Posted 10 years ago
hotairfan
(385 items)
Three pair of oxen shoes. The first pair (with the depression in the rear of the shoe), is hand wrought iron from the mid 1700's. The other two pair are of a later date. You can see by the fitted hoof, that oxen have cloven hooves and must have a two piece shoe or they would become lame under working conditions.
The double halves of a shoe makes it dificult to find and collect both halves a pair of ox shoes. most shoes are found only when they are thrown off by the animal. ....hotairfan.
PS. Oxen can not lift each foot to be shod. If this is tried, they will fall over, so-o-o-o, the oxen must be lifted entirely off the ground with a hoist and straps to be shod.
Never seen Oxen shoes either, cool!
Oxen like other bovine will not fall over if they lift one foot, the problem is that you can't get a 2000# animal to pick up it's foot like a horse. They can also kick & swing their head faster than you can move out of the way.
When they need their hooves worked on, a tipping table is the only thing that will work & even then you have restrain their legs & head.
thanks for the info walksoftly, I did see an oxen frame hoist at Sturbridge Mass. Historical community, It had a crank-up hoist for picking the animal off the ground.....hotairfan.
That would take a lot of cranking, it would be interesting to see how they did it before the use of hydraulics.
To see an oxen hoist visit http://www.prairieoxdrovers.com/oxhealth.html
It states that... "the heavy draft animal had to be hoisted because oxen cannot stand on three legs as horses can ....hotairfan
Very interesting pictures!
Your quote must be on another page as I couldn't find it there.
Just because someone states it doesn't make it true.
I've been around cattle all my life & can guarantee you that they won't fall over if they pick up their foot, if this was true they wouldn't be able to walk, run or kick.
No offence intended.
to walk softly
my intensions are not to be arguementative. My intension is to educate when I can and learn when can learn. These lifting stocks existed as the photo shows. I leave it to the history of our forefathers as to why these were used. I don't understand why a person who never saw an ox shoe would doubt the reason for these stocks as I pointed to a photo for you to see. maybe our forefathers found these stocks to be better than your tipping table. Case closed, I will say no more on the subject............ hotairfan
You did educate me as before today I had never seen a oxen shoe or a oxen stock/lift.
I don't doubt the lifting stocks, they are a great way to take the weight off the animal & position the legs & restrain them for the worker to perform his craft.
They also have advantages to the modern tipping table, as the foot is placed facing upward not at the awkward angle that a tipping table results in.
My only disagreement was in the quote re oxen falling over.
Oxen shoes are called Cues, Bovine have split hooves, Cloven, No, they can not be Cued while standing alone, the hoof is a modified tow, just like a horse, it is called a Claw. Now remember, Oxen were Cued if they were long haul draft animals over rocky ground. Oxen cues are not that common now days but during the Westward Movement in covered wagons you needed to insure the health of your beast, a torn claw took that animal out of service. I know of two methods to cue an oxen, I have seen a painting of how it may have been done in Italy where the Ox was held tightly on both sides by a fence and the leg could be lifted without the animal loosing its stance, that's all I know about that. At a blacksmith shop a hoist may have been available especially in a place like Roy Town at the head of the trails west near St. Joseph. But for all intent and purpose a method called Casting was used, not to be confused with castrating, where a rope was laced in a certain manner and the animal tied by the neck and hitched to a post, one person could put the beast down (on its side, not killed). The "feet" we're hobbled and the animal could be cued.
Now, try to find a place that has new Oxen Shoes!
Tilt table, none that I know of on the Oregon Trail in the 1850's. Check out oxen casting on YouTube.
Hi Scrounge, that is great information. All of which I did not know.
I am going to copy the information down and use the information when I do a Historical Society demonstration after their monthly meeting. Thanks again.... hotairfan
Love it, learned something new. ... never knew there were oxen shoes like horse shoes. And as you mentioned finding a pair would be impossible out in the field.