Harnesses and Equipment Commonly Used by Donkeys (Equus asinus) in Mexico

Introduction

Since the domestication of animals, there has existed the need to direct and manage them; harnesses made from local materials have been used for this purpose.

The donkey was the first of the Equidae domesticated in the 3rd Millennium B.C. in Egypt [17] and then in ancient Mesopotamia [4,14]. Krause [14], concludes that with the passing of time the harness evolved and formed a part of the local culture of crafts and folklore which still exist today. An enormous variation in form and type of material used has developed over many years.

The Llama was domesticated in Peru, South America about the same time as the donkey [4]. Unfortunately, there is no data available on the use of harnesses on these animals.

The first harnesses that we know of for equids arrived in the Americas when the Spanish disembarked with 18 horses and founded the "Villa Rica of Vera Cruz" in 1519 [1]. With the culmination of "La Conquista" - The conquest, work animals with their respective harnesses and implements started appearing in New Spain, Nueva España, after being requested by Cortez in his letters to Spain [5,6]. Later "Encomiendas" land allotments were created. One purpose of these establishments was the rearing and breeding of animals and the manufacture of their respective harnesses and implements.

Harnesses: Definition and Functions

The harnesses, also known as adornments or trappings, are all the accessories which are fixed in place on the animal’s body to make use of its skills in order to use it for work, [7,14,18].
The functions achieved by the harnesses on the animals are: Communication [7,15]; control of direction and speed [7,14,18]; cushioning/padding [7,12,14,18]; positioning and securing of loads [2,7,14,18,19], and transfer of power from the animal to the cart [7-10,12,14,18,19].
Communication - Is possible because of the bit placed in the mouth of the equid, which allows the handler to transmit orders to the animal.
Control - Is possible due to the reins and halter, which are attached to the head of the animal allowing control and management.
Cushioning (or Padding) - Is provided for by the collar and other harness padding which cushion and therefore prevent other parts of the harness or equipment from having direct contact with the animal's skin. The collar prevents the wooden harness from having direct contact with the animal's neck and the saddle padding functions like a cushion preventing the saddle/load from being placed directly on the back of the animal.
The Load - Is kept in balance on the back of the animal by placing it on a riding or packsaddle, which maintains the rider or load in position.
Positioning - The harness serves to position the cart, load or the rider in order to keep them secured. The positioning of the harness for rider and load are through the bellyband, cinch and crupper, which maintain the rider and load in position and prevent the saddle from moving forward. Breeching keeps the cart in position and helps balance the shafts.
Use and Transmission of Force - The force of pushing, which the equid exerts, occurs in the region of the animal's shoulders in front of the point of gravity; this is through the harness which is placed on top of the collar, and to which the traces are attached.

Figure 1. The harness on the body of the animal gives communication, control padding and position.

Harness Materials

Since the arrival of the first saddle horses and the pack and draught equids, which were necessary for transporting all types of merchandise on the royal highways of New Spain, there was a need to provide both harnesses and animal-drawn implements. Spaniards who held positions in the "Encomiendas", apart from being soldiers, made the harnesses and equipment; eventually this was done by indigenous artisans.

The materials they used from the beginning were wood, leather, cotton and metals (forged iron, bronze, gold, and silver). Actually, the traditional manufacturing of crafts such as harness making and manufacturing implements has been lost in some parts of the country and its heritage of farriers, carpenters, and saddlers has disappeared. Some areas where this has happened are Amozoc in Puebla; Tlaquepaque, Jalisco; Metepec, State of Mexico; and Coatepec, Veracuz. The materials which continue to be used are leather, wood, metals (steel, forged iron and silver) cotton, wool, natural fibers (ixtle, hemp and coconut fiber) and recently since its appearance, nylon and plastic. In general the shape of the harnesses and implements have endured since their introduction until the present and therefore the artisans that are left continue to preserve these traditional designs and materials.

Size of the Harnesses

The harnesses and implements have not varied in size since their commercial beginnings. They are usually small or large and in many cases cannot be adjusted to suite the animal in question. The physical characteristics of each animal are different, even in the same species and definitely different between species (horses, hybrids and donkeys). For this reason, size and shape should be considered for each individual animal when fitting a harness.

