] Oxen and ox driving

[Stefan li Rous]

  Ranald de Balinhard commented:
> The Ox lives longer than i was designed to and gets to big and heavy 
> for its own
> legs.
Does this mean that the ox keeps growing throughout its life?
> This always struck me as sad and possibly cruel, but they do tend to
> live about 4 to 8 times the length of their non-working brethren.
Do they live longer because they are castrated? Or because they work? 
Because they are better cared for? Or because the non-working ones get 
turned into meat sooner?

There seems to be an increased effort these days to lengthen the human 
lifespan, but if the first reason above is the reason for the increased 
lifespan of the oxen, I doubt that that would get many adherents among 
humans. :-)
>     They are amazing to watch work as well.  They follo verbal 
> commands, and
> only those meant for them.  The Ox driver will proceed his command with
> their name if it is only meant for one.
Wow, that shows more intelligence than I would have suspected of 
cattle. An overview article of ox driving in the Middle Ages might make 
a good article or perhaps A&S contest entry. I suspect that this is a 
skill that is rapidly dying out. It might even make a good persona. But 
alas it isn't as flashy as what most people are looking for.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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