[JaredWoodcock]

Both Carl and Joel have opened my eyes to the subject of new teamsters. Generally when I see a young “idealistic” teamster struggling to learn how to farm and be a horseman I suggest that they get rid of one of the variables, and usually it is the horses. The recent Lynn Miller editorial is a similar story where I am the “old” teamster telling him he is going to ruin these horses and he needs to sell them and buy a tractor, but Lynn pushed through and look at him now.
All of these stories make me feel a little guilty about some of my past advice and I am excited to hear stories like Joel’s that teamed up with the strong advice of the experienced teamsters like Carl Russell, Donn, and Mitch will support Carl’s growth to become a great teamster.

[JaredWoodcock]

It is hard to beat a basic hay wagon running gear. That being said some of the 5th wheel style running gears are simple and would be easy to build out of a couple straight axles and some scrap steel.

http://www.knowlesmfgco.com/products/wagons/1105X,_905X,_705X_fifth_wheel_wagons/fifth_wheel_wagon_models_1105X,_905X,_and_705X.htm

I always thought it would be neat to build one out of oak instead of steel. Judging by some of your projects on your website I think you are up for the task!!!

Keep me posted; building my own lightweight running gear is also on my short list…

[JaredWoodcock]

“I’m going to try and make a large poly-wire pen and see how that goes. If she goes through it then I will go from there and start looking for other options.”

That isnt an option. You need to be the leader, and know what you are asking will work out fine. If you think the horse might jump the pen, it will. If you have all of your ducks in a row and you know that everything will go fine, then it will.

You can accomplish the same goals of the round pen in many different ways. It sounds like your day to day routines are the issue considering the older broke mare is now acting up as well.

Its all in your head, sounds like you are figuring it out though, keep it up!!!

[JaredWoodcock]

Donn, I noticed that about your horses at the field days. At one point one of the mares started to get anxious and the fact that no one around her reacted any differently than if she was just standing still, she just settled down and was over it. I have had good and bad experiences with interns and I feel like this conversation we are having translates directly to some of the issues I have had.
Good stuff, maybe Carl or Donn or both should write something up a little more formal and we can put it into its own thread?

[JaredWoodcock]

Count me in on an order if we can do it. I had a hard time giving this book back to the library.

I will look into it.

[JaredWoodcock]

I came back to working with horses at the same time I started to have children, I have noticed that they are both exactly the same for me. When I am calm and happy and loving my company everything goes smoothly, be it children, mares, or sows, (or my wife for the matter). My father was a tough cookie and he could “brake” a horse very quickly but those same horses would toss my sister about 3 minutes into a ride. When I started to work my own horses I was about 7 years old and I couldn’t use the same tactics as my father because I couldn’t over power the horses physically or mentally. But as a farm kid I spent my every waking hour with the animals and once my horse and I came to understandings, everything went just fine.
I always hated bits, and so did my horses, I also hated saddles and so did my horses. During my best years with horses I would just grab whatever string or twig I had available to “steer” and hop on bareback and ride off. When I would get where I was going I would hop off. Most of the time if I didn’t screw around for too long the horse would be close enough to where I left it and I would hop back on and ride home.

As I got older I began to run a much tighter ship, Teaching horses to stand in the stalls when I am mucking them out, making sure their heads are just below and behind my shoulder when I am leading, etc. My children have taught me to go back to the much more laid back approach and just keep reasonable expectations.
I noticed this morning while milking our cow with my 4 year old daughter, I was at risk of being late for a meeting at the college and I started to feel anxious. I decided that I rather be in the barn milking my cow with my daughter than be at some stupid meeting anyway so I just relaxed and enjoyed what I was doing. This cow was nursing a calf since May and we butchered the calf on friday and just started milking her. She walked right into the barn, she stood where she was comfortable and I had to move her a couple of steps so that I could be comfortable too, all three of us were relaxed, everything went smoothly, and we all had a great morning. I know all of you have those little moments as well and for me it is just about trying to be the loving steady leader with reasonable expectations. I look forward to trying to apply these lessons I get from my children to a new horse this coming winter in the woods, and I hope I can learn a lot more about how you all approach being loving steady leaders.
I was also only a few minutes late for the meeting, and in academia it is a novelty to have someone show up late smelling like a cow and say “sorry I am late, I was milking my cow with my daughter”

[JaredWoodcock]

What cut of $ does the landowner get from the firewood sales?

Thanks

[JaredWoodcock]

I am 32 and it is catching up to me. Both my grandfather and father died in their 40’s, I guess i better enjoy it while I can huh?

[JaredWoodcock]

Instead of harvesting the pulp, would it be prudent to either girdle, or drop the tree and just cut it up into slash? That is if it isnt worth pulling for firewood?

Thanks

[JaredWoodcock]

Brad,
Thanks for the offer. I will take you up on that. I work with Chris Dutton at VT Tech for the academic side of my life and do occasionally make it up your way. If you could send me an email or give me a call at the contacts above I will try to set up a time that I can come talk.

Thanks Again
Jared

[JaredWoodcock]

We “share milk” with the calf where he gets to nurse during the day and then is separated at night and use a bucket milker. If I dont bump and massage the udder a lot like the arrticle describes I wont get any cream because the cow holds it back for the calf. Before I figured this out we had a few jars of skim milk raw right out of the cow. I just try to mimic what the calf does when he is nursing. I will try the technique in the article and see if it is any different.

[JaredWoodcock]

He is a little small for me but my friends who have my 1100lb haflinger are looking for a teammate. Could you email me the picture? woodcockj@sunyacc.edu

Where are you located?

[JaredWoodcock]

Thanks Brad, very helpful.

[JaredWoodcock]

Good conversation, it seems a lot like the “good soil” debate. Another old time way of getting in good hay is silage. I am not a fan of bale wrappers because of the plastic but if you look into some of the historical alpine hay making; people have been packing hay into small wooden silos for a long time to avoid the need for long drying periods.
As for feeding horses and dry cows low quality forage, I prefer to leave it standing in the field and let them grub for it themselves. If you have easy keepers they can do real well on stockpiled grass and managed woody shrubs. I am not talking about those poor horses you see stuck in a dirt lot stripping the park off of the trees, but a well planned out winter with the knowledge and understanding of browse and stockpiling.
We managed a flock of 40 romney/corriedale ewes on stockpiled grass and some browse similar to how deer yard up, except we were moving them to new yards and using the horses to dig through the snow. It worked well and we fed out very little hay. Our May lamb crop was as strong as ever. It did increase our labor during the winter but that was spread out by saving a lot of time haying and fixing broken haying equipment.

[JaredWoodcock]

I think that is Ken from Merck forest, I know ellie and daisy well I worked them for a couple of years. Thanks for posting I will give him a call.

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