Training Two Oxen In Leicester

This is something I did for a few days in 2016 and continued with for 2 days in July 2017

From Poser Ox to worker Ox

There they are lying on the grass ruminating the days grazing, each with their place in relation to the others. The two oxen Dharma and Gautama were destined for work….. well that was the plan. The herd of 19 cows and oxen were sitting at the farthest end of the Ahimsa farm in Leicester.

Better get started. Come Ooon, Come ooON. Positioning myself behind the herd I gradualy coaxed them up and back to their holding area and the place where training was to begin. No way would the two work candidates Dharma and Gautama be herded by themselves so the whole herd had to move to position these two.

Stage one. They needed to recognize the harnessing area as a place of fun and pleasure. After segregating Dharma and Gautama from the rest of the herd I walked them around and down through a narrow corridor for cows (race) and a holding frame (for medical attention), out the other end and then around again a few times.

Stage Two. Today when Dharma and then Gautama entered the race we stopped them going forward and reversing and then gave them a nice brush all over so they identified this type of work activity with some muscle massage. Once brushed a rope was placed around their horns and they were gently coaxed to move forward to the harnessing area. This place was prepared so that there would be access to the oxen during yoking and a safe area for the ox trainer. With some gentle and calls and gentle tugs on the horn ropes Dharma and later Gautama moved along the high fence line to the place they were tied on short reins. Once they were side by side they were left for a bit to get used to each others close proximity.

Stage Three. Each day the oxen were moved in the same way, herding into their segregation, coaxing down the race, brushing, placing a lead rope around their horns, taking them to the yoking area. Today once they had settled after moving, I placed the yoke on their Shoulders and secured the U bars. Wow this seems very straight forward. They were very calm. Perhaps we can try walking them around the pen. Quickly Dharma remembered that he was a posing Ox, the head of the herd and was not really inclined to training with the probable outcome of working around the farm. He had somehow heard that if you flip the yoke the training had to stop…. He gave it a go, the pin came out the U bar dropped and that was the end of the training session. It was apparent that Dharma was very nervous and preferred to hide in the shed or run around the holding pen rather than consider working. As there was only a week dedicated for training it was considered that we should team Horatio (he was taking a keen interest in the training and watched closly the proceedings) with Gautama.

Stage Four Gautama yoked with Horatio and little movement around the pen. Not much, just a few steps, plenty of calming words, Everything to reduce anxiety in the oxen. “Why am I so close to the ox next to me who would like to poke his horn in my side. Why is there a piece of laminated plywood shaped like a yoke on my shoulder (not sure If the oxen know all the intricacies of yoke making though). Why is there some metal U bars keeping the yoke on my shoulder. Why is there a rope harnessed to me and nudging me to slow or reverse……… such are the many questions that traverse the mind of an ox in training”

Stage Five. Segregated, groomed, yoked and moved…….Gate open….. here we go, better to give them space to walk rather than the  small space of the 30m pen. Oh my!, Oh my! this is amazing they were walking side by side. Not sure of each other, not sure exactly how they should walk together, not sure exactly what they should do but they walked to the end of the land, a big turn round and back to the pen. Stopping form time to time, wow, wow, (In low reassuring tones). Plenty of petting, plenty of thankful scratching. Walk a bit stop and thank. Enough for the day, a great success.

Stage six. Yoked and walked to the farthest pond and back. Once done a spring harrow was connected to their yoke. This would be a bit scary for them. Something following, something noisy, some ropes touching their legs from time to time. Off we went.. sure a bit nervous they were… should they run or should they stop… yes the rope startled them the first time it touched their legs. Calming words, steady reins, plenty of stops, plenty of petting. A full circuit of the pasture grounds two oxen who only days before sat and chewed cud and watched cars and pedestrians go by are now pulling farm tools. Amazing oxen. Training oxen is natural, its as though they are hardwired for it.

Stage seven. Yoked and walked around the pastures. Today a step up again. A platform was placed on the harrow and with the driver sat on it the oxen coaxed forward…….” Hang on this is heavier than yesterday rushed through their minds…… so after a few metres they stopped and looked wondering”. After walking half the route with the oxen only pulling an empty harrow the driver again mounted the makeshift sledge and tapped them on again. This time they pulled into it and with a bit of wondering who was to blame for the extra weight they walked and pulled the sledge around the whole pasturing ground. Amazing oxen made for work and they can still pose and chew cud the rest of the day.

