POULTNEY - 16 Green Mountain College students had an oral final
exam last week, but their vocabulary was limited to the words
"gee," "haw," "whoa," and "back." The students took Dr. Kenneth
Mulder's History and Application of Oxen in Agriculture course,
which includes learning how to drive draft animals. At GMC, that
would mean issuing commands to Lou and Bill, the college's oxen
team. "Driving oxen is more of an art than a science," said
Mulder, GMC's farm manager. "The relationship developed between
the student and the animals is key to directing a good working
team." Mulder's course combines classroom lecture and on-farm
experience to teach students how to train, care for, and drive
oxen, and how to accomplish specific farm tasks using oxen. In
spring, summer and fall, Bill and Lou perform all the plowing,
mowing, and haying activities commonly performed with tractors
and combines. In the winter, the oxen are harnessed up for
various heavy lifting jobs around the farm. The class also looks
at the economics