Draft Oxen Coming Back Into Style
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If you’ve ever thought of putting oxen to work on your farm, you need to find an Annie Robillard in your area. Robillard and her husband, Len Esposito, train and use oxen on their Driven Acres hobby farm near Potsdam, N.Y. She says it’s a practice that is gaining new followers.
“A lot of people up here are going back to draft teams to do farm work,” she says. “We use them on the farm, show them and do parades. When we are on a major road, we have to have a police escort for crowd control.”
The two work their oxen on stone boats, carts, and a covered wagon they rebuilt. Robillard’s current team is a pair of Holstein steers called Diesel and Fuel with a total weight of 4,200 lbs. She says they are her best team yet.
Her husband is running a pair of young Ayrshires that is already placing well at shows. They are one of two pairs of Ayrshire twins the couple is training for draft work.
“We love to get twins about two to three days old,” says Robillard. “They are tough to get, so we often try for half brothers with similar markings. If you do shows and parades, you want them flashy.”
When starting with such young calves, it’s important that they grow to the same mature size. Robillard says the trick is to measure from the hock to the ground. If it’s within a quarter inch or so, they will grow at the same rate.
Robillard starts training her calves at about a week or two of age with small training yokes. This is when they first start learning commands.
“Our pine yoke weighs only about 3 lbs., but at first they have trouble holding their heads up,” she says. “Within two days, they are holding them up and working like a team.”
In addition to the three teams, Robillard has a single ox named Bolt who weighs 3,200 lbs. Bolt had been paired with Nut. When Nut had to be euthanized due to arthritis pain, she retrained Bolt as a single. She had to have a harness specially built for him to use instead of a yoke.
While Robillard won’t put a price on Diesel and Fuel, she sold a pair of yearlings for $1,400 and a pair of two-year-olds for $2,600. Oxen prices, she says, tend to follow the price of beef. Price also is tied to how the pair looks more than size.
Robillard is willing to train oxen for people as well as train them to train their own oxen. She suggests more difficult than finding calves is finding appropriate yokes and hardware. She has made training yokes using laminated 5/4-in. pine, cut to shape. However, she buys her full-size yokes.
“Yokes are priced per inch across the bow,” says Robillard. “A 12-in. bow can cost $1,200.”
Even lifting the yokes into place can be a problem, she adds. The yoke and hardware the she uses on Diesel and Fuel weigh close to 70 lbs.
“Some people use a pulley system to mount the yokes,” explains Robillard. “It’s hard to put one over an animal that stands 5 ft., 6 in. at the shoulder.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Driven Acres, Sweeney Rd., Potsdam, N.Y. 13676 (ph 315 212-3073 or 315 244-7051; arobillard@subarudistcorp.com; lespo77@yahoo.com).
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Draft Oxen Coming Back Into Style AG WORLD If you’ve ever thought of putting oxen to work on your farm you need to find an Annie Robillard in your area Robillard and her husband Len Esposito train and use oxen on their Driven Acres hobby farm near Potsdam N Y She says it’s a practice that is gaining new followers “A lot of people up here are going back to draft teams to do farm work ” she says “We use them on the farm show them and do parades When we are on a major road we have to have a police escort for crowd control ” The two work their oxen on stone boats carts and a covered wagon they rebuilt Robillard’s current team is a pair of Holstein steers called Diesel and Fuel with a total weight of 4 200 lbs She says they are her best team yet Her husband is running a pair of young Ayrshires that is already placing well at shows They are one of two pairs of Ayrshire twins the couple is training for draft work “We love to get twins about two to three days old ” says Robillard “They are tough to get so we often try for half brothers with similar markings If you do shows and parades you want them flashy ” When starting with such young calves it’s important that they grow to the same mature size Robillard says the trick is to measure from the hock to the ground If it’s within a quarter inch or so they will grow at the same rate Robillard starts training her calves at about a week or two of age with small training yokes This is when they first start learning commands “Our pine yoke weighs only about 3 lbs but at first they have trouble holding their heads up ” she says “Within two days they are holding them up and working like a team ” In addition to the three teams Robillard has a single ox named Bolt who weighs 3 200 lbs Bolt had been paired with Nut When Nut had to be euthanized due to arthritis pain she retrained Bolt as a single She had to have a harness specially built for him to use instead of a yoke While Robillard won’t put a price on Diesel and Fuel she sold a pair of yearlings for $1 400 and a pair of two-year-olds for $2 600 Oxen prices she says tend to follow the price of beef Price also is tied to how the pair looks more than size Robillard is willing to train oxen for people as well as train them to train their own oxen She suggests more difficult than finding calves is finding appropriate yokes and hardware She has made training yokes using laminated 5/4-in pine cut to shape However she buys her full-size yokes “Yokes are priced per inch across the bow ” says Robillard “A 12-in bow can cost $1 200 ” Even lifting the yokes into place can be a problem she adds The yoke and hardware the she uses on Diesel and Fuel weigh close to 70 lbs “Some people use a pulley system to mount the yokes ” explains Robillard “It’s hard to put one over an animal that stands 5 ft 6 in at the shoulder ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Driven Acres Sweeney Rd Potsdam N Y 13676 ph 315 212-3073 or 315 244-7051; arobillard@subarudistcorp com; lespo77@yahoo com
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