Harness Shape

The shape of the harnesses and implements changes according to different areas of the country. However, they all have the same principal function. The function of the harnesses is very important in order to make best use of the force/power of the animal. In this way even though the materials, size and shape change, the harness has to perform specific functions (See Table 1).

Function of the Harnesses

The function of the harnesses is very important in order to make the best use of the power or an animal for work. The form, size, and materials of the harness can change, but regardless of this the harness performs specific functions or roles. These are outlined in Table 1. The harnesses described in Table 1 are the basic accessories used on working donkeys. Other harness accessories used for specific agricultural activities are shown in Table 2.

Glossary: Description of the Harness Equipment

1. Halter:  This is made of leather and natural fibers such as ixtle (cactus fiber) or plastic that is placed on the head of the animal for its control.
2. Bit:  Piece made of iron or other metals that is located in the mouth of the animal, its function is communication and control of speed and direction.
3. Breast Band:  Harness of leather that is located across the chest of the animal at the level of the shoulders, its function is to pull the cart, the animal leans on the band to provide the force to pull the implements.
4. Collar:  Leather harness that is located around the neck of the animal, resting on the shoulders and chest for support and positioning of the harness, which pull the cart.
5. Harness:  Pieces of wood or metal that are located on the sides of the neck collar to which the traces are attached to pull the cart or implement.
6. Saddle:  Harness of wood that is placed on the back of the animal and serves to support the weight and position of the rider or load.
7. Cinch - Girth;  This rope of ixtle (cactus fiber) that is located around the ribcage of the animal has the function of correctly positioning the saddle and holding it in place.
8. Crupper:  Piece of leather placed along the back from the saddle and around the base of the tail. Its function is to hold the saddle in position.
9. Back Straps:  Leather straps that maintain the traces at a certain level so they do not drag and the animal does not trip.
10. Breeching:  This leather harness piece is placed around the rump (buttocks) of the animal and is attached to the shafts. Its function is to prevent the cart from hitting the animal when braking and reversing.
11. Padding:  Bags of ixtle rope (cactus fiber) with hay inside. These are placed in between the back of the animal and the saddle. Their function is padding to prevent lesions on the back from the saddle.

Working Equipment

12. Equine Yoke:  Piece of wood that goes across the saddles of a pair of animals when they work in a team, to which an implement is attached.
13. Single or Swingle Tree:  Piece of wood with rings at each end. These are attached to traces. They hold a chain in the middle which is attached to the cart, where the force is concentrated in order to pull the cart or implement.
14. Traces:  Pieces of chain or plastic rope running from the harness to the swingle tree. Their function is to transmit force from the animal to the implement.
15. Panniers:  Bags or baskets made from wood, metal, leather or ixtle that are used over the saddle to hold the load in position and balanced on both sides (used especially for carrying water, sand, manure, bricks, rocks, etc.).

Figure 2. a. Donkey harness to carry and to ride. b. Donkey harness for pulling.

Suitability of Harness

Harnesses have a close relationship to the body of the animal. They should therefore be ergonomically suited to it. That the physical condition of each animal is different has to be taken into account when fitting a harness to an animal. The harnesses should be chosen for their suitability to the individual animal. On the other hand the animals must be trained to adapt to the different harnesses so they can be used effectively in different types of work. All the harnesses which are placed on a region of the body of the animals have a function and these are summarized in Table 3.

In actual fact, for the harnesses to be useful, the following points must be considered for their additional importance [9,10,14,16,18].

Size - The harness must be adequate for the species of animal, it should not be too small or too big.
Specific - Specific or unique for the animal in question so it is a good fit (e.g., like shoes according to the size of feet).
Specification - Suitable for the activity or type of work to be carried out.
Type of Materials - Materials should be chosen for their availability and suitability, also for their resistance and durability, but materials that are likely to cause lesions or injury to the animal should not be used.
Economics - Those that are economically viable for the owner.
Accessibility - Harnesses that are easily available in all regions.

Animal-drawn Implements

Considered as a necessary farm or work equipment that is attached to the animal(s) to carry out specific types of work [7]. Certain implements help considerably in the efficiency of the work at hand, furthermore assisted with added human power for operation [3].
Work implements need a basic physical design that can provide the best force to the power available when applied. The principals of physics, the lever, pulley, wheel, level, wedge and the screw, are essential parts of the design from a mechanical point of view in any piece of equipment. The materials need to be of high resistance and quality and have a low operating resistance through soil or low rolling resistant over the ground [3].

