Establish a Good Relationship from the Very Beginning

[Guest guest]

"COM: Madhava Gosh (das) ACBSP (New Vrindavan - USA)" wrote:

 

> When I was a young bhakta, I got a set of young oxen to train. Although it

> was pretty much by the ascending method, they did turn out pretty good. The

> most

> important thing, IMHO, is to become their friend. During the morning

> program, I would go out with them and feed them grain, and chant a few

rounds

> of japa with them while they ate. Just a simple thing like that and we

> actually got pretty close.

 

******************

 

Ox Power - Ki Jaya: An Ox Power Handbook

by Paramananda dasa Adhikari

copyright 1992 Ox Power Alternative Energy Club ** DRAFT**

(Originally published in the ISKCON Farm News)

 

ESTABLISH A GOOD RELATIONSHIP FROM THE VERY BEGINNING

 

There is an old saying, "The horse is as good as the driver." So, the first

thing

to consider is: the effectiveness and utility of the oxen are limited by the

ability of the driver. Working the oxen can be very productive and rewarding if

it

is done properly, but if the animals are abused physically or verbally, or on

the

other extreme, not controlled with a strong enough hand, then they will rebel

in

one way or another, and not perform up to your expectations. Unless the oxen

are

well trained and well driven, they aren't very useful. They have to be trained

to

be cooperative enough to work very hard, because that is the nature of farm

work.

 

The animals are going to be pushed to work at their maximum ability, like an

athlete. He trains himself to work under great stress all the time. That's what

you

want with the oxen. They should be prepared to be under stress all the time.

Whenever they pull, you'll want them to pull with their maximum strength, as

hard

as they can, and as long as they can, without spending excess time resting. In

order for them to do this, there has to be a very strong relationship between

the

driver and oxen. The relationship is that of master and servant. The master is

firm

but kind. He never abuses his servant, but he is very demanding and he expects

him

to perform nicely.

 

This kind of relationship has to be built carefully and deliberately. And

it

has to be very clear to the ox that you are the master and he is the servant.

It

is more difficult to establish roles with an ox that to establish roles with

another human, because an ox is a dumb brute. This is perhaps the most

difficult

thing in training oxen-- to accept that you are not working with another human

being. Although there is also a spirit-soul within the ox, and he is quite

conscious, still he doesn't speak your language. You have to over-emphasize all

your commands and instructions or he won't even hear them. You have to be sure

you

have his attention. That means you have to magnify all your emotions about a

hundred times more than if you were dealing with another human being.

 

When a good relationship is established with the oxen, they become very loyal

and

hard working. They love to work. It's their dharma -- their intrinsic nature --

as

long as you don't allow them to be on the mental platform. In other words, they

can't be debating in their mind, "Do I really have to follow this order or

not?"

Just like us, they have a tendency to be lazy. It seems that, like us, they can

to

fall-down from the platform of dedication and hard work. The tendency is to

just

stand around and eat. But if you take them off the mental platform, by giving

them

strong, clear commands, they will work very hard, be loyal servants and come to

fully depend on your instructions, following them without hesitation. On the

other

hand, if your instructions are vague and unenthusiastic, they will adopt all

kinds

of bad habits, just designed to avoid hard work.

 

The person who is training the ox should be the same person who is going to

work

the ox. This is an important principle that the ox should have only one master.

In

the beginning, if you have different people training and working him, the

training

will not be effective, and the ox won't be a good student. He won't learn the

commands properly. After you have worked an ox for a couple of years and he's

well

trained, then different people can work him, as long as they are consistently

using

the same commands and the same type of procedures. But in the beginning, during

the

training period and the initial working period, there should be only one person

working with the oxen. Anything else is much less than ideal.

