Sons In
Retirementwww.sirinc.org
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Amador County Branch 96 - Jackson, California |
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THE OXEN’S TALE #3 BY FRANK TORTORICH Have you ever asked yourself, ”What are Oxen?” An ox is not a special breed of cattle. Any breed would do as long as the animal selected was strong and of rather large size. The farmer might select the largest bull to mate with the largest cow hoping to get a large male offspring. Under most instances, the male was selected to become an ox. When traveling to California it was sometimes necessary to put a cow in the yoke. This often created a miss-match but they may have had no choice. The farmer knew from experience that castrating the young bull at just the correct age would create the stout and strong animal that would be trained as a draft animal. As soon as the yoke was placed on a young steer for training, it was thereafter known as an ox. Before these reliable animals pointed their nose to the west, their hooves required shoes to be nailed on. This process was a bit more difficult than shoeing a horse or mule. Because an ox has cloven hooves, two parts (shoes) were required for each foot. DID YOU KNOW, that cattle cannot stand on three legs? In order to shoe an ox it was necessary to throw the ox on its side, or back, in order to shoe them. |
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