[Anthony]

If anyone attending has an “Anny’s All-In-One” I would love to check it out if you’d be up for bringing it along.

[Anthony]

I don’t have much time now for a full update/response, but just wanted to say thanks to all your contributions.

I am leading Kate in alone, then going back for Sunny, allowing me to focus on each which is great. I am using the chain shank with Sunny, which he seems to understand. In trying to help it be something that lets him feel more secure, I’ve been working with a gentle, pulsing tension on the lead rope as we walk which seems to be helpful.

As always, as Carl remarked in his last sentence, these horses have provided me another opportunity to learn about myself and work through something that they are perceptive and reactive to. I have to the outer tools, now I just need to get myself really together to find the confidence that has been a little shaken.

thanks
-Anthony

[Anthony]

George – ah yes! When I first got Sunny, his past caretaker sent me along with a lead rope with chain at the end for just this reason, to heighten my voice in certain situations with him. I used it for a while and then switched it out, but it seems to warrant reintroduction. Thanks for the reminder. When I was switching to a regular lead rope and thought I could use it in a certain situation all I had to do was get it out and he shaped right up! A gentle reminder when his instinct is kicking for whatever reason. I think it will also help me hold onto him when he does try to take off, as the nylon web halter doesn’t offer much. I can keep up with him a little and try to turn him but he gets going so quick he isn’t listening at that point.

The rope halter and twitch/whip are also great thoughts to help with communication. Things have been simpler lately and my horse training ‘toolbox’ has been relegated to a faraway corner, time to dust some things off.

-Anthony

[Anthony]

Thanks for the suggestions Jay and Donn. This keeping their nose at your shoulder is important to keep in touch with and reinforce, as well as leaving proper room so you each have your space and can communicate well. I am often ‘keeping them on their toes’ and checking in as you suggested, Jay, by slowing or quickening my pace and seeing how they adjust and insisting on stopping behind me when I stop, but will take another closer look. I think when something erupts I have the tendency to seek a little more ‘control’, hence the short rope and leading by the halter (behind me and at an arms length, though I realized this actually gives me less ‘contact’ with the horse after he tore away none the less. It is not so much that I will have any sort of physical restraint, but rather a way to say ‘hey!’ and call them back to attention.)

I also throw in the turning exercise Donn mentinoed every couple mornings especially with this horse. He is excellent at it; usually as we approach the barn we’ll turn away shortly before and make a couple loops and figure eights and he is right behind me in wide and tight turns, both directions.

I generally walk briskly and confidently, but have found it hard to find true confidence lately in this situation. The first time I did as always and feel like his runaway caught me quite off guard. The next morning had a little anxious tenor to it with more stopping and starting. The third, after we had worked well in the pen, was actually confident and off he went.

Regarding the ‘lick and chew’, sometimes I wonder if Sunny knows about it! Maybe just in relation to Kate, who will lick and chew when I walk past the barn and smile, but in all of these situations it is something I look for besides what I have asked for as a sign of understanding and sometimes I move ahead prior to getting it as sometimes we’ve worked for a bit at the same thing and I feel he might turn sour on it. I wonder if he understands but is uncomfortable still?

It is fun to think about working in these situations, and your suggestions are just what I am beginning the apprentices on and having them focus their attention on with the other, ‘easier’ horse. Maybe there will be an insight after we move through this episode to help them with leading Sunny as well.

Regarding apprentices, we have been leading, grooming, harnessing, hitching, but not driving yet and am trying to figure out when and how to go for it. It has been 6 or 7 weeks. Part of it is now finding the time as we are a good ways into our busy season. I am hesitant partially because they are not so proficient in their relationships leading (non-existant with Sunny), and loose in the pasture the horse they have been leading, Kate, is docile to the point where they have great trouble chasing her away/asking her to do something other than what she is comfortable with. Given we go well over safety, how does this relationship sound to you to begin driving? Of course there is a possibility of poor habits coming in, but perhaps it can reinforce their relationship otherwise? I am not in any rush however.

The last 2 mornings we have made it into the barn without any trouble. I had been leading just Sunny and one of the apprentices led the other horse, Kate for the past week. This was something that I had not done in the past, so I decided to go back to something familiar to be comfortable, in a sense to narrow down some variables (separation anxiety in a somewhat unfamiliar place). I ended up being extra precautious and walking the entire way backwards to keep an whole 2 eyes on Sunny, which ended up taking half an hour instead of 6 or 7 minutes but we made it. Most of the way he seemed un easy, ears back and not relaxed, a little tense.