 

I always like the person who does this training to have worked with cows for

at

least two years. When you have worked with cows you will see that it takes a

person

about two years to learn how to handle them properly. There is a certain

rapport

that you develop with the cows. You understand how they think and act and what

they

can and can't do. In other words a communication develops after a long period

of

time. It doesn't happen quickly with anyone. So, ideally, anyone who is going

to

work with the oxen should have worked with cows for two years. Otherwise, the

training will be less than ideal. It will not be so effective.

 

The next consideration is naming the ox. He should be given a simple one

syllable

name. This name is a practical tool. You will use it constantly while working

the

ox, to address him specifically. He may be in a group of oxen, in a big team

of

five or ten oxen, and you may want to give him an instruction. He may step out

of

line so you shout his name and he immediately responds. He can understand that

you

are talking to him, because he has learned his name.

 

In order for this to be effective, the ox must have a name that he can

distinguish

from other words and sounds. It can't be a four syllable transcendental name

or

three syllables even. It should be one syllable or, at most, two syllables.

But

you will find that in the heat of the moment when you need to maneuver the

animals

quickly in a working situation, even a two syllable name is too much. You will

abbreviate it into one syllable.

 

As Hare Krsna devotees, sometimes we have an aversion to using a mundane name.

This is worthy of some comment. We like to have everything remind us of Krsna,

but

it may not so appropriate to give an ox a name of Krsna because often you are

not

addressing him in a reverential mood. Sometimes he may even be treated

roughly.

Even though rough treatment should not be common, because the ox is a dumb

brute,

it may be required in order to get his attention. If you are an expert ox

worker,

it will almost never be required. Nevertheless you should choose a simple,

one-syllable name. Maybe it will be Rock or Buck or Jai or Red; some simple

sound.

 

Whenever you address the ox, use his name. Don't address him by different

expressions or exclamations, such as "Boy," or "Come on, boy." Don't use

anything

other than his name. Always say his name: "Get up, Buck." That way he will

learn

to know his name and distinguish it from other names. This is essential for

getting his cooperation. Before the first lesson, the ox's name should be

established. He must be used to hearing you call him by his name. Then, once

training begins, always use his name along with your commands.

 

It is simplest to start training an ox when he is very young, before he is big

enough to overpower you. You can't work the ox at hard labor until he has

grown

up, because you can stunt his growth can be permanently. If he begins hard

work at

too young an age, his body will use his food for working energy rather than for

growth of his body. [[bhisma gives this rule in the Mahabharata...(cite

passage)]]

Before he engages in hard work, the ox should be almost his full size, which is

at

about two years old or maybe a little younger. Even at two years, the ox will

still continue to grow some for several more years. His body fills out and

gets

bigger.

 

Once a calf is trained, you can go back to him every few months and refresh

his

memory, work him a little bit, drive him around so that he doesn't forget his

lessons. You can actually have a little calf pulling a small wagon around.

That

way, by the time he is big enough to work, the training will be simple. When

we

start with a full-grown animal, which sometimes happens due to circumstances,

then

more forceful methods of subduing the animal may have to be employed, for

instance

putting a nose ring in. If an ox is full-grown he is so big and strong that if

he

wants to walk away from you. You won't be able to stop him physically with just

a

halter. So you may have to put a nose ring in just to control him. Also, at

Gita-nagari, we train an ox in a confined area, in a little corral. That also

helps control a big animal.

 

I would recommend the use of a training ring in all cases, to make things

easier,

but it is not always necessary. You should always use a confined area with no

foreign objects in it, but it could a less formal arrangement than building a

special training ring. It could be inside a hay barn with everything cleaned

out.

It should have no foreign objects, nothing on which the animal could injure

himself

if he ran or became frightened, and it must have no outlet where he could

escape.

 

Otherwise, if he is not in a confined area, then you have to have a rope on

him

all the time, which is very restricting. In his working condition he won't

have a

rope on him, so to train him like that -- always having to hold him by a rope

-- is

conditioning him to a bad habit.

 

A training ring should be twenty-four feet in diameter. Particularly if you

are

going to train any older animals, the fence should be made of hardwood board,

1" by

6" or 1" by 8" [[give metric....]] boards. It should be high enough so an

animal

will not consider trying to jump over it. That means it should be six feet

high.

