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When you get out of Amish country, the availability of farriers who will shoe a draft at all drops dramatically. Some of these folks are paying these comparably-astronomical prices because there is very little competition in the realm of draft shoeing in their geograpic locale. I know that if my shoer quit tomorrow, I’d have a heck of a time getting shoes on my horses for under $200 apiece. We also pay more for horsedrawn equipment because the majority of it comes from, again, Amish country. The stuff that some of you can find in any ol hedgerow is thin on the ground over here. Have pity on us, sure, but don’t think we’re suckers just because we sometimes pay through the nose to have the same goods and services as some of you folks.

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Okay, I’ve got the email address of a guy who has a lot of documentation on horsepowers. He’s got one himself and has seen many more. He says you need to email him a few digital photos of what you’ve got so he can send you the right information. I’ll PM you his address.

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It depends on what condition the foot is in. I’ve had to do it a few times, but only on feet that were badly asymetrical due to overgrowth and neglect on soft pasture. Other folks’ horses feet, at that. My own, I just take a swipe down either side to clean up the flaps to keep the clefts open. Occasionally I’ll pare a bit from the bottom of the frog if there’s a bit partway shed off that is still clinging by an edge. Mostly I leave it alone.

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Someone here in Snohomish has one that has been restored. Let me ask around a bit. Are there any word or letters on the cast parts or have you not gotten that far? The museum in Pomeroy is the best place for such a thing. I’d be surprised if some of the folks there don’t already have specs on horsepowers.

I’ll be looking forward to the photos you post. I’ve been dreaming about having a dedicated horsepower shed with a two-horse sweep in it. Kind of like those pony ride setups at the fair, but with a horsepower at the center. Then have belts to run things like a saw and a small thresher and maybe a stationary baler too. Ah, dreams…

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One thing to keep in mind when choosing the leather to line your nylon harness with; smooth, hard leather rubs less than soft leather with any kind of nap or “grip” to it. My leather traces are smooth as polished granite.

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Is Holly the one closest to the camera? She has a soft expression.

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I really like the method you devised for attaching it. Looks like it ought to stay put. And it has to be easier on the horse’s hide than the nylon. I can’t imagine but that it will help!

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I was visiting a friend while he trimmed hooves. The one he had in the stocks at the moment was an old retired mare he’d foaled and worked her entire life. Now she was old and stove-up, just eating and pooping the last of her days away in the pasture. Anyhow, she was having her spring pedicure when the barn cat (also old as dirt) came sauntering by. This battered old thing gets an ear infection from time to time for no reason anyone’s been able to discover. Smells horrid and doesn’t really respond to treatment. Just kind of comes and goes. Today it smelled particularly vile, and it put that old mare into a panic! She was shaking and sweating and snorting! She didn’t settle until we shoo’d the cat back off to the hay barn. Ten minutes or so later he was back and again the horse started shaking and sweating and snorting. The smell terrified her.

I found it rather odd, since my horses have never seemed to much mind rotting smells like dead deer, possums and raccoons by the roadside.

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Personally, I think I’m too clumsy to get a lot of finesse out of steering without hands. I reach a certain level of refinement and then start leaning more and more heavily on verbal commands…. sometimes resulting in an almost constant stream of verbal commands, in lieu of saying anything with the lines. It depends on what exactly I’m doing.

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Could you maybe use line carriers on your horse(s) rump(s) to help keep the lines up under your armpits? Works for me on a single horse; haven’t tried it with a team.

Are you doing any steering at all with the lines or are you mostly maintaining speed and keeping the lines safe?

I can’t imagine holding the lines with my neck, but if it’s working for you…

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2173558220070827

Different footing, I’d imagine, but still – horses working in water.

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I sometimes use hobbles as a “parking break”. Depends on the situation. You can’t expect too much out of the hobbles, as a horse can definitely get a move on while wearing them, but they’re better than nothing if you can’t move them to a tree at the moment. I have a young and restless horse whose “sit, stay” isn’t yet as set in concrete as I’d like. But hobble her and she’s a statue.

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Excellent, excellent! Isn’t that a great view? Good job!

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The only objection I have to chains is that some are better constructed than others (strength-wise) and, also, they have a tendency not to release fast enough for my tastes.

And the release is the reward.

And the reward is what does the real training, not the discipline.

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@jenjudkins 16313 wrote:

If you are referring to my young horse comment….that’s a good clarification. I meant I tend to ride young horses with a halter and single rein (ie. no bridle) for the first few rides.

No, no; it was a stand-alone comment. Just that a lot of people like to keep a halter on under their bridle when they are working a horse in harness (me included, sometimes), and I wanted to make sure that no one thought they should/could use a rope halter in that instance. I’ve seen people use rope halters under their driving bridles and I’ve also seen bad rub markes caused by that practice.

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