Dubba look what i did!- Includes discussion of adjusting driving lines.

Hi Larry, I’ll say the same as Jennifer you all look like your having fun. Nice team, good job on the hay wagon. You are a good month maybe more ahead of us then here way east, New-Brunswick that is, we’re not that far apart but what a difference. You had a rainy weekend and we had a beautiful warm weekend with snow melting along pretty good, but still have a good foot of snow in the fields. Right now we’re in the middle of a snow storm probably that rain you had, we have in snow. A lot of cancelations schools, cultural, sport activities and the rest. Snow started this morning and we’re going to get a foot or more by the time it ends. I don’t like rain that much specialy on weekend but at this time of the year I’ll take the rain before the snow. Have fun with your project and looking foward to read about them.
mike

@Donn Hewes 7546 wrote:

Hi Larry, Do you know off hand how long the evener is? If Your evener and yoke are 42″ the Stub line or part of the lines that cross in the middle should be 8″ inches longer than the draft line or line to the out side of the horse. You could shorten or length That a little for a longer or shorter yoke. Move the lines 1 inch in or out for every two inches the evener is longer or shorter. When you are adjusting those lines make sure both lines are adjusted the same.

I keep my lines set up for a smaller evener like I use with out a tongue, for skidding or something. On the harness I keep a small line spreader. Not a big fancy one with lots of rings Just a short leather strap with a ring; About four inches long. Now when I hook to a tongue my lines go through the ring on the spreader, and that moves my team apart. Go through the ring on the hames and that brings them together. I don’t have to adjust my lines that way.

This will get you started but each team may vary a little based on their head and neck and other things. have someone watch and look for two heads relaxed pointing forward at the same moment. Let me know if that helps. Donn

Donn,

How did you learn these things? Is this published somewhere that someone knows about? It sure would be nice to be able to review this as I am trying to make adjustments.

I remember a guy trying to explain this to me one time, about 5 years ago. He might as well have been speaking Russian or something, because it made NO sense to me at the time. Now it is starting to sink in.

Hi Old Kat, There are probably several sources for that info. I usually go to Steve Bower’s book “Farming with Horses – More and Better” or something like that. I will have to check the exact title and fix it tomorrow when I get home. He has two books that I think do a good job of explaining some important steps of hitching and driving. they are both good books to use as a reference. Donn

was just reading your thread , was just thinking I had the same problem with my colts when I started them , I had two extra driving bits that I used till I got my spreaders built ,all I got now is a leather strap that I sewed by hand with a 1 1/2 ring , didn’t much care for the plastic rings thought they didn’t weather as well, just cuz we get some winter up here , hope it helps

Larry, Try not to worry about centering the collars. When a youngster is learning they may wiggle around a little, but given three points that are all in agreement their bodies will naturally want to work in a straight line as they relax. Plus we can’t directly effect the placement of the collar left or right. We can control the yoke, the evener and the lines (ie. the head).

many folks never take the lines off the harness. They just unbuckle The stub line from the inside of the bit and hang it on the opposite horse till next time. provided those lines were put on right to begin with this prevents the confusion in the future of putting a line on backward with the short end going to the wrong horse.

I always take all my lines off completely for several reasons. The main one is I use the same lines to drive several different teams and every day it is different. I also keep all my team lines knotted or buckled at the far end. that makes it hard to leave them on the harness. I order to put the lines on every day and be quick but also be sure I am putting the on right, I don’t look for the long end and the short end. All my lines are set with the stub line coming from the bottom of the buckle. As I stand between the horses, I take the buckle were the lines split in my hand, face up, and I know the line on top goes over the back. Once I have laid them out I move in front of the team and buckle them from one end to the other. because those lines are different length you need a system to make sure they are going on right, especially if you are taking them off as I am every time.

I am not suggesting that you weren’t already doing this but just throwing it out as a general suggestion for anyone looking for a way make sure they are getting them on right.

As Far as my spreaders and how I use them, I will look for a picture to illustrate it. Donn

PS. Steve Bower’s first book was “Farming with Horses” the second was “A Teamster’s View – More and Different” They are both great references but the second one has the perfect descriptions of adjusting your lines. DH