Rural Heritage December 2025/January 2026

Several of Tracy’s teams working on the track.

Another aspect of training Tracy mentioned is body positioning. Where you stand when you drive oxen and where you position yourself affects how they work, and it’s hard to teach another person. She improved as a teamster when she started driving from the side and a little in front of her team. Pulling requires oxen to move heavy loads, so proper fitting yokes are necessary. Tracy uses a bow yoke for her pulling teams. The bows need to fit fairly tight on the neck to keep the yoke in the correct position and allow the oxen to pull well. One of Tracy’s biggest frustrations is seeing a poorly fitted yoke with the bows too low. These yokes are loose and sloppy, which can cause sores on the neck of the ox. The first time I saw a head yoke in use was when I was judging the ox show at the Cummington Fair. Bailey Howard, Tracy’s oldest daughter, had a pair of Belgian Blue oxen in a decorative head yoke. The head yoke is most commonly used in Canada; Bailey’s team was the first I’d seen in New England. During our visit, I asked Tracy about the use of this yoke style. She prefers them for the show teams. Tracy said they are decorative and present the oxen well. She also uses this yoke to correct certain behaviors. If a team is hauling, a habit that causes them to lean away from each other and walk at an angle in the yoke, a head yoke will correct

Edward Allen training a pair of Chianina and Piedmon tese cross calves.

Rural Heritage

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