Mixed Team

[Roscoe]

Does anyone have experience with a mixed (Horse & Ox) team?
I only saw pictures of mixed teams pulling equipment w/o pole,oxen harnessed either with collar or forehead yoke.
Any thoughts about using a offset neckyoke for a cart.

[Vicki]

No personal experience. But a woman in Alberta Canada trained a big steer to work alongside her horses. She sent a photo of herself driving the mixed team from a sled. The photo is in the April ’08 issue of the Midwest Ox Drovers News. The ox was wearing a collar. If you want, pm me and I’ll get you in touch with this woman.

[Roscoe]

Hi Vicki,
I saw her on the prarie ox drover’s webpage. I will ask her for some advice.
Thank you!

[Team Eifel Firewood]

Hallo Roscoe,

so we started:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4835/pferdochsehund254x174gh2.jpg

Use up to now only one.

Plan is the tandem.

http://www.bilderhochladen24.de/image/66c5b535fa9b6170cdb3ac3aa8d792860.49452900_1319566043_2bbb965b6a0c52606000c64ba22e6d3b0.73937200_1311102504_dscf0125.jpg

Klaus

[CharlyBonifaz]

🙂 Team Eifel Firewood, great to see you here!

[Nat(wasIxy)]

I’ve found quite a few references to oxen and horses working together in Britain, using collars.

[Roscoe]

I recently saw a picture of a team of oxen pulling a wagon, using collar and sidebacker harness and double-neckyoke. But I’m in doubt that it will work by a mixed team due the different heigth of the neck.

[bivol]

hi!

thre’s not much info on mixed teams even online.
this much i know:

working mixed teams is not so usual. it is done to compensate for lack of power in a situation where there is no other option.

animals of different species are lot harder to make to work in unison.

red once there was a woman in Ethiopioa who used a mixed team, one donkey and ox. she said secret to her success was in using a different language for every animal.

Conroy makes a reference to mixed teams, stating that even the farmers who use them agree it is not the best solution.

i have a hunch that in order to work, both animals mush be accustomed to working, and mush know each other.

but still, working mixed teams might be more usual than though.

to that end, you might want to check this out:
http://burggen.im.pfaffenwinkel.net/bilder_04.html
NOTE how ox and horse walk in unison!

http://www.razyboard.com/system/morethread-ochsentreffen-ecomusee-d-alsace-2010-zugrinder-244288-5880711-10.html

[bivol]

Roscoe,

not sure what you meant there with “offset yoke”. and on a cart? what kind of cart?

[Roscoe]

I thought about using a neckyoke, the kind it’s common for horses, for carrying the pole und backing up. Since horses and oxen do not have their neck on the same height, I thought about making the yoke kind of offset. Would be for a smaller forcart, so not much weight to carry.
In Switzerland, lots of the farmer used to be in the army reserve, they had their service horse at home and used them for work. If they were in need for more power, they used a cow as well. But there was only wagons common with a supported pole.

http://epsomhistory.com/epsom/scrapbooks/index.php?display=gilknowles/Albert Sanders Ox team 1910.jpg
That’s the kind of yoke I’m talking about.

[Author]

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