[Carl Russell]

Welcome Hoss, glad to hear you are back into it. It is so important theses days that young people have experience with draft animals. I find that most people in our culture today have no context from which to envision the effective use of animal power. Start ’em young. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Jenn,
Lime and manure are good. Also drag it to spread out the manure from your horses, and to break up the thatch. We have had great success with broad casting favored seed after you move the animals to another section. Clipping/mowing/brush-hogging the weeds will help. Subdividing the field into intensive paddocks will ensure that your grazers have the most impact, deposit nutrients evenly, and will give the grasses a chance to rebound before being re-grazed.The trick is to limit the consecutive days that a particular grass plant gets chewed down, because that will weaken the roots which will give advantage to the weeds.
You shouldn’t have to till. Carl

[Carl Russell]

I never found anybody. I had to go to Nova Scotia. I have an old one, and a blank that I plan on fitting to my current pair. You’re welcome to come and look. I’ll try to look up some contact info on a maker. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Neil, my heart goes out to you man. I’m so sorry for your loss. If there is anyway that you can use this forum to let people know how they can help, PLEASE DON’T HESITATE!!! I wish I was closer. Take care, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Erika, I would consider getting a small solar panel, charger, and inverter to run your deep cell. Then you can use all the appliances you need right from that. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them as small as 200w.

Check out;
http://www.cabelas.com
http://www.benmeadows.com
http://www.realgoods.com
http://www.northerntool.com

Good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Hey Taylor,
Great to have you here. I look forward to hearing more about you, and broadening our network.

Speaking of which, I’d love to know how you stumbled on this site. What key words, etc. that brought you here.

Thanks, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Greetings Neil & Neal,
There are people out there! This is a CRAZY time of year around here.

Anyway, there is no way to work horses practically without training them to stand so that the reins can be put down, albeit for short time-frames.

I agree with Neil that you can not have any influence on them if something jumps out of the bushes, and as sound advice to beginners about safety, nothing should be left to chance.

However, horses that stand while the reins are being held will be stimulated by any action on the reins, even if it is just to switch hands, which defeats the purpose of having a standing stop. Animals that are taught to stand with slack, dead, or dropped lines will never know any stimulation until the teamster moves the lines for driving.

I use this method all the time for every aspect of the work I do. I never have any help, and hitch up, unhitch, attach draw bars, hook logs, cut fallen trees in front of them (with the chainsaw), and do field repairs on bridles or what ever comes up, without holding onto my lines.

I can not argue the ultimate fact of Neil’s point that you have nothing if you haven’t got the reins when you need them. I also know that you haven’t got anything if you don’t have a team that will stand so that you can get work done.

It is a personal challenge to balance these things. Unfortunately, in the long run balancing safety and practicality often comes down to the degree of risk you are willing to take.

There is a difference between fear and risk. 20 times more kids die in car accidents with their parents driving, than from being attacked by a stranger, but parents would rather drive their kids to school than let them walk, because of the fear that they will be attacked.

That’s why it is referred to as the teamster’s art. Through practice, each one of use finds the method that we feel works best for us personally.

Be safe out there.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Sorry Neil, on dial-up I just can’t get a good viewing. And it’s another rainy day. I could use a good video. Thanks anyway, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Matt, There is a slim possibility that I can have my bunk cart rebuilt by then, but what a great idea. I’ll think about it.

With the cart backed against the log so that both tires are touching the log, the animals are facing perpendicular to the lay of the log. With the log chained to the cart, as the horses (or cattle) move forward (perpendicularly away from the lay of the log) the end they are hitched to moves with them, swinging the log out of the perpendicular alignment.

In other words as the horses move forward the angle between the alignment of the cart and log changes from a right angle to an obtuse angle. Now one wheel no longer touches the log, but the other tire is being pressed on by the forward end of the log.

As the wheels are moving forward they are rolling over the top, up from the back, down on the front, and as the end of the log presses hard against that tire, the motion of the tire lifts the log up. As the log beings to come near the top of the tire, the team is turned so that the end of the log comes off of the tire, and swings onto the bunk. The far end of the log will probably move only slightly throughout this entire sequence.

