[Andrew Larson]

Thanks Rod, that is a nice photo that Carl put on the site. The ice plow looks very similar to ours’s. Does anyone know what size of block was commonly cut or any tricks to the trade? Thanks, Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

Hello Howie, I forgot about the Amish since there aren’t any of them where I live. I guess that they would still need to harvest ice since they don’t use electricity, but I am not familiar with them. Can you tell me any more about how they harvest it?
Thanks, Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

Those are some great things to take into consideration when communicating via email or forums. It is very hard to write exactly what you are trying to say and that is when people can interpret words in a different way than they were meant. I think that it is a good idea to always assume that someone is meaning the best when they write something personally, because they usually are. Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

There has been some more very good insight here. I do think that when you are cantering your horses there are a lot of different noises from the wagon and the harness probably feels different for the horse with everything moving around. These factors might instill a little fear in a team the first time they experience it. Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

Thanks Jennifer, I am really happy to be a part of this forum and look forward to the wealth of knowledge that is displayed. I can’t wait until next month when I get to go home for christmas break and work with my team Bill and Bob. I have only ground driven them, but I may pull a stone boat or something around in a small pen. Then this summer I plan on using a broke horse from a friend to drive them with seperately. This is what I did with my last team and it seemed to work for me. I will be sure to let you know how the training is going in december. Actually I am sure that I will be asking some questions on here during that time. Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

Wow, I am already gaining lots of information and I just joined this site. I believe that there really aren’t many reasons for cantering either. But Neil’s demonstration on the video is a good reason in my opinion. I am sure there were quite a few people watching his hitch and had added enthusiasm about draft horses since they were going fast. This might cause them to go to more shows, pulls, demonstrations, and maybe even buy a team. This is all great added support for the rest of the draft horse world.

I don’t have much experience in cantering teams, but I ride quarter horses a lot checking cattle and trailing them. I have trained a few youngsters and I never let them even trot until I had a couple of weeks riding. When I finally let them trot in a small pen they were fine, and then I did it out in the open(miles of Dakota Prairee). My dad always taught me that if they want to run away, then make them runaway. I don’t really believe to strongly in this and would never try it with a team, but that is what I did with each horse. Only one of them had the desire to runaway and I let him run(there was nothing that I could do anyway) but then when he started slowing down(two miles later) I gave him a little spur to show him that I was making him run and it wasn’t really his choice. I am just telling you about the experience.

I like Jennifers point about the adrenaline. I guess that horses do generally run in fear and they do need to be trained out of it. It makes perfect sense why a horse tries to runaway sometimes when you begin to canter. I do think that it is a good idea to canter your team at some point in a safe situation when you think that your ready. Then when they do it in an unsafe situation for some unkown reason, they won’t be so scared of the new conditions.

This is a beneficial discussion and has caused me to think about a lot of things that might save me some mishaps, Andrew

[Andrew Larson]

I sure wish that I lived closer to New Hampshire(I think thats where they are), that would be a great opportunity!

[Andrew Larson]

Hello Mr. Dimmock, I would like to compliment you on your teamster skills which seem to be very great. You are very valuable to the draft horse world as you are one of the few who retain this great knowledge.

I think that the big hitch is a must if you plan on being a very productive farmer. I mean that if you want to justify using horses versus a tractor, you need to pull a bigger implement. I don’t know how the fuel prices are in Canada, but in the U.S. they have been sky high until recently. That is one factor that really makes horse power a viable option. Of course you need to have the self desire to use horses also, because it does require a bit more work than driving a tractor. lol

As for the response on cantering horses in harness, I don’t see what the problem is as long as either the teamster or the team are experienced. I think that if you were out some where and saw a bad thunderstorm fast approaching, that it would be nice to be able to get back to the barn very fast. But it would probably be nice to have cantered the horses before hand so that the whole new situation wasn’t to much for them. I was wondering what reasons Mr. Colby has for not cantering horses in harness.

I hope that no one minds my thoughts and I look forward to learning all that I can from everyone.

Thankyou, Andrew Larson

[Andrew Larson]

Wow, that looks very efficient! The problem that I have always seen with using horses is that it is so hard or impossible to find good horse drawn equipment and parts. But I have been seeing a lot of modified implements in magazines and on the internet that are much more reliable and efficient, which makes me very excited. I like to fabricate and invent things, so I can’t wait to start building. I really like the original horse drawn equipment and would like to use any pieces that I can. But it is very nice to know that you can use many different modified tractor drawn implements to get the work down efficiently.

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