This morning I lead them both in fairly normally without trouble, Sunny still being a little tense but settling down. Looser lead, behind me the whole time. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

ps. Jay, Sunny spent a little time at your place in his youth prior to being swapped for a ‘Charlie’ horse to Floyd Murphy in NH.

-Anthony

[Anthony]

Great work Donn. It is good to have such as knowledgeable and confident leader to bring draft animal power to those looking for an inroad.

[Anthony]

A little story to illustrate our ‘Fertility Management’ (for the more practical bits, see here: http://flofarm.org/dap/forums/topic/work-horse-manure/#post-82502)

Imagine the earth, the soil, is your mother. Good ol’ Mother Earth. I admittedly could have a closer, more intimate relationship with my mother. She has and does provide me with so much, and I can hardly call her to converse, to really form a close, personal bond to really get to know what is happening in her life, right now. She’s probably just how she was last month, when I talked to my brother and asked him how she was. He had talked to a good friend who still lives in the town where our mother lives recently, who had run into her at the supermarket and said hi. He gave me the low down on Mom. Needless to say, what I know about the condition of my mother right now, how her life is, is based on a few levels of separation from someone who does not really know her, at all, from a couple months ago. This is the soil test. Good, fine, but limited use. A little abstract, a little out of touch, removed from actual reality. From a different time as well, not in the now.

If I were to ship some heavy duty, high dose vitamin D pills to my Mom, since I heard from my brother from his friend that she was spending a lot of time indoors this winter and not getting a lot of sunlight, was feeling a bit down, therefore she is probably low on vitamin D according to modern science, it would be akin to adding a certain amount of something, such as a mineral fertilizer (whether it be lime or rock phosphate or some blend), especially in the amounts suggested typically.

Instead, I decided to give her a call. I wanted to know why she was inside so much, and maybe see if I could help. We talked for a little bit, and got laughing together. She remembered how much she enjoys walking with a particular friend, but can’t stand the cold. I decided to leave it at that for now. It was just good to hear from her and try to understand what was going on.

I called back a few weeks later. We had both worked over the situation a bit over the weeks. Walking with her friend came up again, and she seemed a bit more open to bundling up. She had seen her last week and sort of skipped out on a walking date, but talking again got up her courage to bundle up and get out there for her health.

I called back a few weeks later and found out that she was walking three times a week with her friend, talking laughing, having fun, and was feeling much better in general.

The phone conversation, working over the situation at hand, is the compost. The animals have carefully listened, via the plants they have consumed, to what the earth, the soil, is expressing. In their co-evolutionary wisdom, their connection with plants, particularly the plants on this farm, the wisdom many of us know and can’t come close to having ourselves, these animals take what they have eaten and add just what is needed in the miraculous processes that occur in their digestion. The product of the digestion, the manure, is then worked over again in the compost over time until it is stable and can be put into action,worked back into the farm’s soil.

Not to disrespect any doctors around here, but often I look at the soil as a doctor would a patient. I can know their history, I can know their past cases, I can take blood tests and bacterial tests, put electronic sensors here and there, and feel physically here or there. I also check out their emotional state, find out how they are day to day, in their work, in their play. I need to look at them as a whole human being, not just a blood test. Not just a psychological examination either.

What I prescribe continues to respect them as a whole human being, including their innate capabilities. I help them through their struggles. I do not take their burden from them; I may assuage the pain a bit, but this dis-ease is something for the patient to work through and learn from, to strengthen themselves and evolve forward. There may be physical exercises (tillage and landscape forming), healthy water consumption and retention (good drainage as well as good water holding capacity/ Humus / irrigation if needed),a homeopathic remedy to stimulate them where they might need a little bit of help to work through their illness or a small nutritional supplement, in whole food or other living form(compost/biodynamic preparations, a plant preparation or tea). Maybe some prayer or mediation can be suggested to help them connect with something higher, something subtle or unseen but active and essential, with something to help make them a whole and healthy part of a larger whole, to contribute healthfully to that whole (farm as an individual, integration of animals/forests/wetland/etc, biodynamic preparations, working with cosmic rhythms).

Our scientific, materialistic outlook that brought us the ‘green revolution’ and industrial agriculture is and has quietly snuck into our worldview, even in small, organic agriculture. We can see phosphorus as an inorganic chemical element on our soil test, and add inorganic elements to balance the soil chemically, but our soils want to live! Many of us begin with beaten up and neglected soils, burnt up with poor management and fertilizers over the years. They want to be more than the soluble, chemical soup we find in hydroponics. It is not a direct addition and subtraction process.