Traction

Traction is the force transferred to an implement by an animal through the use of its shoulders. This is transmitted through the harnesses to do specific work. To understand this, Starkey [18] describes that the basis of traction is determined by the power and vectors where three of Newton's Laws intervene.
Newton’s First Law - The whole body stays in a stationary position or of uniform straight steady movement, until an external force modifies this state.
Newton’s Second Law - Acceleration that is produced by the body is directly proportional to the power applied and inversely proportional to the value of the body mass.
Newton’s Third Law - The total power of the action corresponds to the power of the reaction.

Figure 3. a. Angle for pulling ("tiro") in Equids. b. Gravity center in equids.

Center of Gravity in Equids

The center of gravity is the symmetrical center of the mass, the point where the mass of the body is concentrated. It is the point where 3 areas, height, length and depth intersect. It is important to mention that all bodies have a center of gravity which is determined at the point of support. This is where the power which surrounds the parts of the body is in contact with the surface of support. The center of gravity is the point of equilibrium, where all the force or the weight of the body is concentrated and equals zero. In animals which are always in a constant state of motion, the center of gravity changes in accordance to the movement of the animal. Hypothetically however, it is located in the upper quarter of the 4th and 5th vertebras of the thorax, aligned over the shoulder.

Animal-drawn Implements and Cultivation Practices in Agricultural Communities in Mexico (this study was conducted in two communities of the State of Mexico)

Introduction

In many of the smallholder (campesino) farming communities in Mexico the traditional implements and methods of cultivation in agriculture continue to this day, in spite of the introduction of the tractor. This is due to several different reasons: in many cases, the terrain is unsuitable for tractors to operate, in other cases the draught animal is more cost effective and generally is better adapted to the cultivation systems used by the farmers. The communities sometimes face financial problems due to the lack of employment. This makes it difficult to afford to buy and maintain tractors and sometimes even draught animals. The following study of two communities, Tlaltizapan and Coatepec in the Municipality of Tianguistenco, State of Mexico, illustrates the continuing role of animal-drawn implements in Mexican farming systems and opportunities for improvement in cultivation practices.

The main animal-drawn implements used by these communities are the following:

Ranchero Plough

This plough was introduced by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. In both communities the "ranchero" plough is still used today. As described by Hopfen [13], this is a wooden, symmetrical single beam ard plough with one handle (Fig. 1), also known as the Egyptian plough, the long handled plough [3] or the Criollo plough [3]. It is made of a wooden ard with a metal point that penetrates the soil. The ard is attached to a wooden beam which is connected to the yoke when used for work. The plough comes with adjustable wings to control the width of the furrows produced. The wings are removable and can be made of wood or metal. These work ploughs can be purchased by the farmers of the Municipality of Tianguistenco on market days in the Plaza. The ploughs cost from $400 - $600 Mexican pesos depending on the type of wood from which they are made, the most popular wood being oak.
At the time this document was writen, the exchange rate is $11.00 Mexican pesos for $1.00 USD; $20 Mexican pesos is about £1 British pound; $400 Mexican pesos is about $36.36 USA dollar or £20 pounds and $600 Mexican pesos is about $54.54 USD or £30 pounds

Operation

The function of the plough is to break up the soil symmetrically on both sides of the implement at shallow levels, and its other function is in ridging-up the opened soil, when the wings are in place.

Figure 4. Ranchero plough, also called "Rustico".

This plough is pulled by a pair of oxen using a yoke (yunta) or by a pair of equids using a harness (troncos). When using oxen, the plough beam is attached to the central part of the neck yoke, harnessing the two oxen abreast. In the case of equids, the plough beam is attached to the top of the saddles by a crossbeam, which joins the animals at the height of their backs (Fig. 5).

Figure 5. Hitching of draught equids and oxen to an ard plough. a. When working with equids, the appropriate term is "Tronco". b. When working with oxen, the appropriate term is "Yunta".

