Ox trainer puts on a show
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Doug Drewes loves his oxen.
The Juniata County oxen trainer enthusiastically gave a crash-course about the animals to a crowd of about 75-people Tuesday evening at the Butler Farm Show.
Drewes showed off his prize-winning oxen, Atz and Yule. However, while they did display their strength, including a tug-of-war with eight children and three adults, most of the show consisted of Drewes educating visitors.
For Drewes, Tuesday went much smoother than Monday.
“Yesterday I was nervous,” he said. “Today I felt more relaxed, and part of it was the animals were more relaxed.”
Drewes led Atz and Yule around with a long stick like it was a baton.
“The most important command I use is 'whoa,'” he said. “If you try to stop them and they're taking off, you're in trouble.”
He also uses “haw” to mean left, and “gee” to mean right.
“They listen better than most kids,” observed Rick Kelley of Gibsonia, who was in the crowd.
Drewes said a common misconception is that oxen are a special breed.
“This is called a poor man's horse,” he said. “If you couldn't afford a horse, your milk cow always had a calf. An ox is just a castrated bull that was trained to work.”
He said because of that, oxen are more laid back, but they do have personalities. Also as result of becoming steers, they never stop growing.
Atz and Yule, at 2,500 pounds each, are not yet full-grown, so it's not important to Drewes that they're not yet the strongest animals they can be.
Rather, he wants them to be “handy,” meaning they can do tasks such as pulling a log or a sled, or walk through a crowd.
But it's not all work, Drewes knows when to show affection to his animals.
“At the end of each day when I put them out to pasture, I give them a hug,” he said.However, that doesn't mean he's soft on them. Oxen may not be mean like bulls, but they have sharp horns, and Drewes said they may test you with them.“If they accidentally bumped you (with their horns), they were trying to see what they could get away with,” he said.Drewes said if that happens, you have to be firm and put a stop to it right then and there.Elizabeth Cowan of Worth Township, who is training her own team of oxen, found Drewes' pointers valuable.“The way he uses his stick and the way (the oxen) both work together as a team, my two don't work as well together but they're learning,” she said.Michael McCoy, Drewes' nephew, helps him with the demonstrations and has received a warm reception at the farm show.“It was great,” he said. “Everybody's nice. We're having a good time.”The final oxen team demonstration will be at 5:30 p.m. today.The farm show, which costs $8 per person, continues through Saturday. It opens at 8:30 a.m. daily with carnival rides starting at 1 p.m.