And there it is. Two oxen yoked together semi-trained and farm machinery pulled. What remains now is regular light farm work and gradually increasing the loads they pull. Working oxen now at the ahimsa farm in Leicester.

“these two oxen don’t yet know how strong they are but with steady and re-assuring training they will develop their powerful physique and display power and majestic grace”

A year goes by (with no work or training in between)…….

Day one: the two oxen are brought to a pen to continue with their training. To get the oxen into the barn pen we had to herd another 5 oxen with them otherwise they were not going to leave the company of the rest of the oxen in the comfort of a field they new to a route and pen they were not familiar with. Once we had traversed the paths and fields by coaxing the small herd to the pen in the barn we were able to sub-divide the herd into two. In one pen we had the two semi-trained from last year (gautam and horatio) and the other 5 were escorted back to the pasturing grounds. The plan was to get these two oxen training and ready for a film crew that were going to show the farm as part of prime time country news story on “Countryfile”. We kept the oxen in the barn overnight and were intending to keep them in the barn until the film crew had left 2 days later. With bedding, fodder and water the oxen awaited the next day. They missed their pasture friends, they missed their field, they were not sure where they were or what was expected of them and so they expressed their minds from time to time with a call to their herd.

Day 2. Food is always a good incentive and  we had some organic alfalfa in hand to tempt them to the yoking place. We put down the feed bucket next to the yoking fence and the dominant Ox Gautam could not resist the aroma and put his head down to  eat from the bucket. The head rope was looped around his horns and he was secured to the fence. He kept eating all the while……..he seemed to remember the process from the previous year. The second ox followed suit, head in a bucket of alfalfa, rope around his horns and secured to the fence.

Once they had finished and their heads were up, the horn rope was shortened so they could move their heads but they could not pull to far away from the securing fence. With all movement of the ox trainer slow and reassuring to the oxen I placed the yoke on gautams back and pushed it over until the neck groove was sitting on Horatios neck, then I placed the other end of the yoke and neck groove on gautams neck. Once the yoke was sitting there and the oxen were showing they were calm I put the U bars under their necks and secured them to the yoke with an R clips. The nose chains and drive ropes were similarly placed on both oxen.

Once the oxen were yoked, the gate was opened and out we went, first in the confines of the farm yard a couple of times. That completed quietly and the oxen were calm so I decided to take them out to the field. Off we went, the two oxen walking a little unsure, getting used to each other side by side, feeling how the yoke limited their movements, keeping each ox alongside the other. Horatio liked to walk a bit faster than Gautam and to slow him we held him back slightly using the driving rope. Out into the cows pasture fields walking over the ancient ploughed lands with undulating ridges and dips, through the marsh grasses, through some muddy parts and all the time the oxen quickly applied themselves to it. Amazing to witness and be part of how these oxen take to their historic role naturally and peacefully.

Later that day we put the oxen onto a two wheeled buggy (basically a trailer axle with a raised seat and a shaft and hook to connect it to the ox yoke. Horatio jumped a little when the shaft appeared between him and gautam but with some steady words and secure hands on the reins they stood for the fixing of yoke and buggy. With me riding on the buggy and guiding the oxen with reins and occasional taps from the goad they were moving and learning their role as oxen in training. After a very encouraging day we returned the ox to the barns and settled them in for the night.

Day three. Oxen yoked easily as though they had been doing it their whole life, they walked together (mostly), they accepted the buggy quite straightforwardly and did their training, steadily, traversing the field up and then down, and again and again in readiness for their future work. At the same time it was on film for journalism and the millions who would be watching next month in their homes.

These two oxen Gautam and Horatio now have the basic training to conduct light farm work and gradually with regular work and a gradual raising of the load they were pulling they will eventually be able to plow, cultivate, transport heavy loads, make hay, on farm tourism etc.

For me what this has shown is that oxen are natural for training and working and in only a short period of time. The trainer provides enthusiasm to train, confidence that it will work, patience that it may take different oxen different time, following a specific method of training, experience from years of working with oxen and other ox trainers. That said, it is possible to train your own oxen following the methods described on this website and other sites.