Gutenäcker’s stocks for oxen: a, front corner-posts; b, rear corner-posts; c, d, connecting bars; e, head-post; f, bar for holding belly girth; g, hooks for girth; h, neck-yoke; i, pulley-wheel; k, windlass with ratchet and click; m, slot for neck-yoke and breast-bar; n, slot for movable side-bars; o, p, side-bars; r, hook for fetlock strap; s, iron bracket; t, iron ring for rear cross pole; u, hooks for breeching.

Before an animal is brought into the stocks the neck-yoke is raised, the breast-bar lowered, and the girth left hanging from the hooks on the stationary bar. The ox is then led into the stocks and the rope which is tied around the base of the horns is carried over the pulley (i), fastened to the hook on the roller (k), and wound up till the head is tight against the head-post. The yoke and breast-bar are then placed in position and fastened, the breeching hung on the hooks (u), and the belly girth attached to the hooks on the roller, so that, if need be, it can be shortened till it bears the animal’s entire weight.

To control a front foot a slip-noose is placed about the fetlock and the limb is raised and lashed to the side-bar, the rope passing finally to the hook (r). To control a hind foot a slip-noose is placed about the fetlock, the foot carried upward and backward over the rear cross-bar, and, with the front surface of the fetlock-joint resting against the padding of the bar, the limb is firmly secured by wrapping the line several times about the limb and bar.

When no stocks are at hand, we may use an ordinary farm wagon or a truck wagon. Tie the ox with his head forward between the front and hind wheels. Fasten the large end of a binding pole to the spokes of the front wheel and let it rest on the hub. Swing the pole close to the ox and induce him to step over it with one hind leg, then raise the rear end of the pole, and with it the leg and so much of the animal’s hind quarters that the inner hind leg standing close to the wagon rests but lightly upon the ground. The binding pole may then be slung with a rope from the rack of the wagon or other stationary object and the outer limb held in the usual manner. By following this method a shoer with one assistant can easily and safely control the most refractory oxen.

INDEX

Footnotes:

[1] In order to see the length, thickness, and abundance of the villi of the pododerm, place the foot deprived of its hoof in a clear glass jar and cover it with water, renewing the latter until it is no longer tinged with blood.

[2] In station of rest, the normal position of a fore-leg, as seen from the side, is somewhat different. The station of rest is the position that is maintained with the least possible muscular effort. With gradual muscular relaxation the head and neck sink to a point somewhat below the line of the back, the top of the shoulder-blade sinks a little, and the shoulder and elbow joints move forward till the centre of the elbow joint is directly above the ground-surface of the hoof. Therefore, when a horse at rest stands firmly on all four feet, the fore-leg viewed from the side, has a normal (regular) direction, when a perpendicular line dropped from the tuberosity of the acromian spine passes through the middle of the elbow joint and meets the ground near the middle of the hoof.

[3] On a shoe we distinguish an outer and an inner branch. The anterior portion, formed by the union of the two branches, is called the toe. The upper surface, upon which the hoof rests, is called the hoof-surface, and the under surface, which is in contact with the ground, the ground-surface. That portion of the hoof-surface which is in direct contact with the lower border of the wall, the white line, and a narrow margin of the sole is termed the bearing-surface, and when necessary “concaving” (seating) extends from this to the inner border of the shoe. On the ground-surface is seen the “fullering” or “crease.”