Subject: Re: The most important tools for a blacksmith. This month's problem.

From: Alfred Denninger <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 21:20:52 -0400

At 05:29 PM 4/21/96 -0300, you wrote:
>        Ox sling.. not too many know about them, or that oxen were shod with
>a pair of shoes per hoof,because they had split-hooves. I have never used
>them, but have seen them. The slings were used to lift the ox so the legs
>could be lifted to shoe the ox. The ox could not balance itself on three
>legs like the horse, so a sling was needed. Any more comments on this one?

I have trimmed hundreds of cattle feet back in the old days (mine was in the
'70's when I was hungry for winter work).  Oxen or cattle can stand on three
legs just fine if trained to do so... The usefullness lies in fact that the
sling is a restraint. If they can move any part of their body at all they'll
fight you all the way.  If completely immobilized, after a while the ox will
just give up and lie in the sling.  This is a great safety factor for the
smith as well as the "client". Slings have wooden blocks and binding straps
properly placed to keep the leg and hoof in a somewhat reasonable position
for trimming and shoeing.

I have made quite a few ox shoes, mostly for demonstration purposes and in
farrier contests, but never found a customer that used his oxen enough to
justify the expense of shoeing them.  I always wanted to, just for the heck
of it.  Maybe someone up in New England has shod an ox or two.  As I
remember there was quite alot of interest in keeping and using oxen up there.

The sling apparatus I designed, built and used was a more modern and safer
affair.  All tubular steel and hydraulic apparatuses (or is that apparati)
for lifting and securing.  The basic concept I "borrowed" from a veterinary
operating table I saw at Cornell University.  I mounted removable wheels for
transport and a locking headgate for the frisky ones.  If anyone is
interested I think I can dig up a photo or two.

Enjoy,

Al Denninger
www.denninger.com

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From: Michael Spencer <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 96 21:58:00 EDT

When I moved here in '69 there were more people on my road who kept
draught animals than not. Different neighbors would go by my door a
couple of times a year, walking their ox team in yoke to the the guy
who shod them. So I dropped what I was doing one morning and walked
along, about 2 miles through the woods.

I've never made an ox shoe or put one on, but the visit was
enlightening. There was trick with the hind shoes. Normally, the
caulks on the shoes are just bent over at the ends, much like those on
a forged horseshoe. But the oxen here are used a great deal in the
woods where their gait is irregular because of the stony soil,
hummocks and swales. As a consequence, they tend to catch the heel of
a front shoe with the toe of a hind one and pull the front shoe. So
this smith split the toe of the hind shoes flatways, turning part of
the split down for the caulk and punching the remaining flap for a
nail. This placed the caulk a bit behind the toe and greatly reduced
the problem of caulking off the front shoe.

Sorry to say that there's only one team of working oxen in my
immediate neighborhood these days.

- Mike

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Michael Spencer               (902) 543-8375
[email-masked]
URL: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mspencer/home.html
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