[blue80]

Thanks for posting that information Geoff, with a stroke of a pen and a 400 mile return drive, the mares are settling in here at the Blue 80!

Kevin

[blue80]

Sweet ride! as the cool guys say.

Let me know if/when you want to sell it, My wife just said, “ooooh can we get one of those?”

[blue80]

Well I’d like to see a better fit and finish on a lot of the new horse drawn equipment. Prime and paint properly, both metal and wood; most of us have to store the equipment outdoors, sure would be nice to pass some of it on to our kids…

Kevin

[blue80]

Tim:

I’m going through my mental list of oreo cows; galloways, dutch belted, buelingos, and for some reason thought they were all polled. Can you fill me in?

Thanks, Kevin

[blue80]

Don’t know about halflingers firsthand, but about 8 years ago I rode around with one of my dads clients, an Amish man, in SW Ontario. For most of his life he used Belgians, the bigger the better.
Then he purchased some Norwegians Fjords, and ended up on the receiving end of the communities humor with regards to his “toy” horses. It turns out he was a visionary, as more and more of the Amish have Fjords all the time. Work hard, eat less. My dad says they have few medical problems. This amish gentleman told me the only thing they couldn’t do as well way heavy plowing, at which time you just hook a couple more up.
Saving the drafty Fjord is also a noble enterprise, as unfortunately they are being bred largely for jumping and show rings now.
We are seriously considering Fjords, as our family can use them to pack, ride and work. But they are not cheap!
Kevin

[blue80]

Well 220 pounds of leather and gear showed up yesterday. Always looks horrible when crammed together for shipping, but after getting it stretched out and organized, we think it will get us nicely started and when we get really going, will be excellent backup harness.
Now to fill it up with some flesh…

Kevin

[blue80]

Amish told me they’d rather have a foal drop in the plow furrow than in the pasture, I took that to mean a fit, not heavy mare is healthiest for foaling and milk production.

Kevin

[blue80]

I’ve only used a crupper when peeling back to a half harness (removing the britchen) whenever stopping power is not needed. Crupper then keeps things squared up front.

Kevin

[blue80]

S. Indiana was some tough haymaking. And I mean the hay was tough until 1pm, and would get tough again by 4 pm….

I was asking and watching my neighbours’ methods, one spoke up and said,”my equipment dealer told me a conditioner would save me half a day on drying, so I bought one. And I bought a tedder to save a half day. And my new hay inverter will save a half day. Spraying chemical on the hay so it won’t mold saves me a day. Now I can bale my hay before I cut it!”:rolleyes:

Actually he was one who used a disc mower without conditioner, and except for first cut, his drying time wasn’t hardly longer than anyone else’s.

Stay safe in the hayfield either way,
Kevin

[blue80]

The team we previously owned were Belgian mares. One mare, Liza was well known for her pulling exploits. She and a gelding actually won the Denver pull in ’98, and there was a vhs among the Amish which showed her at some pulls.
Her colts have become in great demand.

This mare, Liza, was extremely gentle, both as a broodmare and pulling logs, stumps, stone boat, harrows, and wagons full of kids. I trusted her conistency far more than the registered belgian she was paired with, and she was never jumping into the collar.

I miss her a lot.

[blue80]

Fact is, in many areas of the world such as Africa, family farmers could make a decent living -middle income- with a cow, few pigs, and ten acres of cropping with draft power, sold locally.

But I’ve spoken with missionaries firsthand who explain their frustrations when the west comes in with regular and even possibly unneccessary “food aid” deliveries, dumped at prices so cheap it puts the locals out of business; Our subsidies at work in a real way, helping our local farming communities while destroying communities a hemisphere away.
It gives another practical illustration of the “give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day…..teach a man to fish he’ll eat for a year….” reasoning. And also the repercussions for selfish behaviour, for when you don’t enable your neighbour, they may become reliant and the possibility for failure becomes more distinct.
But perhaps the joke is on us, for it is our factory farmers who have become reliant on subsidies to stay afloat. Hedging food products and dumping milk and growing grains without a market are going to bite us in the butt, if they haven’t already.

For me, it’s just more motivation to grow and eat responsibly. But the learning has to come first…

Kevin

[blue80]

http://mview.museum.vic.gov.au/paimages/mm/243/24378.htm

[blue80]

Jeez Grey, whish I knew where you were when I was trying to sell my International Harvester? Ours was Crew Cab, 4wd. The guys called it “the tree climber,” it would go anywhere….
Beekeeper ended up buying it for as much as I paid for it…:)

[blue80]

28 yrs ago I tagged around the counties doing farm calls with my father, a veterinarian. Even then, there were several fatherless family units existing due to suicide, and I remember some of them took their life in the barn for their families to find, I have never understood why.

