[Sca-cooks] Cow harness

wyldrose wyldrose at tds.net
Wed Nov 11 19:48:13 PST 2009


 Some breeds of cattle are  better suited to be oxen than others. 
Temperament and build have a lot to do with it.  In Minnesota there are 
still a few farmers that farm with either horses and/or oxen.  Oxen also are 
fitted with shoes much like a horses shoes but made for cloven feet by 
blacksmiths.  Many of the logging camps used oxen and horses to  haul 
supplies and logs.
                                               Kay
> If you will recall "Sweet Betsy From Pike;" "with two yoke of oxen..."  In 
> the US, draft cattle are oxen, beef cattle are steers.  Since we haven't 
> really used draft cattle for almost a hundred years (since heavy wagons 
> went motorized and horses and mules were more often used for farming), the 
> term usually pops up only in special circumstances.  I also seem to 
> remember steers are castrated as calves, but oxen are castrated after 
> sexual maturity, but I am not sure of the accuracy of that statement.
>
> Bear




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