[Ira]

It’s something to think on

[Ira]

@Scott G 18362 wrote:

Another looming issue we have related to the bark beetle epidemic is severe obesity being observed in our woodpecker population…:D

ROFL

I rememeber hearing/reading something about increased insect population because of lower bird population. So I was just wondering if that was an underlying cause

[Ira]

Just out of curiosity, do the bark beetles have any natural enemies (species of birds) ?

[Ira]

Yup, I use drop rings. Small ring on a repair link attached to the hames with a double end snap

[Ira]

Sure is Bill, You still shoeing?I didn’t actually make it west of the Miss. til last spring. I spent a few years(about 20) in Pa. Glad to hear from you!

[Ira]

Hi Folks, Back online again. Winter before last I discovered that I wasn’t going to be able to work in the deep snow anymore.(Gimpy leg) So last April I moved about 900 miles south. I am now located in a little town in South central Missouri. About 20 mile north of the Arkansas line. Going to take some time to catch up on what I have missed 🙂

[Ira]

@carter 10091 wrote:

Hope Ira is ok.
Has anybody heard from him since he re-located? Everything alright?

Hi, I still check in from time to time, but I’m not working and have to borrow a computer so it’s not to handy to post much.

[Ira]

Hal,
Basket britchen has the standard rump britchen but it also has another strap across the top of the rump, the same as hip britchen does. The hip strap and the britchen are held in place by single straps from the spider ring. Viewed from the side it is easy to mistake it for a 2 strap britchen.

J-L,
Brigham Young was born in Whitingham Vt. and Joseph Smith was born in S. Royalton. I’m not sure at what age they relocated to N.Y.

[Ira]

@J-L 7568 wrote:

Another story on the “Yankee Britchen”. Some people in the west called it Mormon Britchen as well. It’s fairly common around UT, WY, ID.
One story I heard was it came into more common use around here while the Mormons were hauling stone from the the quarry down into the Salt Lake Valley to build their temple. Apparently it was a more practical set up with heavy loads and steep grades. I’m sure it came with some of them from back east when they migrated.
It does a good job holding back loads on a down hill grade. It’ll push the hind feet down somewhat for better traction vs. the box britchen. Although I use my box britchen a lot on a down hill, you have to have it adjusted right or it’s hard on your animals. Whether they’re mule or horse doesn’t matter.
I have a set of Yankee/Mormon britchen harness, but it’s spotted and pretty so it doesn’t see a lot of everyday use. My old box britchen harness is used every day. When it wears out I think I’ll get a plain set of Yankee britchen harness for everyday use.

I’ve often wondered if Mormon/Yankee britchen might be related to the Basket britchen used on a lot of D-ring harness’. Both B.Young and J.Smith were Vermonters.

[Ira]

Spindles out of old manure spreaders work pretty good.

[Ira]

Not sure where your located but;
Meader Supply Corp.
Rochester,N.H.
Their phone used to be 1-800-4horses….. Haven’t had occasion to use it in a while.

Shetlers Collar Shop
5819 Flat Iron Rd.
Conewango Valley, New York 14726……. Their amish so you’ll have to write to them

Coblentz Collar Shop
3348 US Route 62
Millersburg, Ohio 44654
330-893-1166……..They are also amish, so that phone no. is an answering service

[Ira]

Have you tried a full sweeny collar on this horse?

[Ira]

@jenjudkins 7075 wrote:

@Ira 7073 wrote:

Doug,
What you are describing (fear of hitching) is a pulling horse that has been “tuned up” one to many times. QUOTE]

Ira, What does this mean, exactly….’tuned up’?

Jen,
Horse pullers want their teams to hit the load as hard as they can as soon as the horses hear the evener hit the hook on the sled. Most horses will learn this thru repetition and conditioning.There are some individuals that try to enhance this process by using a cattle prod on the horses when the evener is dropped. “Tuning them up”. Doing this repeatedly causes horses to become terrified of the whole hitching process. You can do anything with them but hitch them. Just as the OP described.

[Ira]

Thanks for the replies folks. I was mostly concerned about running the full 15 hours with nothing more than short rest stops. I’m going to look into the probiotics and I’ll try to remember to park on the downhill side.;)
I’m headed for south central Missouri. My knees and legs ain’t going to let me work in the deep snow anymore. So I decided to go someplace where the snow is more of a curiousity than a daily occurence.
I”ve got a job cleaning up damage from the ice storm they had this winter when I get there but after that I’ll just cross my fingers.

[Ira]

@Doug 7035 wrote:

I’m looking for advice on an eighteen year old Belgian gelding that I bought last week. I was told that he spent most of his previous working life as a logging horse, but I can’t confirm that. I got him from a lady who had bought him hoping to ride him, but that didn’t work out for her. She said he was too “forward”, but otherwise nice. Anyway, he seems to be a very nice horse: he is easy to lead, picks up all of his feet, and stands still while I harness him. I ground drove him a couple of times around the pasture and things were going great until I tried to hitch him up to a small log. He became very nervous, and from that point on I couldn’t even get him back to that side of the field. I thought perhaps it was the steel single-tree that he wasn’t used to, so I unhitched him for the day and left the single-tree out where he could check it out from a safe place. The next day I put a halter on him and led him out to where he had shied away from the log… no problem. I brought the single-tree up to him and let him smell it and I shook it all around him… no problem. I harnessed him back up and tried to just ground drive him out into the field, but he would spin around faster than I could keep up with the lines, and head back for the barn. Now I can’t seem to drive him at all. I am new to all of this, and I don’t want to ruin what seems to be a nice horse. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Doug Bliss

Doug,
What you are describing (fear of hitching) is a pulling horse that has been “tuned up” one to many times. Yes he can be reeducated, but you have to decide whether you want to spend your time on a horse that someone else has spoiled (and probably will never be 100% safe) or cut your losses and try to find one that will hitch and drive for you.

[Author]

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