Austin Brothers Valley Farm

Oxen and Working Steers

Heading back to the barn, New England Ox Draw 2010

Have you ever gone to a country fair and watched the ox pulls? Did you wonder just what it was the teamsters were saying to their teams? Gee, haw, whoa, what does it all mean? This page will inform you a little about oxen and working steers.

Let's start with the basic commands.. Gee go to the right, Haw go to the left, Whoa to stop. These are the basic commands the teams are taught.

What is an ox? A ox is a castrated bull over the age of 4 years old. A working steer is a castrated bull under the age of 4 years old. Working steers are generally used as a 4-H project for youth competitions.

Now let's talk about the equipment that is used: The yoke, is the wooden object you seen on the teams neck. It is fitted with a set of bows locked into the yoke with pins. As the teams grow different size yokes are used for comfort and fit. Another type of yoke used is called a head yoke,it is made of leather and is strapped to the teams horn with leather straps. The teamster may have a whip with a lash or use a goad stick for training their animals and in competition.

In an ox pull the teamster brings his team to the pulling pit where he sets them up to pull a load of blocks. The helper with the teamster is called the hitcher. He is the one that places the clevis over the pin on the stone boat. What is a block and stone boat you ask? The block is the cement block on the wooden sled aka stone boat that the animals pull. The pin is the object that the hitcher drops the chain on so the teamster can pull out the load aka blocks. The load is generally pulled 6 feet.

For more information on working steers and oxen: Call Michael at 413-668-6843.Groups welcome to the farm for demonstrations and talks. Call for pricing.

The following photos are a few of the breeds we have on our farm.

Line back calves

Chianina Charloais cross cattle in a head yoke

Jim working in the woods with a pair of Chianina/Shorthorns