[Julie Clemons]

I am seeing the same issues viewing the site on my iPad Mini that others have described above.  Readable and functional, though.

[Julie Clemons]

Thanks, I looked it up. I am looking for something she can wear when she’s turned out as well. I guess I’ll just buy a regular fly sheet and sew some fringe near her front legs.

Here’s a link to the Meader’s product if anyone else is looking.

https://www.shopmeader.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=14402&eq=&Tp=

[Julie Clemons]

Brandon, I know you posted a while ago. Are you still looking? You might want to check into the MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers’ and Garderners’ Association) Apprentice Program. I stumbled into an excellent apprentice year with the Birdsalls of Horsepower Farm about a million years ago, and it was just what I needed. Good luck!

[Julie Clemons]

Robert, thank you for thinking of me. I have actually never been to Horse Progress Days but would love to go one of these days. That, and the SFJ Auction.

[Julie Clemons]

@Rick Alger 34278 wrote:

I have one you can borrow.

Wow, that would be great!

Would you mind emailing me at julieclemons(at)gmail.com so we can figure out when I can come up and get it? Thank you!

[Julie Clemons]

Oh, good point. Lil leads so easily that I would not have thought of that. You might have to retrain a horse to lead by a neck strap.

[Julie Clemons]

Rick – Yes, Jonathan said he saw you up there last fall during muzzleloader season. he said you were working a mare single and had another suffolk tied up to the trailer? He is actually going back up there next weekend to feed the blackflies, I mean, flyfish with some friends. Maybe you’ll see him. I forget which cabin they are staying in, but they are meeting a fish biologist up there so they can catch fish for science. They did this last year – they catch fish and she puts transmitters in their bellies and lets them go again. I think she works for the state of NH.

Donn and Carl – thanks for your thoughts. Maybe I am just trying to do too much. It is just driving me nuts looking out the windows at all the work I could be doing, and at Lil out there getting fat. I suppose this is why historically the housework has become women’s work – things you can put down when the baby hollers. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t drive me nuts though. I suppose back in the day I would have been in the house cooking for 20 field hands, so I should count my blessings. (But then of course I would have 20 field hands! Imagine all the work THEY could get done!) I do have a babysitter who comes a couple of hours, a couple of days a week.

I would be happy to put a halter under her bridle except that she is in between sizes (in between “large horse” and “draft”) so her bridle is barely big enough – but the draft size bridle I bought could not be buckled down tight enough, even if I had punched extra holes. So regardless of the motherhood issue, my original question – why don’t you see more people using neck straps on horses? Just a matter of convention? Or are halters actually safer? Or is it like blinders – you will find arguments both pro and con?

[Julie Clemons]

Hi Mitch,

No, Walker is not going to ride the horse, forecart or implement until she is big enough to jump off and roll. And at 20 pounds she is quite a burden in a baby carrier or backpack. I rarely ride my forecart when working, it’s just too bumpy around here, so I would be walking carrying the baby on my back, which even so poses safety risks and would limit me if Lil decided to run off (she never has, but you can’t rule it out ever). No, what I am trying to do here is be able to work with Lil while Walker is sleeping in the house. I have a baby monitor that works for quite a distance, so all I need is a safe, quick place to park Lil without unhitching if Walker wakes up unexpectedly. She naps anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours so you can see this is quite a range, but quite a chunk of time I COULD be using if I only knew how long I had.

Jonathan leaves for work at 7 in the morning and is rarely home before 6pm. Sometimes I feed Lil in the midafternoon and harness her (again, if I can work it out with the timing of Walker’s nap so Lil doesn’t have to stand in her stall harnessed half the day (although she can and does sometimes, I just don’t think it’s ideal). Then I can work with her when Jonathan gets home and after Walker goes to bed. That gives me an hour and a half sometimes. And of course we can get some work done on the weekends.

And yes, I would venture a guess that in most of the families represented on this board, the dad is the horsefarmer and the mom is, well, the mom. In this family I am both. Once Walker weans herself, Jonathan and I will be on more of an equal footing as parents. But right now he is the breadwinner and I am the mom, which doesn’t leave anyone to fill the horsefarmer position.

But we are a long way from tying horses in the woods and I don’t want to derail the conversation any further.

[Julie Clemons]

@Carl Russell 27200 wrote:

I am skeptical of any attempt to flirt with the safety of the horses as an excuse to save some time and effort on the part of the teamster.

Carl

Yes, normally I am lazy and careless of my horse’s safety. But in this particular case I am just desperately trying to think of ways I can work my horse a little more and mother a nursing baby at the same time.

[Julie Clemons]

I thought I remembered hearing Les Barden at one point advocating neck straps to tie horses, rather than having halters under the bridles. He said “You don’t leave your pajamas on your children under their clothes do you?”

Thoughts? I kind of figure if it’s good enough for Les, it’s good enough for me, yet I never see anyone using neck straps on horses.

[Julie Clemons]

Walker’s a girl, for the record. 🙂
believe me, I’ve considered a lot of these type of contraptions. Could I hook the bike trailer on behind the disk? Could I mount a carseat to the seatpost on the forecart? Could I stick her in a saddlebag? But then I think, there’s so many other things I would rather be in the newspaper for, besides killing my kid.

[Julie Clemons]

Two months later…Decided I had to get out there and disc even though it is still squooshy. At least there is plenty of organic matter to disc in, and I’m staying off the lower end of the field (there is still standing water there, argh). It disced up nicely and hope to spread manure and seed tomorrow. Anyone want to come babysit? Walker isn’t quite big enough to hold onto the hames yet.

[Julie Clemons]

That looks great. That is what I need to do, right now I have a disc with a cut-off tongue, pinned to my forecart. It’s just too long, not maneuverable enough. Did you buy that wheel somewhere or did you have it around?

I’ve been discing too, a little at a time. Lil hasn’t had any work in so long that I’m afraid to work her too hard right now. She is willing, just gets winded easily. I’ve been walking instead of riding the forecart; I need the exercise too. 😮

Heard we might get a little sun tomorrow.

ETA: I just googled “crazy wheel” and got this. Not exactly what I had in mind. Might be good for rolling your seedbeds though.
[IMG]

[Julie Clemons]

That looks great. That is what I need to do, right now I have a disc with a cut-off tongue, pinned to my forecart. It’s just too long, not maneuverable enough. Did you buy that wheel somewhere or did you have it around?

I’ve been discing too, a little at a time. Lil hasn’t had any work in so long that I’m afraid to work her too hard right now. She is willing, just gets winded easily. I’ve been walking instead of riding the forecart; I need the exercise too. 😮

Heard we might get a little sun tomorrow.

[Julie Clemons]

Thanks, that is what I was hoping to hear!

Especially since I called about the 4 wheel one and it is $2500 plus freight! Farm equipment guy: “Boy, we never get calls for the 4 wheel one! The only people who use those things are the Amish!”

[Author]

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