Oxen Training

Oxen served the early settlers well for several decades. In the early days of settlement and in the pioneer period, the oxen were quite commonly used as draft animals. Most farmers used them to draw the plows, the wagons, the harrows and the sleds, and they were on the roads hauling produce and grain to market.

 

The oxen were strong, patient, hardy, and could live on rough foods without much shelter, but generally they were quite slow. Only a few could walk and draw a plow along with the horses, and on the road an ox team did well to make three miles an hour.