Book of Hosea Chapter 10 Vs. 11

 ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. Hos. 10:11

an heifer that... This was a far easier work than plowing, since cattle were not bound together under a yoke, but tread on the grain singly and were free to eat some of it, as the law required that they be un-muzzled (Deut. 25:4; 1Cor. 9:9).

and loved to... The job of the heifer had been taught her. She was to tread out the corn. Ephraim had it better than his neighbors. Just as the heifer could eat the corn she treads and got really fat, Ephraim had been blessed abundantly.

Ephraim to ride... The idea is that God would bring Ephraim into subjection, as a rider would tame a horse or an ox by riding him.

Judah shall Plough,... Judah must plough, and Jacob must harrow—referring to their final submission to God.

and Jacob shall... Ephraim had things so good, that she began to seek other gods. Ephraim is taken by Assyria and put in bondage. It is as if a yoke has been placed on him and a rider makes him work. Judah will be captured by Babylon and caused to do hard work in bondage. Jacob speaks of all 12 tribes of Israel, Judah and Ephraim combined.

And Ephraim is a broken-in heifer, that loveth to thresh. But I have come on her fair neck. I will yoke Ephraim; Judah must plough; Jacob must harrow for himself. It is all very well for the unmuzzled beast, (Deut. 25:4; 1Cor. 9:9; 1Tim. 5:18) to love the threshing, but harder and unrewarded labors of ploughing and harrowing have to come before the floor be heaped with sheaves.

The comparison of Israel to a cow is continued (cf. see Hos. 10:10). Israel (Ephraim stands for the Northern Kingdom; see Hos. 4:17) was like a trained heifer that loves to thresh. A heifer would like to thresh because threshing was a comparatively light task, made pleasant by the fact that the creature was unmuzzled and free to eat… as it pulled the threshing sledge over the gathered corn (Kidner, Love for the Loveless, pp. 97-8). However, Israel had abandoned this relatively easy task and had insisted on being yoked, as it were, to sin (cf. Hos. 10:10).

So, the Lord would place a different yoke on Israel’s neck and force her to engage in the extremely arduous work of ploughing (so is better trans. but). Even Judah was included in this judgment. Jacob referred to the Northern Kingdom (cf. Hos. 12:2). In this figurative portrayal the nation’s threshing corresponded to the service the Lord required within the covenant relationship, whereas the ploughing referred to the hardship that would accompany the exile.