[LongViewFarm]

Thanks Marc,
No rush here, and no good understanding of VOcab either.
Maybe I’ll come see you sugar house in operation?

[LongViewFarm]

Here is the flier, more info, and the registration form.

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[LongViewFarm]

It certainly caught my attention Carl. A little younger and a little more experience, but maybe I’m being picky. I’ve got enough to keep me busy for now.

As for price Jared you could try $2k but if you can give her $2400 you’d get good value I think… She mentioned taking payments. I’ll send you her phone numbers later today.

[LongViewFarm]

I went over last Sun AM to have a look at the team, and here are my thoughts:

They look like a good team, knowing that one is relatively old and one is relatively inexperienced.
They have a good attitude, walked right up to us in the pasture, and are gentile. Both halter and lead well. Both have no obvious faults in conformation or any lameness that we could detect. The elder mare will pick up her feet, and held them for 30-45 seconds. I could keep them longer but did not try too hard. The younger mare would pick up her feet but would not hold them up very long at all. There is some training needed there, but not enough to put me off, I think. The owner says they typically trim in the stocks and do well. There were stocks present in the paddock. Both of them need a serious hoof trimming soon. There is a major split in the elder mare’s left front hoof, in the inside edge. This crack extends horizontally and shallowly about 1″ below the coronary band. I was glad I brought my father along. He is a veterinarian and his opinion of the crack is that it would not limit the mare’s ability to work. It would be best managed with proper trimming and being shod year round.
We then harnessed up the elder mare and I watched the owner drive her before driving her myself. The mare was a pleasure to drive- very light on the reins with a snaffle bit. Walks, gees, haws, and backs on command. The collar she currently has is 3-4″ too small, and the point of draft too high. She worked in an open bridle. She stood well for harnessing and unharnessing, and did everything asked of her in a 10 minute drive.
In the interest of temperature we did not drive the younger horse but did tack her up. She was good to catch and tack, though she did lift her head several times as we put the bridle on.

I think this would be a good team for someone who has a little time to tune them up before asking for production work. I would buy them either for my own use or to train and resell. The owner strikes me as honest and caring. She says she’s been too busy to get the horses out often, and the reason for selling is a pending divorce. The price is reasonable, and negotiable.
The reason that I am not going to buy them is that I feel I should spend my time this summer working with Zeke as a single, and maybe with other horses on our farm.

If anybody wants to know more, I’m happy to talk to you.

[LongViewFarm]

It looks like I am unable to upload more info and registration files. I will look into that and post those documents soon.

[LongViewFarm]

Good for you and good luck. I wish you could work in NH!

[LongViewFarm]

I am going to have a look at this team Sun. Turns out they’re connected through a few degrees of separation. I’ve gone over to help vet them 5-6 years ago and they were fine for vet. Underused is the biggest issue I hope.
Not sure I really want another team, but will enjoy the time spent looking.

[LongViewFarm]

I would also be interested in learning more about this team.
What is the best way to react you?
I am at 603-477-2114 or longviewfarminc@gmail.com
Thanks,
Jay Fisher

[LongViewFarm]

Thank you all for your support right now. It is incredibly helpful to hear a kind word. I used to say that the horses and I taught each other how to work, and that is totally true. Now Zeke and I must teach each other how to work without Lee. I am realizing all over again how little I know, and I hope to persevere.

Lee loved life. Food, of course, was his favorite thing, but he loved to work too. He was happy to let his brother do most of the pulling, and would step into the collar when needed. Even though he wasn’t the forward horse in the team, he was the leader, confidant. Lee also enjoyed people, and you could walk out in the field and climb up on his back without any tack or halter. He would take care of you. To feel him move slowly about grazing while you were on his back was something special.

Lee came into my life in 2007 or 2008. He was actually my dad’s horse, a farmer’s payment on a veterinary bill. Since my dad already had a team, and I wanted to spend time with him, I started driving Lee. His sire was the Morgan stallion Willoughby and his dam was a Belgian mare. Lee was maybe two years old when we put him in a Meadowbrook cart and started following my dad’s team around. I would steer Lee into dad’s wagon is ever I needed too. It was not the most formal method of training a horse for sure, but I loved it. I used to work twenty-four hour shifts in an ambulance company and I would get off work at seven am on Thursday mornings and rush right out to Unity to meet my dad to drive, sometimes after very little sleep. Soon Lee and I started driving on our own.

