I saw a cow!
And unlike Frank's, some of them really were cows. Yesterday I made my annual pilgrimage to the Hopkinton State Fair to drink maple milk, look at animals, and watch ox-pulls. I managed to take in parts of three pulls and the whole of two exhibitions of oxen.
Unfortunately, most of my pictures didn't come out, but here is one ox getting gussied up for the free-for-all pull later on:
I think this is one of the Holstein team at the free-for-all. They were very mellow, compared to some of the others, and did a nice, businesslike job. There was a teamster up from Connecticut with several teams of Chianinas that were also well-behaved and good pullers--and some of his were as big as this guy. I didn't stay until the end of the pull, so I don't know which team won. The four-ox hitch exhibition wasn't as good as last year; only one team and they weren't actually pulling a cart or anything, which kind of takes the "work" out of "working hitch," but I gathered from the indistinct PA announcement that at least one competitor had not been able to get to the fair. Here's a shot of the four Brown Swiss being mellow about their unusual connection:
There was a very simple obstacle course set up for them and they did alright. There were some problems with backing up, since neither pair would back without the teamster beside them, which made things difficult with the two pairs chained together. Maybe if they had been trained with a whippletree or something stiff connecting the yokes they would have got the idea of backing up all four together, but oxen like to see their teamsters do some work, too, so having him trot back and forth between pairs was probably their idea of a fair deal.
I picked up an abandoned toy loom at the recycling center a few days ago and spent most of today warping it to use for card weaving. Depending on how it comes out, I hope to make another collar/leash to donate to the dog shelter. I remember walking shelter dogs in college and how they never had leashes, so we had to use twine and it was not kind to the hands. If the shelter doesn't need it, they can give it to someone else. The loom is much nicer than the board and C-clamps I had for card weaving; it's a locally-made brand that I looked at a few years ago when I wanted a band loom and decided was too expensive for the modifications it would need. Well worth it for free, though!
Unfortunately, most of my pictures didn't come out, but here is one ox getting gussied up for the free-for-all pull later on:
I think this is one of the Holstein team at the free-for-all. They were very mellow, compared to some of the others, and did a nice, businesslike job. There was a teamster up from Connecticut with several teams of Chianinas that were also well-behaved and good pullers--and some of his were as big as this guy. I didn't stay until the end of the pull, so I don't know which team won. The four-ox hitch exhibition wasn't as good as last year; only one team and they weren't actually pulling a cart or anything, which kind of takes the "work" out of "working hitch," but I gathered from the indistinct PA announcement that at least one competitor had not been able to get to the fair. Here's a shot of the four Brown Swiss being mellow about their unusual connection:
There was a very simple obstacle course set up for them and they did alright. There were some problems with backing up, since neither pair would back without the teamster beside them, which made things difficult with the two pairs chained together. Maybe if they had been trained with a whippletree or something stiff connecting the yokes they would have got the idea of backing up all four together, but oxen like to see their teamsters do some work, too, so having him trot back and forth between pairs was probably their idea of a fair deal.
I picked up an abandoned toy loom at the recycling center a few days ago and spent most of today warping it to use for card weaving. Depending on how it comes out, I hope to make another collar/leash to donate to the dog shelter. I remember walking shelter dogs in college and how they never had leashes, so we had to use twine and it was not kind to the hands. If the shelter doesn't need it, they can give it to someone else. The loom is much nicer than the board and C-clamps I had for card weaving; it's a locally-made brand that I looked at a few years ago when I wanted a band loom and decided was too expensive for the modifications it would need. Well worth it for free, though!