Ox

: oxen), also known as a bullock (in British, Australian, and Indian English),[1] is a large bovine, trained and used as a draft animal.

The signals are given by oral command and body language, reinforced by a goad, whip or a long pole, which also serves as a measure of length (see rod).

[3] A tradition in south-eastern England was to use oxen (often Sussex cattle) as dual-purpose animals: for draft and beef.

Use of oxen for plowing survived in some areas of England (such as the South Downs) until the early twentieth century.

In southern England it was traditional to call the near-side (left) ox of a pair by a single-syllable name and the off-side (right) one by a longer one (for example: Lark and Linnet, Turk and Tiger).

Ox shoes are usually of approximately half-moon or banana shape, either with or without caulkins, and are fitted in symmetrical pairs to the hooves.

[12] In Italy, where oxen may be very large, shoeing is accomplished using a massive framework of beams in which the animal can be partly or completely lifted from the ground by slings passed under the body; the feet are then lashed to lateral beams or held with a rope while the shoes are fitted.

[9][15] The system was sometimes adopted in England also, where the device was called a crush or trevis; one example is recorded in the Vale of Pewsey.

For millennia, oxen also could pull heavier loads because of the use of the yoke, which was designed to work best with the neck and shoulder anatomy of cattle.