Ard. A crude plow used in many nations for soil preparation prior to planting. Most often it is simly a large forked stick, sometimes fitted with a metal point.
Bell ox. The lead ox in the herd that wore a bell when turned out to pasture.
Big wheels. A pair of wheels, taller than the team of oxen, which straddled the log, lifting one end. These big wheels were used for transporting logs. They were commonly used in forests that were in flat regions like the upper Midwest.
Bitch link. A pear shaped link on a short chain, which was often used as a grab hook to hitch teams together or hitch them to a load. It is also sometimes referred to as the callabash ring.
Bird’s-eye tenderloin. Ox meat showing marks of a teamster’s goad (nails in the end of their long driving sticks).
Bob, bob sled. A two-runner sled used for hauling logs out of the woods. Also called a lizard or yarding sled.
Breeching. See Britchen.
Bridle chain. A chain wrapped around the front sled runners to serve as a brake when going down hills.
Britchen. A harness strap around an ox’s hindquarters to help hold back the load while going downhill. Also called Breeching and Brichen.
Bull puncher, bull whacker, bull skinner. All terms used to describe the ox teamster.
Bullock. A term to describe a steer or ox used by other English speaking cultures.
Bow bunch. Swelling caused by chafing of bow.
By the bushel, by the inch, by the mile or by the piece. Ways of describing logging done for contract.
Cattle power. Ox power, sometimes referred to as bull power.
Calabash ring. Same as a Bitch Link, although this term is often used to describe the pear shaped ring on the yoke, that the chain attached to the implement or load hitches to.
Calf hutch. A simple three-sided structure designed to house an individual calf until they are weaned.
Cannula. A plastic or synthetic material covering an opening into some body part of the bovine. Most often the rumen or duodenum with a cap or cover that allows researchers to take samples from the gut in a living and working animal.
Clevis. A C-shaped piece of hardware with a removable bolt running through it. A small clevis is sometimes used to repair chains or connect two short chains together. It is often used to provide a place to hitch the chain to a sled or other implement, when using oxen.
Colic. Impaction of feed in the gut.
Colostrum. The first milk from a cow after she has given birth.
Come-along. This is a winch type device used to tighten loads or move large objects. Many modern come-alongs are designed to used a hand crank. In the past, the use of pulleys and oxen could be used to move large objects much like a modern come-along.
Come here, come haw. To turn left or come toward the ox teamster.
Crooked stick. This is another old term for an ox yoke.
Dog. A steel spike attached to a sled runner that digs into the ground to prevent it from sliding backwards when going up hill.
Dolly wheels. When pulling something like an animal-drawn mowing machine, a set of small wheels under the tongue that helps to carry the weight of the machine, reducing fatigue on the animals.
Drench. Liquid medication given to the animal through the mouth or esophagus using a tube or a large dose syringe.
Dung sniffer. A term sometimes used for an ox teamster.
Evener. The evener was something used primarily by large horse hitches as a way to evenly distribute the load among many horses. Most oxen were hitched in tandem with a single chain, so an evener was not required. If oxen are hitched abreast the evener would be required. The vertical evener was developed to aid in adjusting the load pulled by multiple teams in tandem.
Gee, Gee off. Gee is the most common command used to direct an ox or oxen to turn right. Gee off is used to mean turn away from the teamster. Back Gee is sometimes used to make the off steer back up a few steps while the nigh steer makes a tight right turn.
Girt. An ox was measured by its girt or girth when sale prices for oxen were agreed upon. The heart girth or girth was also used in pulling contests to make sure oxen of similar sizes competed.
Goad. This was a carved stick used to drive oxen. Its length varied depending on the size of the oxen, and the teamster. Most often it was 4–5 feet long, and carved of flexible hardwood species. A goad stick implies in New England that there is no lash attached to it.
Gore stick steer. When an ox broke its leg or was injured in the forest while logging, it was butchered and eaten by the loggers.
Grab hook. A hook at the end of a chain that can be hooked or “grab” into the chain. It is useful in making adjustments to chain length.
Grab ring. A ring similar to the callabash ring or bitch link.
Handy. A term used to describe how well trained a team of oxen are.
Haw. The most common command used to direct an ox or oxen to turn left.
Haylage. An ensiled form of grass and legumes. The fresh forage is dried down slightly in the field, and then placed in a silo, packed in tight, and sealed from the air. The result is an ensiled feed that is both palatable and nutritious to cattle.
Haymow. Another term for a hayloft, where loose hay is stored
Headland. A strip of unplowed land at the end of furrows, usually near a fence or field border.
Hovel. A building or shed for housing oxen in semi-permanent logging camps.
Horn knobs (also called ox balls). Brass covers for the tips of the horns added to prevent oxen from goring each other. They also used for decoration in animals that are exhibited at fairs and events.
Interfere. When an ox’s hoof or foot interferes with his other hoof, or the hoof of a nearby ox.
Leaders. The oxen in front when ox teams are hitched together in tandem, as they often were in the forest, to pull large logs or during long hauls. They were usually the team that would better respond to the teamster’s demands.
Log boat. A long sled used for skidding logs in wet places.
Lizard. A sled for skidding logs, usually only used for lifting the front of the log. Often made from a Y-shaped crotch of a tree. Also called crazy drag, go-devil, snow snake or travois.
Lunge space. 2 feet of manger space, which allows cattle to lie down in a normal position, and to throw their heads forward as they get up.
Mating a team. Putting together or breeding cows to bear calves that will grow, develop, and act alike.
