Working animal

A working animal is an animal that doesn't live in the wild but is kept by humans, and often trained, to perform various tasks, regardless whether they are also used for consumption of meat and milk or for other produce such as leather etc.

Domesticated species are often bred in several types of breeds suitable for different uses and conditions, not counting keeping as a mere pet. This is especially the case with Horses and Working dogs

Different types of animals are used around the world depending on the conditions and the intended use of the animal.

Some types of working animals follow; a draught animal is a (semi-)domesticated animal used for its physical power, as in transport and haulage such as the heavy labour of pulling carts, hauling timber and ploughing fields.

Beasts of burden

(Non-human) animal-powered transport on land, in the water or in the air is a major, broad category of the human use of animals, known as beasts of burden, for the movement of people and goods. People ride some of the larger of these animals directly as mounts, use them as pack animals to carry goods, or harness one or a team to pull vehicles.

Riding animals or Mounts

Equines such as horse, pony, donkey, mule
Camelin many arid areas for both transportation and haulage, and Dromedary (only mount?)
Elephant
Some mythical creatures are believed to act as mount, such as Garuda

Pack-animals

Often these belong to the same species as mounts, though breeds may be specialized, e.g. pack-horse, Donkey(often used in semi-arid climates by average peasants and farmers due to their tenacity and low cost). camel, elephant in forestry
Other species are more exclusively used to carry loads, such as llamas in the Andes
Bovines include (water-)buffalo (as distinct from bison), ox and bullock and yak (adapted to the extreme Himalayan conditions)
A more subtle variation is to transport information, as the carrier pigeon does (as only working animal?) trough the air.

An intermediate use

This is to harness them, singly or in teams, to pull (or 'haul') sleds or wheeled vehicles

Traditionally, in the United States and for military use, mules have been considered excellent draught animals but are also very expensive since they cannot breed
Draft - = draught horse are commonly used but are often not considered the best animals for heavy pulling.
Dogs are used in some countries for pulling light carts or as sled dog
Reindeer are used in cold climates (as Nordic countries and Siberia).

Other Draught animals

Animal power is also used to drive various machines and heavy devises that are not mere loads, and for plaughing: especially oxen (often considered the best animals for heavy work, especially where surefootedness is necessary or if wet conditions prevail but they are required in numbers that make them expensive to procure and they are generally hard to raise in more arid climates) and water buffalo (in tropical or very wet subtropical areas, often used in rice-growing). Often the same species as beasts of burden, especially in a tread-mill, e.g. to grind or to pump, but other kinds can also be put to work.

Security and defense

The guard dog in no way has a monopoly as watchman, e.g. geese
Fight dogs (here: dogs of war, not for entertaiment and betting) and battle elephants are living weapons, used as soldiers in all but conscious motivation- or is that an ideal fighter from a cynical general's point of view?
Dolphins to carry markers to attach to detected mines

Human toil

While the primate species known as man (Homo sapiens sapiens; the very Latin scientific name, sapiens meaning 'wise' or knowledgable, is a somewhat presumptive declaration of genetic superiority justified only by its high intelligence) tends to forget it still is biologically 100% an animal (the ultimate consequence of the creationist rejection of Evolution can even be to deny it completely), it is usually considered a reproach or insult to equate human labor with working animals.

Nevertheless, in terms of natural history, the period that culture allowed humans to live significantly different then animals (hunting and gathering is essentially animal subsistance) is still a very short experiment.

Even in historical times humans have not only continue to toil 'like beasts' but often been (ab)used against their will as working animals in all but time, often subject to corporal punishment (adversaries generally consider it inhuman and degrading) if productivity is not deemed satisfactory, either as a punishment (see penal labor) or in an institutional, legally sometimes rightless state as slave (in the broad sense of the term), e.g. the convicted galley slave was often deliberately treated crueler then any beast of burden.