All riding-oxen's
horns should have the tips sawn off. After being mounted a very few
times, the ox goes pretty steadily; but it is long before he learns to
carry a rider with ease to himself. I should like to hear if Rarey's plan
of tying up the foreleg would influence them. Their character is so
wholly unlike that of a horse, that I doubt if it would.
In riding, it must be recollected that the temper of an ox is far less
quick, though his sensations may be as acute as those of a horse: thus,
he does not start forwards on receiving a cut with the whip, even though
he shrink with the pain; but he thinks about it, shakes his head, waits a
while, and then breaks gradually into a faster pace. An ox will trot well
enough with a light weight; and, though riding myself upwards of 13
stone, I once took an ox 60 miles in a day and a half: this is, perhaps
as much as an ox could, in fairness, be made to do. A ride-ox can be tied
up by his nose-bridle; but, if wild or frightened, he will assuredly
struggle till the nose-stick be torn out of his nose, and he becomes
free. It is, therefore, better to tie the bridle to a tuft of grass, or a
slender twig, rather than to a tree or to the saddle-bags. Mounting an ox
is usually a troublesome business, on account of his horns. To make
ride-oxen quiet and tame, scratch their backs and tails--they dearly love
it--and hold salt in your hands for them to lick.
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