I think it is important to remember how little we know of other strangers circumstances, and be vigilant not to take their tragedy as ammunition for our own agendas.

I wish that we may all have a burning desire to sincerely get to know our neighbours’ hopes, fears, and dreams in a loving way that grows and nurtures community. To often we concentrate on the weather, the crops, the grandkids; we all have a little pain and hurt, it’s important to bear each others burdens, maybe less of this would happen. Like that new country song, “the call”

It’s the ones left behind who suffer.
Our thoughts and prayers are with this family,

Kevin

[blue80]

I sadly don’t have solutions, mainly just thoughts and perusals on this matter.

Growing up in Canada, I have experienced “free” health care and some of its perks and problems.
For some reason, I knowingly, happily settled in and am raising a family in the US. We are self employed, and 5 yrs ago my wife quit her professional job-with benefits- to take care of our family/children, something she excells at and is a priority for us, and has been a tremendous blessing. Since then, we have had no “health care plan” although we have a high deductible HSA, thanks dubya Bush for enlarging this option!

Health care is so much more than a medical issue, it is rather a social economic issue. It is fundamentally a subject dealing with how a person or family applies their hopes, goals and dreams in a practical manner in their community. The “practical manner” I write about is often times manifested through work, a huge neccessary part of all our lives. King Solomon stated that their is nothing better than for a man to enjoy his work. I would add, and maybe Solomon meant between the lines, that it is also great to be around people who enjoy their work!
Far too often when asking my peers questions about where they would like to be in 2, 5, 10 years they state their dreams, and then backpeddle with excuses why it isn’t feasible to follow those dreams immediately;
“I’d quit my job, but, the benefits”
“My wife would love to stay home with our children, but my work has no benefits and hers does”
“Only 6 more years and I am fully vested in my pension, THEN, I’m gonna….”
etc. etc.

I don’t think it’s right, fair or moral to make decisions for others. Rather, it is most important to lead by example and be available to take away peoples excuses of why they don’t do their best. Then it is up to them whether they are full of crap or really willing to make the rubber hit the road.
What I am trying to say is that in Canada, I never heard people use the excuse of why they stayed at a job they hated because of “the benefits” (Canadians just flat out said that they would rather play hockey, drink lite beer, and go snowmobiling than work);) Fear of losing benefits has turned us into an excuse laden nation perfectly willing to turn off our goals and heart dreams so that a strange doctor can medicate us if/when something bad happens. Broken dreams makes for broken community. So what the heck, tax me like they did in Canada, give everyone “free health care” so I can go back to those people and hopefully see the vibrant changes in their lives.

It is ludicrous to expect employers to “provide health insurance or pay a penalty”
I can’t make my employees get 8 hrs sleep, drink milk instead of a 12 pack before bed, or dictate they drink pure water. But doing my best to provide them a great wage for a moral company doing work worth doing entitles me to not only pay vacation days, social security and futa, now I am forced to provide them with health care. Cmon, not the best way to promote vibrant fresh business, is it?

This great nation is all about options, I think. Build a house with cardboard or ICF’s. Buy cheap pesticide laden or organic. Clear cut or silviculture.
And health care should also qualify; It’s horrible that they are trying to do away with Health Savings Account’s, one of the only options where the citizen can take health care into their own hands. But I remember now, the citizen isn’t actually qualified to make decisions for themselves…:rolleyes::mad:
What saddens me the most is the total lack of preventive health in any of the new plans. Clean air, clean water, good food, good rest allows us a better chance to have better quality of life, and health care should always start with proactive, not reactive methods.

Two years ago my wife delivered a baby in the hospital, not in for 24 hrs. No epidural, no complications, and I was really polite to everyone. Still $8000.00 cash price.
Last year my wife delivered a baby via midwife, a tremendous experience I would encourage everyone to look into, and a third the cost; Our money went to wonderful local families who we have gained friendships with. We had to drive up to Montana during labor, because midwifery in Wyoming is shunned….ps I am a big man for delivering my own child; and by the way, it turns out women have been having children for a long time without doctors….
Two weeks ago, I was wrestling with the kids after dinner, my 4 yr old dislocated her arm. $1400.00 cash price for them to pop it back in. And That put my nose out of joint:(

We are writing letters to our elected officials, doing lots of praying on the subject that we won’t become angry and bitter, and encouraging those around to explore all their options, not just the obvious easy options that are government mandated and take away short term fears.
Don’t know what else to do, can’t get water from a stone….

Kevin

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