What is behind phosphorus? How do living organisms, specifically plants, interact with it? There is much research showing the so called ‘transmutation’ of elements, that is, you might eat something, but by the time it comes out the other side it has changed quite a bit. A soil test is also not a plant. What can we see, for ourselves, in the larger picture of the farm’s life?

Humbly, I cannot spoon feed a soil, not a plant, nor do I have a desire to. To find, to see dynamic, living processes in everything (though the timeframe might be longer or shorter than we as humans are accustomed, and it may not be visible to our 5 senses thought there is a way to come to know it personally), and to learn to work with them creatively, is my current task as a farmer in bringing life and fertility to the farm.

[Anthony]

Hi Eli,

This manure from our animals is a precious resource as you state, more precious than many of us can imagine. Some ‘styles’ of soil care, even in organic circles, are giving it a poor name as of late. I think it has been misunderstood.

Our soils are living. They are much more than what a chemical analysis taken periodically can tell us. They are dynamic, they are breathing with the seasons and the weather and all that we bring to them with care. The approach I take is rooted in managing the compost very carefully and spreading it in much smaller amounts, less often than is typically suggested. I am not attempting to replace nutrients. Rather, I am adding something to stimulate the soil into a healthy state of being, a vigorous livelihood.

Carefully cared for compost from well cared for animals is ideal for invigorating the soil. The process is simple, but takes careful observation and timing. I have also found the use of the biodynamic compost preparations to be very useful in stabilizing the process and bringing life to the compost, and in turn, the soil. The manure as it leaves the animal is in a state that is a bit too alive, where is it unstable, easily giving itself up in a short amount of time in a poor way. We want to help it organize itself into a stable being, one that is concentrated yet gentle as well as generous and patient in its giving of this wisdom that has been imparted from the animals into the food they have digested, into their manure, to be brought back to the soil.

A lens I find helpful in observing and managing the compost pile are the 4 Aristotelian elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire/Warmth. We need to keep these well balanced, as they are balanced in any living organism. We need to get to know our manures well before they are put into the piles: What is horse manure like? If not managed, what does it tend to do? What would you need to add to balance this gesture?

If the pile seems too warm (the manure is baking and white), add some moisture/water and/or check to see if the pile it too loose and airy and might need to be packed a little (move it towards the earth pole). If it has rained a lot lately, maybe it would like to be aerated or turned. Covering the pile with something that does let some rain in as well as allowing the pile to breath a little can be helpful in balancing the pile. I use wool packing blankets I got for free, but there are specially designed synthetic compost covers that some folks find work well. A tarp can also work but not as well since it does not breath. When it is removed to allow the pile to breath periodically the pile is entirely exposed, without a skin, to the world. I check the pile at least weekly and make note of its condition and what, if anything, I did to work with the process and move it towards balance. Use your senses! I have even been know to taste it and work it between my teeth to get a good feel, but this is probably not entirely necessary.

I have 2 horses that I winter in a paddock a short distance from our barnyard and keep inside when the weather is cold and wet as well as during the day in the warmer months. I collect the manure from in the barn at least weekly, often twice or three times a week, during the warm months, putting it in wheelbarrows and piling it in windrows in a convenient site near the barn. Once their outdoor winter paddock is through mud season I collect this manure from all winter in the wheelbarrow in a similar manner. Our 5 cows live in a paddock right off the barn with access to the barn during the winter. After winter, I clean this outdoor space as well as the barn space with wheelbarrow and pitchfork and pile the manure along with the horse manure. When cleaning out the yard areas, I do not mind picking up a little bit of soil, as I actually deliberately try to ensure there is 5-10% of soil in the manure piles to help the process along, bringing the manures in contact with the soil and placing sand/silt/and clay in the pile to mix and work with the manures. I bed with hay leftovers, not too heavily. I usually have helpers in cleaning out the barn and animal yards, it is great work, a lot of time to talk. This covers the initial piling.

The manure is piled in triangular windrows about 5-6 feet wide and 4-5 feet tall. The triangular shape gives the pile a certain outer surface area to help it balance the elements. I build a pile that is the above dimensions and 6 or so feet long, layer by layer. Once I have a pile this size (this is only needed during the warmer months, right after winter the pile is large!), usually a couple weeks, I add the biodynamic compost preparations. I cover the pile with the wool packing blankets at all times. They let water filter in slowly when rains, and also let the pile breath a little bit while protecting it.

