FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF BURDEN

Using oxen in agriculture goes back to 4000BC and perhaps beyond. Yet memories and photographs of working oxen in Britain are few, as their days were ending by the time photography became commonplace.

Domesday book

A thousand years ago, Britain had no heavy draught horses. Our native pony breeds were much too small for heavy agricultural work, and were generally only used for riding, for meat, and occasionally for pulling lightweight chariots. However, by the time the Domesday Book was written in 1086, there is a mention of horses being used for harrowing, but no mention of them being used for ploughing. It seems that our horses were still considered too small and light in build for heavy farm work.

From medieval times, pack ponies were used for carrying goods throughout Britain; our ‘roads’ were simply not fit for wagons. It made more sense for nimble ponies to carry packs on their backs rather than pull heavy wagons. In old English, there are distinct words used to describe horses used for riding, but there is no word to describe a ploughing horse. So, it seems oxen, rather than horses, were used for heavy agricultural work