Zeke came into the picture a year later, from the same farmer for the same reason. Lee had taught me how to drive, and now taught his brother. In the pair Lee always had the confidence, I believe a result of working single before working in a pair. I have worked Zeke single, but not as often as I should. Training is never at its optimum level and using the team was the easiest way to get work done. Zeke was the more forward horse, and I used to joke about “Lazy Lee is on the Left” and enjoyed the alliteration. It made it easy for people to remember who was who in the team.

Lee brought happiness to many people through wagon rides, farm visits, parades, and weddings. We could pull logs and mow fields and spread manure. We had just performed amazingly in our first on farm forestry demo. I was looking forward to plowing and cultivating. He was a horse in his prime, with many great skills and years left to practice them. He came into my life by happy circumstance and grew to take a draft sized place in my heart.

It took one broken pole, 300 feet of terrified running, and all of that was gone to a broken leg and a horrible lesson. What still bothers me is that this was our first runaway ever, our first accident. Why did it have to prove fatal? So many people have said to me lately “I had that happen one time and almost lost a horse.” Almost? I WISH I had an almost story.

For some cruel reason Lee is gone and I try to remember all the good times we had.

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[LongViewFarm]

Thanks for the support folks. It means a lot. I keep coming back to the randomness of it. 3 days of good work in a row, doing something we’d done dozens of times before. Such a good horse, with so much good life left. For such a thing to happen it seems there must be a reason, but hell if I know.

I drove Zeke solo for an hour this morning. It was good. We are both lacking confidence.

If anybody knows of a forecart with shafts that I could borrow, buy, or rent, please let me know. Specifically I could use one to continue hauling logs.

Thanks and bless you all. I hope you never experience this.

[LongViewFarm]

I’d love to see that happen Mark. 😀
Logistics are (relatively) easy to set up.

[LongViewFarm]

We have standing pine on a lot that we’re interested in shipping while the market’s so good.

I don’t have the time to bring it out. Do you know of anyone looking for work that might be interested in it? ~20 acres, heavy in good pine. Steep slope. Trails established.

I’d love to be logging right now, but I am about to take my forecart apart to make improvements so I can get after it during Feb break.

[LongViewFarm]

A quote from one of our participants, emailed and reprinted with permission:

“Hi Jay,
Just wanted to say thanks again for a fantastic day this past weekend. It was exactly what I needed in terms of an overview, and gave me a lot to think about for the future. Thanks also for being so inclusive with your wealth of knowledge – you and your folks made me feel right at home, and any fears I had of appearing woefully ignorant quickly went out the window. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again sometime in the future, so until then, take care!
Best wishes,
Michael Madole”

That’s a solid success for DAPNet

[LongViewFarm]

The food was great!
Hash and coffee with fresh eggs for breakfast, chilli simmering for hours for lunch,, cornbread, bumpkin dessert, then crocked beef brisket with veggies for dinner followed by gluten free chocolate cake, washed down with rye shot and apple pie from a certain board member. 😉

Wish you were here? Maybe not at 6am when it was 12 degrees out…

However the weather, horses, people, and implements cooperated for a wonderful day of learning about forestry as practiced on our farm. We discussed and practiced safe felling, demonstrated skidding with the single horse and team with the forecart, worked with a scoot, and milled lumber.

The small journal I advertised in (the Green Valley Journal) came and took pictures and info for a story. I’ll keep you posted if they put anything in their next issue.

Folks seemed very happy with the day. With a small size we were able to make sure everyone got to see what they wanted. Driving opportunities went great.

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[LongViewFarm]

We are nearing 10 registrations for the event and would love to see a few more. It’s going to be a fun day with felling, skidding, bucking, and milling showing many stages of processing timber into finished products.
And there will be good food, fun people, a movie, and libations.
Join us! 😉

November 29th.
Long View Farm
Charlestown, NH

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