cellio | daf bit: Bava Metzia 2

We now start the second of the three "Bava" tractates on torts. We begin with a mishna about a dispute over a found item. If two people appear before the court holding a garment and each says "I found it" and "it is all mine", then each must swear that his share is not less than half and then the value of the garment is divided between them. If two ride on an animal, or one rides and the other leads, and they both say "it is all mine", then as with the cloak, they both swear and then they divide the value. If they admit each other's claims or they have witnesses to establish their claims, they receive their shares without swearing. (2a)

Swearing is a serious matter because swearing falsely is a serious transgression, so if things can be settled without swearing the talmud generally prefers to do so, from what I've seen.

Holding the garment, and riding or leading the animal, is significant because ownership is staked by physical means. You can't call "dibs" on a found cloak just by seeing it, for example; you have to pick it up. In the case of something you can't pick up (like a donkey), you have to move it a certain distance. Riding and leading are both ways to do that.

(Today's daf is 3.)