[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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