You may be able to visualize it better if you think of turning too sharp with a wagon behind a tractor, to where the tongue of the wagon hits the rear wheels as they move forward, and the tire will try to lift the wagon.

I know this deserves a demonstration, not to mention the design of the cart. I’ll see what I can do. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Thanks so much for all of your excellent contributions from around the globe.I apologize for the Spammers, but I was dealing with a fried Modem, and working on dial-up I fell behind. I’m back to full strength now, so things should be better. Keep up the good work. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Greetings Bob,
Looking forward to hearing tales from the Northwest! Welcome, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Never hook to the bit, it can be painful to the horse. Hitching to the bridle in general is not a good idea, because if the bridle is broken (often made of light leather) then it can be difficult to drive home.

I always unhitch the animals from the cart or equipment, un-bridle, put on halters, and tie them, either back in the barn, or to another appropriate structure like a tree.

If I have one of my carts that I can hitch by the back to a tree,I will park them like that sometimes. I never tie the horses by their heads while they are hitched to equipment.

Otherwise, I would rather spend the time to train them to stand.

I had a few more thoughts about George’s questions about starting;
Because of the way I handle the lines, my horses become alert as soon as I pick up the lines. But before I suck my lip for them to start, I ready them by saying “ready”. This way they are ready but not moving when I gather my lines,and they remain relaxed because they learn that there is one more command before I will call on them.

When I do call on them and either, or both, are balky, I cut a marshmallow stick, 2-3 points, 3-4′ long, easy to hold with the lines, and as I give the command to start, I tickle them right at the tail head. No jabbing, no slapping, just an irritation, an easy movement that doesn’t interrupt the even tension on the lines. I tickle just as I make my sound, not after, so that they make the association to move when I make the sucking/kissing sound. Carl

[Carl Russell]

Leather all the way…..until I felt Beta. I still keep a good set of leather lines, single and double, but working in the woods is harsh on lines, and Beta stands the abuse better. Also they don’t get as slimy as leather when they get wet, and they don’t stiffen.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Welcome Tam,
It’s great to have you here. What do you do in Mexico?

Carl

ps. I may have to get my 11 year old daughter to communicate with you. Home school spanish…

[Carl Russell]

The tension I mention is just to reaffirm for discussion that I can feel the bits, therefore they can feel me. They then can also feel me releasing the tension more accurately. I realize that I describe the action as if it takes time. It has a distinct process, but happens almost instantly.

The other part of this is what you are doing with the lines while working. By constantly stimulating them physically with constant light tension, and varied commands and directions, they are working both physically and mentally, WHILE the bit has tension,AND is active. Then when I release the tension they quickly realize that the stimulus is going to stop, so they can too. This is the reward.

If a horse doesn’t stop, I will increase pressure substantially, while being prepared to release just as quickly as the horse gives the expected responce.

When stopping it is important that the expectation is not to just stop moving, but to stand, as I described earlier, otherwise you are leaving too much up to the horse, like “Sometimes I stop you to stop moving, but this time I expect you to stand”. This is the kind of “trust” that will lead to disaster. Stop the horses to stand, EVERY time you say whoa. Whoa-back-whoa-haw-whoa-come up, will work, and horses love to keep moving, but you have just lost the meaning of whoa somewhere in the mix. Whoa (stand..for a moment)- Back – Whoa (stand.. for 2 moments)- Haw- Whoa (stand….) If you want whoa to mean something important, it needs to be instituted as such.

George, about starting, it is hard to tell exactly without being there. Neil had some good advice. I would ad that I never let my horses stop on their own. I always stop them before they get over-extended. I especially get questions when I stop my horses in the middle of a hill pulling logs uphill. If they can’t start it they won’t pull it, and they need wind and rest like all the rest of us. Also if horses get used to being pushed to the point where they want to stop, they will lose confidence in the teamster, and often will be balky when starting. Try stopping them more often. There is nothing wrong with horses that are well rested, they will work harder between whoas, and probably get more done than if you don’t stop at all.

Carl

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