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I only took a few short videos at Wilson Creek. Glued em’ all together end-to-end and put them up on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnq_LNDOYWw

Or there’s this version, which is just a touch shorter (took out the part where the mules got hung up and needed adjusting) and set to a peppy song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKZhXsgHxDA

If you want to download the videos and save them to your computer, I recommend this website: http://keepvid.com/ It’s really easy.

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Could be encysted strongyles. Those need a special whack to take care of em.

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I just remembered! You provided assistance when I almost rode the wheel off Buckner’s plow. And baling twine for the other Geoff’s harness issue.

I had just started to notice a rhythmic scraping noise. Looked down and saw the wheel at an angle. Thought, “Is it supposed to be like that? Is it a gimbal wheel? I didn’t look at this thing very closely when I got on… hmm. That greasy length of axle looks awful dust-free. That can’t be right…” and that’s when Wayne hollered, “Your wheel! Stop!”

Thank you for helping!

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Oh, and yes I am going to the SFJ auction. Hope to maybe take home a riding plow. Sure wanted that harrow cart last year but some crazy person bought it for yard art. :confused: She didn’t even know what it was for.

I’m taking my gooseneck. Hope to not bring any horses home in it but it is pretty tough sometimes to only bring home things that don’t eat.

Will you be joining us on the Wagon Train this year? It’s a lot of fun!

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Hah, looks like we posted at the same time. I live in western Washington… Monroe.

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Oh! You had the young team of Belgians who pulled a harrow behind a forecart. I only got one shot of your team and it wasn’t a very good photo. I think you are in the background on a couple of photos but your team was one that kind of fell through the cracks in my photo-taking endeavor. I’m sorry! It certainly wasn’t on purpose. I liked your young team. Especially the one poking his tongue out. :rolleyes: Does he do that all the time? Or just for PETA?

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I didn’t bring my nags, Geoff. I don’t have any riding equipment right now – only walking – so I left my girls at home… didn’t realize some of my friends were bringing more equipment than they could use all at once. I could have hitched to some of their stuff. I’ll bring horses next year.

I did take one of Buckner’s three a couple turns around the field, though. This is me:

What were you driving? I’m sure I said hello. I made a point to try to bother almost everyone there.

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Those Percheron mules that guy has are BIG. And I mean BIG. They are also very well-mannered. If I were to turn mule, I’d want his mules. But since I’m sticking with Percherons for now, I’ll gladly take that blue roan Perch.

I don’t know if the Yankee britchen is more common in Eastern Washington. The two outfits that were using them (four of the six of mules and the six of Belgians) are from that region. But so’s the eight of tank-like Percherons, and they’re just using plowing harness with no britchen.

I have seen a few other folks using Yankee britchen on their saddle mules while plowing. Is it a mule thing? Or an Eastern Washington/Idaho thing?

I’m wondering if the mule folks are partial to the Yankee britchen because the western box britchen doesn’t fit mule butts as well. Mules generally have that squared-off rear, inherited from the donkey parent. Maybe it doesn’t fill out the box britchen as fully as a horse’s butt does. The rest of the harness needs to be comparable in size, but I think they might do better in a slightly smaller box britchen, otherwise the rings where the holdback straps attach might be too far forward and chafe the belly where they curve in to meet the pole strap.

Going to have to ask some mule people about that.

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Joel, that is an interesting question. I have never given a lot of thought to “why”, although I have always done it (harnessed with the horse untied).

I don’t know about others’ reasons for it, but I find that if I go out with the expectation that my team will stand still for harnessing, they’ll generally stand still for everything else a bit better. Conversely, if the horse won’t stand still for harnessing, I know I’d better watch him while we are driving and not expect that he’ll stand well if I have to leave them to get a gate or perform some other off-the-seat task.

Generally, when I tie my horses they are allowed to do a certain amount of shuffling and fidgeting… tied to the trailer, in a tie stall, on a highline. However, I trim feet and harness and groom with the horses untied. In these situations they are not allowed to move their feet at ALL.

I can’t think of any time when they are tied and I don’t want them to move. I also can’t think of any time that I don’t want them to move and I tie them.

I guess I harness them untied because it lets them know that they are on their own recognizance. I think it helps make them more trustworthy.

I usually harness in the aisle or in the doorway of the barn and there isn’t a good place to tie them there. So part of the reason I trained them to stand untied for harnessing is out of convenience. I don’t want ropes in the way of my getting around the horses.

Hoping to hear someone else chime in with their reasons for harnessing untied.

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You could possibly attribute it to the overall number of hours and miles the horses had worked. However, I would like to state that at the time that I began using closed bridles, I had been working the one re-started mare for four years and the “new” mare for one year. It was only about four or five months after I started using closed bridles part-time until I realized that I was definitely seeing more trust from both horses.

I had not anticipated this change. I had not decided to start using the bridles hoping for or expecting any particular results. I just thought I’d “try it and see” – largely because I’d been heckled and hassled by other teamsters for working in open bridles. Part of my reason for experimenting with closed bridles was because I wanted to be able to have the option of using them in situations where I did not want to be judged by other teamsters for having the unconventional preference of using open bridles.

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I know I’m months late on this thread but I wanted to mention that, never having seen a photo of drybranch’s plow, there are some plows that only have a beam bridle with vertical adjustments because the horizontal adjustments are done where the beam mounts between the handles.

I have one such plow. It is an Oliver 10 vineyard plow with a wood beam. You loosen a bolt at the back of the beam (nearest the plowman), kick the beam over and then tighten the bolt again.

Did you ever get your plow cutting good?

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I have really enjoyed reading folks’ thoughts on this topic and feel inclined to share my own.

I have one horse that was started in a closed bridle as a youngster. I bought her as a stale 5-year-old who’d sat in a pasture for a few years. Re-started her in an open bridle. Started a second horse in an open bridle as well. Things were going great, I rode and drove them both, never had a problem.

Talking with other teamsters about blinders/no blinders got me to thinking and I transitioned both horses to closed bridles as an experiment.

It has been two years since I started using closed bridles part-time and the results are measureable. Let me preface this by saying that I had never had cause for complaint about the obedience of my horses. I do take them out in public. We do ride and drive roads and trails. We’ve done shows. Occasionally there will be a new object or a new situation that gives them pause and brings a round of snorts. But I can talk them through it and there’s never been a situation they couldn’t handle.

Since initiating use of closed bridles, I have found that my horses trust me more. I didn’t notice a LACK of trust prior to using closed bridles, but I did notice an INCREASE in trust after I began using them. I currently use closed bridles about 50% of the time. I have noticed that regardless of whether they have blinders or not, my horses are now more responsive and more trusting than before I started using closed bridles at all.

I think it must be something akin to those awful corporate retreat things I’ve heard about where you do team-building exercises such as fall backwards and have your co-workers catch you. Wearing blinders caused my horses to develop “blind faith” in my leadership. They have never come to harm while under my instruction and guidance, blinders or no. Taking away some of their ability to see and judge the situation for themselves forced them to place their safety in my hands and at the mercy my good judgement. When I continued to guide them safely and competently, their esteem for me and my judgement increased measureably.

In my case, adding closed bridles to my horses’ wardrobe also added a whole ‘nother dimension to our working partnership.

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Thought I’d better walk the walk if I was gonna be talking the talk. 😀

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