ANIMAL TRACTION
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to plant feed crops . One has to be able to ensure that the animals are safe at night , as stock theft is widespread Animal-drawn implements are readily available , although there is a need for smaller light weight implements that can be managed by women and pulled by fewer animals . And , research and innovation could help to modernise animal-drawn implements , carts etc , to incorporate modern technology such as solar panels to enable the greater use in rural areas of cellphone technology and the like .
Harness and tack is not always readily available , however , and in the case of donkey harness can be unreasonably expensive . Smallholders have been known to adapt small horse tack , which is not always in the best interest of the donkey . Oxen harnessing is by means of the traditional yoke , skeis , riems and strops . Horses , donkeys and mules are normally harnessed using the breast type harness with breaching , all of which is made out of either leather or webbing . Animals should be chosen according to the type of work to be performed , the local environment , socio-economic conditions and the availability of local animals . Indigenous breeds tend to be well adapted to the local climate , feed availability , diseases and to traditional management systems . Cattle are still widely used in South Africa for cultivation purposes . Oxen are favoured but cows and bulls will also be used depending on what animals are available to the family . These animals are large for most smallholdings , however . Cattle are also powerful and less tolerant of mishandling , so one really needs to know what one is doing . Donkeys are better suited to work on small areas of cultivation . Most of them have calm temperaments and they are hardy beasts . They are relatively small , which means that women and even children can use them for a variety of tasks such as ploughing , transporting water and firewood , and for riding .
Internationally , US brewer Budweiser uses Clydesdale horses to promote its brand .
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