Use of Ranchero Plough

The activities carried out by the Ranchero plough are the following: Ploughing, ridging, seeding and other cultivation practices to till the soil for corn. In the communities mentioned before, this plough is used to weed the crop. The farmers of Tlaltizapan and Coatepec mention that a pair of oxen are used to complete soil tillage (even when a tractor is used for seeding). Where the terrain is difficult to access with a tractor, farmers still use the Ranchero plough with draught animals to do all the land preparation and seeding of their crops.

Coatepec and Tlaltizapan have distinctive topographic conditions. Tlaltizapan is situated at the bottom of the valley with its riverbanks, streams and the meandering of the river Lerma. Due to their location, the cultivated plots are susceptible to flooding during the rainy season, making work with a tractor impossible. Therefore, oxen and animal-drawn implements are indispensable when tilling the land. The soil can be deep and the implements are sometimes heavy, so the work in this type of soil is tiring for the animals. As a result, the farmers here believe that using oxen to pull the ploughs in these flood prone areas is more efficient than using horses or mules.

Coatepec, is situated in the hilly areas, with slopes and pronounced inclines, and small terraced areas that are difficult to access, making work with tractors impossible and animal-drawn implements essential.

This table is based on agricultural equipment of the 27 farmers that continue to own and utilize donkeys for these activities in Tlaltizapan and Coatepec. Other farmers may use donkeys, but will rent the animals as the need arises.

Moldboard Plough

The moldboard ploughs originated in the United States of America and were introduced at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

The moldboard plough used by the farmers of Tlaltizapan and Coatepec is the "nineteen and a half" (19-1/2) plough, also called the National or Apulco plough [3], metal, iron or "tip plough". The metal plough works the soil better than the wooden plough, due to the moldboard, which inverts the soil. The metal plough can also plough deeper than the ard plough. The metal plough is composed of the following parts: beam, landside, moldboard, tip or share, handle, regulator.

Operation

The ploughshare cuts a furrow in the soil that is as wide as the share, both cutting horizontally and vertically. The cut soil is inverted as it slides up the moldboard, turning the soil over and smothering the weeds [3].

Use of Moldboard Plough

In the two communities, the use of this metal plough is practical for all their agricultural activities. In Tlaltizapan, because the land is flat and the soil stony, in the river valley the use of the plough is more widespread than in Coatepec, where the plough is used only when the soil is deep and where the ground is not rocky.

Figure 6. The metal plough or Apulco.

The Polco or Tapador (Curved Wooden Leveler)

The Polco or Tapador is an implement characteristic of the area, pulled over the soil following seeding to cover the seeds with soil. It is a tool made of wood in a curved form and is pulled by one animal by traces attached to a shoulder collar. Often the implement is weighted down with rocks or the farmer stands on the implement to make it work better and more effectively to cover the seeds and level the ground. These implements are more commonly used in Coatepec where the slopes are more pronounced.

Figure 7. The Polco called Tapador.

The Harrow or Leveler

The harrows or levelers are planks of wood pulled by two animals, and on occasions, these have teeth attached. When in contact with the soil, the teeth assist in breaking up the clods into a finer seedbed. The wooden plank has a flat form and through its weight, it has the function of leveling and sealing the soil after the ploughing has been completed.

The Saddle Panniers

The panniers (also called angarillas) are placed laterally on each side of the saddle of the working equine. They are used to carry fodder or manure from the stables or corrals. The panniers are made of ixtle (cactus fiber) or raffia. It is interesting to see that the packsaddles are used more in the community of Coatepec in the hilly areas where animals can only travel in single file on the winding tracks.

Figure 8. Panniers called "angarillas", are placed laterally on each side of the saddle.  

Two-wheel Carts

These carts are used to transport the crop at harvest time, and are also often used to transport the cultivation equipment (ploughs and harrows). Consequently, these are considered to be work implements. The carts are constructed of metal or wood and sometimes from used parts of old cars. The two-wheel carts are pulled by a single animal, normally a horse or a mule. It is rare to see donkeys pulling a cart in theses areas. The carts are used more widely in flat areas and so are more common in Tlaltizpan as opposed to Coatepec, where the hilly terrain restricts their use. In Tlaltizapan there are three carts with four wheels, which are pulled by a team of three animals. These carts are rented out to transport wood and harvest products.

Figure 9. Typical two wheels cart called "Volanta".

Acknowledgments

To Rosa Cursaro and Anne Pearson for assistance in translation and preparation of this article.