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I have wondered about the tying to a tree while hitched. We haven’t done it but it has seemed convenient when in the woods with the arch. I have also wondered if spreading manure could become more of a one person job. We have piles of compost scattered around the farm and it would be nice to have a hitching post so we wouldn’t need a separate person to load spreader with tractor. Is this a dangerous thing to do once the horses are totally comfortable with the routine?

Thanks for the help with the starting up. Lots of frequent short rests with the harrowing yesterday and they were very willing whole time.

Kristan

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@Neil Dimmock 2342 wrote:

In training I ask for a whoa first then the line and head for a voice only stop but don’t count on this for every situation. …………..then correct if they don’t do as you ask. .

Neil, what do you mean by line and “head” and how does your approach differ for trained horses? Also, I am interested in your method of correction when horses hesitate on the go command? I was plowing yesterday and my horses were pretty tired. I was having to ask more than once, at times, to have them go. How much of this do you tolerate when horses are tired. I believe I was giving them adequate rest.

Carl, when you mention pressure or tension before stopping can I assume you are not pulling back on the lines, just providing some pressure and then releasing when stopped? Can I also assume that you would increase pressure dramatically if they take a step or two?

Hope I’m not too off topic for this thread.

Thanks.

George

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Rod:

Hope you don’t mind if I add a couple questions related to this topic:

Neil: Do you have your buckback hooked to the bit or to the halter? I have previously hooked to a halter but read in a Steve Bowers book that he hooks to the halter.

All: I am curious reading Carl’s last explination on “Whoa”, how others approach this important command. My wife just attended a Green Mountain Draft Horse Association driving clinic and the two instructors there both use “Whoa” without any line contact and then use line contact only if their horses don’t stop immediately. Their idea is that they want to condition their horses to the verbal command first and foremost.

George

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We had some 10′ nylon line extensions made that buckle onto our existing lines (Zimmerman’s Harness (717) 354-5667). They were under $20 and are very handy. I keep them on my forecart and buckle them on when needed. We use them frequently when unloading wood from a wagon so that two of us can unload wood and always have the lines either in hand or close by where we can grab them if the horses take a step.

George

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Neil:

Thanks for the reply. If a photo is not too much trouble, it would be appreciated.

George

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We are currently purchasing around 3000 bales yearly. I have always resisted making hay as I don’t like tractor work. Now that we have horses, the prospect of making hay is more enticing and I hope to put up a portion of our hay next summer. Regarding this goal, I have a few questions for you hay makers out there:

1. What is the process of putting a motor on a bailer?
2. What size motor do you need?
3. Can you still run the bailer on a tractor if it is independently powered with a motor?
4. What do folks use for rakes and tedders?
5. I think I have read / heard that you can purchase a new sickle bar for MD#9s or even 7s. Is this recommended?

I would appreciated input on any or all of the above.

Thanks.

George

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We raised the pup around poultry so there is no problem there. While still a pup and just 5 or 6 pounds, we started training her on rats. She took them without injury. Jean, if your dog is keen on mice, etc., she should have no problem with problem with their bigger kin.

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Had a go a the walking plow today – great fun. We skim plowed a stand of red clover which we plan to seed to chicory and alfalfa. Per others’ recommendations, we dragged a walking plow behind tractor for the first two furrows to start straight. We then ground drove the team without the plow back and forth until the inside horse got used to walking in the furrow. One horse was a little jumpy when we first hooked up the plow, but settled right into it after a few passes. We actually managed to do a passable job. My hat’s off to those of you who manage a walking plow solo. Tomorrow we’ll disk, spread compost and hopefully get seed in the ground.

George

PS Any suggestions on improving my D-ring harness fit?

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Great pictures Don. I would like to hear your opinions sometime on the advantages / disadvantages of horses vs. mules. But to stay on topic, we go through around 3000 purchased bales yearly. Altough I aspire to make hay one day, we are not quite there for lack of land, equipment, and expertise. Regarding bailing, I have a few questions to throw in:

• Can two horses pull a bailer on rolling land?
• What bailers do folks recommend / use?

Regards to all.