Nigh or near ox. The ox nearest the teamster. If standing behind a pair of oxen, this is the ox on the left. It is the ox to the right of the teamster, when walking beside the team.
Off or far ox. The ox in a pair that is furthest from the teamster. The off ox, is the ox on the right when standing behind a pair of oxen. When the teamster is standing or walking beside the team, the off ox is on his right.
Ox. A castrated bull that has reached four years of age and has been trained to work. Historically, a steer was not considered old enough for real work until he was four years old, thus the term was used to differentiate between a young and not fully grown animal and one that was at least near maturity. Oxen is plural for ox.
Ox balls. Metal (often brass) balls that are threaded and screwed in place on the tips of an ox’s horns.
Ox goad. A long stick with a small brad or nail near the end used to persuade reluctant oxen to work in the yoke. Also called goad stick or goad. In New England the goad is about 4 feet long, 3⁄4 to 1 inch thick at the handle and about 1⁄2 inch thick at the small end.
Ox harness. Oxen harness similar to those used on horses, however if the horse collar was used it was often flipped upside down to raise the hitch point above the prominent shoulders of the ox. A three pad collar was designed specifically for the ox, based on the anatomy of their shoulders and neck.
Ox muzzle. A basket made of wire, leather, wood or other materials that is placed on the ox to prevent him from grazing or trying to eat while in the yoke.
Ox prone. A frame used to hold an ox’s foot during shoeing.
Pole team. The team of oxen closest to the sled or wagon. They were usually the only team attached to the load by a pole. They would turn the sled or wagon and slow or stop it if necessary. They were sometimes also called wheelers or the butt team.
Polled. Naturally lacking horns. The Angus, Galloway, and Polled Hereford are examples of polled breeds.
Pressure quicking. When nailing on an ox shoe, if the nail is too close to the sensitive tissue, the animals may become lame simply due to the pressure on this sensitive tissue.
Quicking. A term describing when a shoer, nailing on an ox shoe, drives the nail into the sensitive tissue, causing the animal to bleed and become lame. Oxen can also get an infection from the debris or bacteria that might have been carried into the flesh when the nail went in.
Racking a load or sled. Breaking a frozen sled or log loose by jamming the oxen to the right and left until the sled is freed. It is often easier to simply use a pole to pry the sled upward to break the sled free of the ice on the runners.
Roan. A coat color made up of alternating red and white hairs.
Running W. A set of ropes and pulleys that are placed on an unruly animal. Historically animals (usually horses) that are prone to running away were subjected to this form of restraint and training. As the animal bolted the ropes were pulled and the animals front feet were pulled out from under them.
Scoot. A sled designed with two long solid runners used most often in winter in Northern areas to haul firewood, small logs, maple sap tanks, and other farm or logging supplies.
Scours. Diarrhea.
Shaves. When an ox is hitched single to a cart they require shaves, which attach to either side of the side yoke to hold the front of the cart up.
Shoeing sling, shoeing stocks, or shoeing rack. A strong wooden frame or rack with canvas or leather straps to support the weight of an ox and make shoeing easier. Also called an ox sling, a shoeing stock or ox rack.
Singletree. When using a single ox, like a single horse, the animal will require a singletree. This connects both of the animal’s trace chains together behind the animal. It provides a single hitch point behind the animal, to which might be attached a plow, cultivator or other implements.
Skidding. Pulling logs out of the forest, usually on the ground or on a scoot.
Skidding team. A team used to drag logs out of the forest, usually to a landing, where the logs are then loaded onto a truck or larger sled.
Skid road. A road, skid trail, or path on which the oxen pull logs.
Slide yoke, slip yoke. A yoke designed to allow the yoked oxen more freedom of movement than the traditional solid wood ox yoke. It had individual neck pieces for each ox, which slid to the right and left, as the oxen moved. These were maintained an equal distance from the center, by means of hardware to which it was attached.
Slip hook. A type of hook on a chain that would not be used to hook into the chain. It was designed to wrap around a log and tighten by allowing the chain to slip through it, as the oxen leaned into their yoke.
Snow roller. A huge wooden roller drawn by ox teams in order to pack down a road. They were used before snow was plowed from roads for motor vehicles.
Steer. A castrated bull that may or may not be trained to work.
Stump puller. Any of a number of devices used to remove stumps from skid trails or clearings. Stump pullers were designed to use oxen or horses to unscrew stumps or yank out of the ground. Other kinds consisted of a series of pulleys or levers to pull stumps out.
Sweet feeds. Commercially prepared pelleted feed containing molasses.
Team. The term is used loosely and generally means multiple pairs of oxen hitched together although that number may vary between three and six pairs.
Tongue stop. A device that keeps the pole or tongue that the animals are hitched to from running through the yoke. This helps to hold the load, and also allows the yoked oxen to back up a loaded wagon or cart. Most tongue stops are made of steel and bolted onto the tongue of the cart or wagon. Simple tongue stops can be made using the natural crotch of a tree.
Trocar. This devise when used with a small cannula is a last resort means of saving an animal that is dying from bloat. It is last resort, because the animal will often die of peritonitis or an infection of the abdominal cavity after it is used.
Twitching logs. Pulling individual logs out of the forest to a common landing or gathering place where they were then loaded onto sleds or wagons for further transport.
Whiffletree. Another name for an evener, or double tree.
Yoke. The wooden beam with bows and iron hardware that is used to harness the power of the ox. A pair of oxen is also called a “yoke” or a yoke of oxen. To place the yoke on is “to yoke” the oxen.