Some animals, out of fear, will try to jump over anything, regardless of how

high

it is, but they can't succeed if it is high enough. So this training ring has

boards nailed to fence posts which are spaced every six to eight feet in a

circle.

At the entrance is a four-foot gate that closes very securely.

 

[[if you will be training only young animals, a much simpler arrangement can

be

created, using a simple chicken wire fence...]]

 

In any case, a fence has to be strong enough and high enough so the ox won't

even

think about getting out. You will see that he will put his nose up as high as

he

can on the fence and consider whether or not he can jump over it, or he may try

to

crawl underneath it if there is a little space.

 

The first thing a cow or ox does when it is put into a confined area no matter

how

big it is —even a twenty-acre pasture—is to walk around the boundaries and

calculate the limits of her confinement. You may have heard the expression "The

grass is greener on the other side." This comes from cows. No matter how big

the

area of confinement their instinct is always to try and get out of that area.

So as

soon as you bring the animal into this training ring he will automatically try

to

escape.

 

The training ring should be set off from the residential area or any area

where

there are a lot of people around because outside activity will be a distraction

to

the ox when he is being trained. Also sometimes you may have to discipline the

ox.

That may not be understood by innocent bystanders. So I recommend that it be

located off from the mainstream of activities as much as possible. This

provides an

ideal facility for concentration and confinement.

 

The trip to the ring from the barn or the pasture or wherever you are keeping

the

animal should be done carefully. Now that means you don't want to try to teach

the

ox anything on that trip. That is not part of the lesson. We just want to

somehow

or other get him to the ring without having to hit him or drag him. As much as

possible make it an uneventful trip. We want to minimize his anxiety.

 

For an animal that has not been handled much, the trip to the ring can be very

traumatic, and his first impression of you may be lasting. So if he is just

standing and he won't move he doesn't want to be led, just go very slowly. You

should have a strong halter on him and a lead rope, and you should have one or

two

people with you.

 

The best thing with an ox or a cow is to push him, not pull him. With most

oxen

or cows when they are pulled, their reaction is to pull back in the opposite

direction -- and they are much stronger than we are. Even ten men can't pull a

cow

or an ox that wants to go backwards. You can even hook a tractor to them and

if

they are stubborn enough they will just lie down and you will have to drag

them,

which certainly we don't want to do. Cajole the ox along to the ring, and by no

means let him get away.

 

It is important to understand that when you start to take the ox into your

hands,

you must control him. You are making a commitment. If you let him control you

in

any way, you are encouraging the worst possible thing: disobedience. So once

you

set out to bring him to the ring, you have to get him there. You cannot let him

overpower you; you cannot let him drag you around the field. You have to have

enough people and if necessary two ropes on his head so that there is no

question

of him overpowering you and running away. That would be a bad way to begin the

first lesson.

 

You should have a halter on the ox which has a lead rope fastened near his

nose.

The way to control an animal who is much bigger than you is by turning his

head. If

he tries to run away, you can usually pull his head around and in that way

control

him. If you just have a rope around his neck it won't be possible to restrain

him,

because he is pulling with his full strength and bodily weight, and no man or

even

group of men can restrain an animal tied around the neck if he really wants to

get

away. If you have him by the nose, then you can control his direction by

turning

his head. At worst he will run around in circles until he gets tired of that.

 

So somehow coerce your animal toward the ring. When he gets very close to the

gate, he will understand that he is being brought into a confined area. He

won't

want to go in. At least most animals won't go in easily, but you may come

across

one who will become very curious and willingly walk right into the ring not

realizing that the gate will be closed, locking him inside. Once again, if the

animal is very young then none of these problems exists to a very great degree.

You

can forcibly cajole a small ox to the ring without any big traumatic

experience,

because you are as strong as he is or stronger.

 

The next installment will be lesson one in the ring.