I turn the pile after about a month, by hand. It is at this time, with my ingredients, that much of the pile has reached a certain stage, but the stuff in the center would like to come out into the air a bit and the stuff on the outside is well enough along. So it gets turned and mixed up. It takes a day with 2 folks to turn a 6 ft wide by 5 foot tall by 20 feet long pile by hand with pitchforks. Good work, good conversation time, great time to get to know your manures and compost and how well you are managing the process.

The balancing of the piles and the turning time is also dependent on the season. The process moves along much quicker during the warmer months and comes close to a standstill during the winter. In the warmer months compost from the winter paddocks piled in the spring (Early May) will be ready by September.

In judging compost, I have found that although it might be black, there is more to the story. Smush it between your fingers, make a ball of it, submerge it in water. How does it hold together? We are looking for Humus.

I do not have a manure spreader. We have a 1 axle trailer, 8 x 12, that we attach to the forecart and load up by hand with manure. This is where all that observation and care that went into making the compost shows itself. We do not pile it too high as the trailer is not so heavy duty. We then drive through the fields and someone rides the trailer, tossing the manure off the sides and the back with a pitchfork here and there. Again, we are not looking to uniformly cover everywhere or add a certain amount of substance, but rather to add a certain quality of manure containing certain life forces to stimulate the soil. We are hoping that due to the quality of the compost we will not have to apply it as often, in the same way that we do not have to apply as much since we have done well in composting it and it is stable enough to work well over time with the soil to maintain it’s health and vigor. No ‘tying up’ nutrients, no ‘leaching’ as it is not in a water soluble state.

[Anthony]

I came across this video that goes through the various technologies, perhaps it is helpful.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the document and the links Jelmer.

Do you know of anyone in the US that sells Hak or Steketee products, or ways to get a catalog and order?

I think I remember David Fisher having a set of cultivator sweeps that were very nicely spring loaded and would ‘float’ a little bit if they hit an obstruction, which would be very useful with my rocky soil here. Essex farm was also using finger weeder attachments as well, I didn’t make note of what type of adaptation was needed to fit the 2 horse riding cultivator gangs.

Anyone know of folks with 2 horse riding cultivators using these type or other modified sweeps as shown on the pages linked?

[Anthony]

The share and moldboard have been polished a few times to no avail, got them shining as best I could. It’s rusty now because it have been using the 2 way as a one way (using only the other side) to get the job done, so it just sits there unscoured.

It seems to have good suction, as good as the other, undamaged side, but the soil just accumulates on the moldboard for the most part, making it a harder pull and not turning so easily. I am plowing mostly a mix of grass/clover/weeds that is a little over a year old. Plowed in a handful of different soil conditions (drier vs wetter), same results.

What do you mean by sharpen it Erika? It Lynn Miller’s plow book he mentions a couple times to use a forge and such. Does one need experience with plows and plow sharpening or do you think I could bring it to a farrier friend and we could figure it out?

thanks!

[Anthony]

Just what I am looking for Erika. If it is still available and you don’t mind shipping it sometime (I will happily pay shipping) I’ll take it. If you don’t want to ship it is understood.

-Anthony

[Anthony]

I think I have this plant in some of my fields. I don’t notice it at all and then all of a sudden it is sending up a stalk and flowering, I think yellow flowers. It is in the mustard family. Tap rooted, early spring weed. Don’t know a name for it.

I do not worry about it. It comes early in the spring and leaves quickly, I don’t see it as being any trouble here. What are the conditions of your pastures? I think this plant is usually somewhere that is a little dense/compacted in the upper layer, left bare since the fall, recently was sod. Try changing the activity/condition of your soil towards health/good tilth rather than eradicating it mechanically.

[Anthony]

I am giving the hortonova plastic netting a try. See here: http://www.amazon.com/Tenax-Hortonova-Trellis-60-3280/dp/B0043X2FYO/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366904303&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=hortnova+trellis They have many different heights and lengths.

[Anthony]

His old number was “wiped out by hurricane sandy”?, as he put it.  It was being forwarded for 2 months (though he was told it would be for a year), which ended last December or so.

 

Here is Leon Brubaker’s new telephone number : 570-884-4231

[Anthony]

I participated in this clinic last year and the work of renting a truck and trailer to get my horses and plow out there was well worth it.  Sam Knows plows and plowing and took a great amount of quality time to work with me and the other folks there to meet our needs and rework my plow.  If you are even slightly considering attending but are unsure, I hope you find your way there.  I am sure I would come away with a lot of knowledge and first hand experience if I were auditing as well.

[Author]

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