[jen judkins]

@Robert MoonShadow 5033 wrote:

Jen ~ What type of dog is he? Oh, and Nell thinks he’s quite the handsome guy. (She likes to flirt, even though she’s fixed – strictly a platonic relationship).

Well, he’s fixed too:D. We’ll have no bi-coastal doggie romance here:eek:. He is a mutt…though I am fairly certain there is a big hunk of border collie in there. A very intense desire to work, move, move some more…

[jen judkins]

@amanda07 5036 wrote:

At just three years, with all that bone growing still to do! Personally, and I’m feeling a little lonely here, I wouldn’t be asking for heavy work until five or six. physical and mental/attitude problems arise when we ask for too much too soon, just ask my mule!

Amanda, I felt much the way you do and I still do to a point. I would definately be careful about doing too much too soon with a youngster. BUT a youngster can learn alot about what is to be expected of them, by working (with little to no load…go back and read Carl’s post) being hitched next to a steady horse. If you go back and read the whole thread you will see that the youngsters spoken about are being handle and introduced to work right next to their mothers in many cases.

I had the opportunity to work with Mark Rashid 18 months ago and he encouraged me to bring out my then yearling belgian and start doing some exercises to get him ready for work. I was surprised at the time, but he really felt that starting younger is better, as these drafts get big fast. If you wait till they are 4 or 5 to put them to work, you lose some leverage if you need it (paraphrasing what he said). Obviously he was not recommending that have him pull a load at that age…just simulations…to make it easy later. I don’t have the advantage some of these guys have with generations of horses to help out with the youngsters…maybe some day:)

[jen judkins]

I just use them to keep my youngster from putting his head on the ground to graze while in harness. I’ve used both, but don’t really understand why there are two styles.

BTW, I would never use them on a saddle horse.

[jen judkins]

@Plowboy 5017 wrote:

Yesterday we encountered a small problem when he decided he didn’t want to go.

I’m glad you took the time to post about this ‘problem’ and your innovative solution to it. Its nice to hear about the places folks get stuck, even if only momentarily.

I remember during one of Peanuts early training drives with Ted, he made a point to tell me a story. Apparently it was originally told by John Lyons, though I never heard him tell it..

Anyway, its about a man who invites a woman to move in with him. She was a very smart woman and even though she thought his place was a dump, she complimented him on the decor. While he was away at work she set out to redecorate. She only did one tiny thing at the time…like move the lounger a foot or replace a towel. Her boyfriend never really noticed these little changes and before you knew it, the whole place looked different and they were both very happy.

The point being that if she had moved in and decided things had to change immediately and insisted that everything happen at once, she likely would have met with significant resistance, an unhappy relationship and a dump to live in.

Ted went on to explain that horses are not much different. If you make changes slowly and incrementally, most horses will come right along with the program..happily.

So whenever I have a difficult time with Peanut (which isn’t often) I always wonder to myself if I moved the furniture too far.

[jen judkins]

@Carl Russell 5019 wrote:

I was wondering when you go PATS, does that stand for Post Animal Traumatic Syndrome????:rolleyes:

Oh Carl…that’s sooo bad:eek:

[jen judkins]

@sanhestar 4975 wrote:

Why not the same amount of carefullness for a dog?

Point taken:D…we were having so much fun! Really our little haybale pull was less than 100 feet. But you are right, ‘slow and right’ is always better than ‘fast and wrong’.

Ira, I’ve seen the fancy harnesses, I just wanted something to try out first, to be sure this was something he would enjoy, before buying something that we wouldn’t use:rolleyes:.

[jen judkins]

@Robert MoonShadow 4964 wrote:

Jennifer: Photos please.

Of course….

we hooked up this am again and he managed to pull the bale up the hill on his own…but he needed a rest at the top:rolleyes:

I also hooked him to my Ursa cart, but I’m gonna have to modify it somewhat…the front axle has way too much play in it…it jack-knifes too easily. But he liked having wheels…easier to get started and pull.

Donn I can see why the shalves are helpful…..keeping the dog from getting tangled in the lines. I went back and looked at your photos from a previous post and got some good ideas. Thanks.

[jen judkins]

Appreciate the advice…but advice or no…I hooked my dog up to a bale of hay tonight….with very good success:D. I used an inverted halter that no lomger fits my belgian, hooked two leashes to the bale then snapped to the ‘harness’…then away we went. Was a piece of cake. I had to help on the uphill portion, but he pulled his weight on the flat. Couldn’t be more pleased. Now I need to refine the endeavor…so I do less work and he does more:rolleyes:.

[jen judkins]

@dominiquer60 4880 wrote:

Did you know that they have black skin. A friend sent me a link about how black silkie chickens are a new health fad with the soup that you make from them. http://www.blogofherbs.com/herbs/the-ultimate-kidney-tonic-black-soup They are different looking, but I am not trying to imply that you ax Mabel, just sharing some interesting silkie news.

Ha! I shared that with my mom….she was horrified! The silkies are waaaay to cute to consider eating, at least at this point:eek:. Nice to know we have some designer food to sell, if the need comes.

I also agree with you wholeheartedly about the Rooster factor:).

[jen judkins]

@becorson 4934 wrote:

the buckskin is named Cammy. i got her in 1994 when she was about 3-4. she is just about 15 hands and about 1200 pounds (most of it is head!) i don’t know her breeding, (any ideas?) she came through a “horse dealer” in northern Pa.

Morgan/clyde??? Very nice looking horse.

[jen judkins]

Sounds pretty straight forward. Thanks, Erika.

Here are my roosters….Sam (polish) and Mabel (silkie…thought he was a she…guess I should rethink the name). Oh yeah…my niece, Vera…the chicken whisperer.

[jen judkins]

Erika, What do you think Duke is crossed with? He very handsome and I like his size.

My friend has a morgan/percheron which I’m seeing more and more of. They are smaller but extremely strong for their size. She uses him as a saddle horse very successfully but I believe he was used single for logging as a youngster. I don’t have a great photo handy, but here he is picture with my saddle horse….so you can see he is not much bigger…about 15.2 or 15.3. He has the red halter on.

[jen judkins]

BTW, Erika, how do you train a rooster?

[jen judkins]

Oh what people don’t know about animals… it amazes me sometimes!

I’ve had neighbors call the police because all my horses were laying down out in the pasture one day…..they apparently looked quite ill.

Even tonight on my way out of the door at work, one of my colleagues asked me if I was gonna bring my horses into the barn tonight for the cold spell. When I said, ‘nope, no need’, she looked horrified.

I know most people have the best of intentions and most even are pleasantly surprised when I explain to them why a horse does so well in the cold and why shutting them in a barn is counter productive. They simply don’t know…

But PETA…..well, even before my horse days back in college, I knew they were all about publicity and ‘shock value’, not about education….in fact I happily don’t personally know anyone who takes them seriously:D.

[jen judkins]

Very cool, Donn! That DOES look like fun!

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