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Joshua Kingsley
Participantmy two kids are quite accustom to being given driving commands in all kinds of situations. It was somthing else though when I was driving them through the toy aisle at the store the other day…. Things a teamster does with out even a thought.
Participantwe usually end up with our topsoil burried in silt sand not so much stripped away. it is a never ending battle to get the ground to grow somthing that is so fine that there is no organic matter in it at all. With some plowing into the existing organic rich soil here we can usually get things to grow quite well. My pastures are starting to show now and will likely need to be plowed under and reseeded. That should cause some sweat on the collars for at least one team in the near future.
JoshuaParticipantHere at Heritage dream farm the horse barn has 3 feet of water in it. I had relocated some horses to dad’s machinery shed yesterday and this am I was woken up to dad hollering the water had reached the horse barn. My pigs lerned to surf… on some loose wood that came from some where, they were in a pen in the horse barn and if you have ever chased pigs in the water it ain’t no fun. I now have new stalls in the former machinery shed and all the horses are in there in one way or another. There was a steady stream of people coming down to look at the flooding and the covered bridge that has so far stood through the damage.
One other farm that raises veggies has about 2 feet of mud and 20 feet of trees and debris on thier fields. It will likely be several days for the water to come off our pastures and meadows, then it will be time to evaluate the damage and move on.
be well, JoshuaParticipantBill,
I seperated my colts last year at 4 months the mares and colts made some niose for the first day or so then they settled in. I would start off by leaving the colts in the barn and putting the mares to work then after they get the idea that they will live with out mom then I would graduate to a pasture. It all depends on how you want to go about it. I have also worked mares and then allowed the colts to be with the mares at nite for a while. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call.
JoshuaParticipantThat is one thing that is always going to happen. My uncle is often known as the eccentric one and he got me really bit by the bug when I was 14. now 15 years later I am still messing with horses. Some times big ones and it was heavy ponies for a while. Right now it is Percherons and some haflingers. You just have to know that some times it is not what they think at this moment but how things have been in the past that will aid in your relationships.
My family is supportive of my draft habit more now than they had been in the past, though it has taken several years and a new life partner who is interested in this craft to make things easier.
JoshuaParticipantBrad,
i can relate to your story tonight. I got a different mare this last week and hitched her with my good mare for the first time tonight. Things started out a bit rocky when we were harnessing but she calmed down some when Casey helped line the mares up to get them hooked. Well then all heck broke loose. This mare that was supposed to be broke broke broke was anything but. Her eyes rolled when the steel evener on the forecart clanked and she took off like a rocket. The other mare in tow along with my forcart clanging behind them.
I went for the lead rope and got dragged a bit as I tried to get some footing on the loose sandy topsoil in the dry lot and then they ran a lap or so and came to a stop. Nothing broken, no real damage to anything, so I finished hooking her and we went for an hour plus ride.
After that we went to unhook and she started again. This time she stopped before things went bad and I hitched again and unhooked about 4 or 5 times before we called it a night.
It really makes you appreciate the horses that you know and it gives you a second thought about bringing in somthing unkown all that often.
All I can say is that it really made me wonder if I really want to buy “pleasure” horses again. I would rather start a colt than try to figure out everything that had happened before. I also know I will really reevealuate how I go about hitching unknown horses into my hitches.
Sorry for the long post.
JoshuaParticipantEd,
From what little I know about horse drawn disks. It looks like yours was ment to have a toung truck. You can unbolt the truck attachment and bolt in a tounge and it will work as is. For disks you can get them from most Tractor supply stores or even the local equipment dealers. I would remove the outer disk to see what it has for an arbor and go from there. The thing about disks is that they will really work a horse, go with the disk as is for this year and see what you get for soil action. If you feel that it is not cutting enough then I would consider new disks. I have no idea what make or model it is but it looks to be totally useable. Have fun working the garden up.
JoshuaParticipant@KGerstner89 26441 wrote:
Wonder if I could find a jerseyxdexter cross
I have had several of the Crosses and even used one as a bull to cover my fathers first calf hefiers. I have a Jersey dexter in the barn milking almost 50 pounds a day for a while but tends to fall off to the 40 pound mark and hold that. she is about 600# and is 3/4 jersey with the dexter size and hair with jersey color.
Joshua
ParticipantOn another note I use Haflingers here for farm work and they do well with most all the farm equipment that I have. most of the old equipment was ment for horses that were smaller than todays drafts. I have found that the smaller horses rev a little higher but will do a suprising amount of work on less feed.
JoshuaParticipantYou may want to check out Clover Oaks farm in FL. They raise Fjords and Ardennes horses and Joyce is in Brooksville. She is easy to talk with and works her horses in harness and such as well she is online and also lists her # on her web site. http://www.cloveroaksfarm.com/home.html
Joshua
Participant@Does’ Leap 25990 wrote:
Brad, thanks for the input. I guess I will stick with the farm collar.
George
I have used farm collars alot in the past and I have also used some pulling collars. One of the biggest differences I saw was the clearance around the wind pipe on a pulling collar and the hame bed is often deeper. Just my .02
JoshuaParticipantMy understanding of bite issues is that they are hereditary and that they will some times be out grown but more often than not they require alot of dental work to keep up with them. And can often be an issue for the entire life of the animal as far as overgrown teeth go from not wearing properly.
JoshuaParticipantMy first pair of haflinger geldings came with some collars that fit reasonably well… they are 23 or 24 inch. When I sold Charlie this last month he was in a 19 or 20 with a full pad. Now the mares that I own all vary one is in a 19 with a pad and is always in that size even now that she is very heavy with foal and such the other two mares are cases of growing and shrinking necks. Misty is now in the 23 with a pad and my Sunny mare varies from a 20 with a pad to a 21 with out depending on if she works every day or not.
With the haflingers it is common to have them put weight on the crest of the neck due to the breed being some what prone to insulin resistance. At least with this breed if the neck is growing like that you really have to watch them for founder as that is a close following thing with haflingers.Joshua
ParticipantThey look like the cattle that I was trying to create in the late 90’s as a small homestead cow. I would love the ablility to have animals like this here in Vermont.
JoshuaParticipantMitch: I sure can appreciate what you are saying about not getting to the trees. Dad and I have 25 buckets out this year and are planning to boil on the old barrel rig. We haven’t boiled since we moved here in 04 so it is a new adventure here on this farm. The creek rose today so getting the sap was an adventure. if things continue this way dad won’t get there tomarrow to gather at all. The water rose 10 inches in an hour…. we got in just shy of 60 gallons of sap though and that will need to get boiled in the am. Hope others are haveing a good season.
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