George

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We rely on electric fencing to contain our 70+ goats and other livestock. Goats, true to reputation, are extremely difficult to contain. Although we don’t use solar energizers, I have some suggestions regarding your fence issue. Fence issues generally boil down to two key issues:

1. Having enough joules to keep adequate voltage on your fence. This is determined by both the size of your energizer and the load (grass, etc.) on your fence.
2. Having an adequate grounding system to transfer the voltage through the animal back to ground to complete the circuit.

I would start by testing your ground. You can do this by purposely shorting out your fence by laying a bunch of polywire on the ground or even driving a steel stake partially in the ground (away from your grounding system) and attaching it to your polywire. You can then measure voltage on your ground (i.e. read the voltage at your ground rod). I shoot for 300 volts or less but anything under 500 volts should be adequate. If you are above 500 volts, you need a better grounding system.

Once you have a good ground, make sure your fence is isn’t shorted out anywhere (i.e. walk your fence). Now read your voltage. If it is adequate (minimum of 3000 volts), you’re all set. If lower, I suggest a more powerful energizer.

I realize that you have a light indicator for your tester, I suggest borrowing or buying a meter that reads voltage in order for you to figure out what is going on.

Good luck.

George

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Mechanical mastermind and draftanimalpower member Jonny B spent the day at my farm today helping me fix the spreader. Aside from taking apart front wheels and repacking them with grease, our biggest challenge was freeing up the beater bars which were seized with decades of recalcitrant rust. With lots of cussin’, several cans of cans of “PB Blaster”, and a lot of persuasion we finally broke them loose (pictured in the attachment is Jonny using a 10 foot “persuader” for leverage). After putting on a new beater chain, we dragged the empty spreader behind the tractor and it worked like a dream.

For those of you who didn’t see Jonny’s previous post, he is willing to help those in need with renovation of horse drawn equipment. He is a wealth of knowledge and great company and I highly recommend those in need to take him up on his offer.

Thanks Jonny!

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Thanks all for the responses. In answer to questions and concerns:

• the bed chain is solid.
• I have the seat and just need to weld it on.
• I didn’t mean to imply that I am expecting a wreck if something were to brake down, simply that I would like to reduce the likelihood that something like that would happen by doing this correctly. In terms of having something to brace my feet against, I remember on a safety post a while back that someone had a wreck on a spreader in part b/c they had nothing to brace themselves against to assert the necessary pressure when their horses spooked. You know the saying, “an ounce of prevention………..”
• Johnny B: I will email you directions to our place and would very much appreciate your help / expertise.

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On reading Carl’s last post, I realized I’m mixing up my terminology. We purchased a foward trace clip, not a hame clip. I removed the old trace clip, shortened the front trace, and installed the new trace clip in an attempt to achieve Carl’s aforementioned harness fit. I also shortened the jack-saddle straps and the belly band.

Sorry for the confusion.

George

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I posted this a while back, but thought I would pass it on again. When I was pricing out new harnesses for my team, Becky (see contact info below) was around half the price of other harness makers.

On another note, we adapted a pair of D-rings that were used on 19 hand Belgians for our 16 / 2 hand bays by purchasing some new hame clips (to shorten the hames) and punching new holes in most of the straps to shorten things up. So old harnesses might be adaptable for you.

Good luck.

____________________________________________________

Zimmerman’s Harness LLC
601 Snapper Drive
Ephrata, PA 17522
(717) 354 5667

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I fretted about our collars as well. We had an experienced teamster come up and help us measure our horses so that we could buy some new collars (our harnesses didn’t come with any). We all came to the same conclusion on the size using borrowed collars that we were using as a reference.

When we finally fitted the collars, they were a good 2″ too big. So we used a neck pad on both collars which effectively reduces the collar size in addition to one felt collar pad. We also purchased a deer hair collar which is thicker than the felt – haven’t had to use that yet

I used the term “fretted” because we had a number of experienced teamsters look at the collar fit during Fairwinds Farm Winter Gathering at our place and all agreed both collars fit well!

So in answer to one of your questions, we were able to use pads to make our collars fit.

George

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