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OldKat
Participant@jenjudkins 9367 wrote:
How’s this for a couple of odd jobs:
My mom has been eyeing some Lady Slippers along an old dirt road near our place and was commenting today, as I was harnessing Reno, that she wishes she would remember to drive over the hill and dig some up. So I said, ‘get your shovel and lets go!’ It was a nice drive, Reno had plenty of energy, and we got to practice standing at several spots along the road, waiting for mom. Sweeeeet!
When we got home I decided I would run down to the mulch pile, down the hill and pick up a load of mulch to spread in the garden tomorrow. Reno had to turn around in a pretty tight spot and back up to the dump cart, then stand, while I loaded it and hooked it up. Small bit of work, but I feel good about doing something constructive. Mom took a photo on our way back up to the house.
For those following Reno’s rehab…he’s doing well. This was our second drive since his latest injury (severed extensor tendon left hind). He goes out alittle gimpy behind, but is power walking back in. No toe dragging or tripping…its all good!
That is great news, Jen. Sounds like you are having a blast (and becoming quite a teamster). Way to go!
Participant@Lawrenceu 9357 wrote:
Oh, I’ll be around. We are in Mobile. If you are in the area, let me know.
Will do, we go right through Mobile on the way.
Participant@Biological Woodsman 9355 wrote:
There is a fellow named Ladon Dewell in Andalusia, Alabama that works mules and knows some other folks that do too. Email me through the address below and I will give you Ladon’s email address. They had a plow day recently down there. Welcome aboard, take the time to look back in the archives or older post here and enjoy lots of good reading.
Thanks,
Well, there you go Lawrenceu. Sounds like you have like-minded teamsters in your neck of the woods afterall. I am always amazed at how people on this board can be such a good resource to others that are hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
I guess “ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find” is in vogue. Amazing if you really start thinking about it.
Where abouts in Alabama are you? We will be going to visit the daughter in Auburn in early August, you might just be on the way.
Good luck Lawrenceu, hope we hear more from you.
Participant@Lawrenceu 9343 wrote:
Actually it’s Wooooooooooo Pig Sooie!
I grew up in Arkansas.
Oh, I thought they MADE you declare one way or the other before you could live there! đź
Participant@Lawrenceu 9337 wrote:
What a great forum. Thanks to the owners and admins for providing it. I was a blessed young man who learned to plow mules. I haven’t hitched up in more than twenty years. One of my goals is to buy a decent sized farm and begin to work it with mules. I’m a few years out, but we are working on it. If there is anyone on the Central Gulf Coast I’d love to meet you.
Roll Tide or War Eagle?
Participant@near horse 9329 wrote:
How about energy speculators like those guys that worked the Enron scam and then were hired by firms like Morgan Stanley to do the same with oil last summer? Glad we helped bale out old MS ’cause I’m sure they didn’t make near enough off $4.50 gas.
Oh, I agree. Also, how about the price fixing in electricity contracts in California? Representatives from the El Paso Corporation and Cal Pine got caught red handed fixing prices. Huge fines followed and I think some spent some well deserved time in the slammer because of it. That put Cal Pine out of business and has placed such a burden on El Paso (due to ongoing repayments to the state of California) that I don’t think they will ever fully recover. That is one reason why I left there after a combined 22 years of service; 10 years the first time I worked for them and 12 the second.
I started to mention price fixing / unmanaged speculation as a factor in making supplies of whatever commodity scarce, but my post was reaching novella length anyway so I passed on it. I will say I never saw any indication of stuff like that when I was on the trading floor at Chevron. That was a department that was built on a solid foundation of integrity. It actually starts at the top and filters its way down. That said I felt at the time that this was not true of many of the organizations that we dealt with. There were two firms that I said that I would never work for; Enron was one, Natural Gas Clearinghouse (later named Dynegy) was the other. It was interesting to see that those were among the first to bite the dust when their corruption was uncovered. I can’t honestly say that I saw it coming, but I can say is it did not surprise me one bit.
Don’t get me wrong, oil is a finite resource. So is natural gas, coal, trees, even sand for that matter. What I am saying is that we will never “use the last drop” of oil. Instead it will eventually become so hard to extract that it won’t be feasible to use anymore, or it will be taxed so high that it won’t be cost effective anymore, terrorist will make it impossible to transport, or irrefutable proof (absolutely irrefutable proof ) that it is destroying the environment may surface, etc, etc. There may be a thousand or more good reasons to move away from fossil fuels; the “fact” that we are in eminent danger of entirely depleting them just doesn’t happen to be one of them.
Participant@Jean 9330 wrote:
Carl, Check the tires before you get going. my neighbor just mowed his field with one and after the first trip around he had lost a tire.
I would like to pick up the grass he mowed, it was about a foot tall, with seed heads. Does anybody know of any danger to feeding hay that has been chopped into maybe 4 inch pieces? I would have to ted and pick up by hand, but it might be worth it if it does not harm a horse.
Jean
If the grass(es), forbs, legumes or whatever in the sward are species that would not normally harm a horse all you would be doing is substituting their labor (grazing) for yours (picking it up and hauling it). That should not be a problem. However, if you piled it up in piles and they didn’t eat it all and then it went through a heat, that is it began to compost, then yes the remainder of that pile would be dangerous to feed to them.
I like figuring out ways to use resources like this that would otherwise go to waste. As long as it is cost effective to do it, there is no way you shouldn’t consider it. Let us know what you come up with.
ParticipantWhat I have to say may be anathema to some ears. Fair warning, if you don’t want to hear it ⊠tune out now. I am generally loathe to bring some of these points up because many people, on either side of the debate, have a âmy minds made up, donât try to confuse me with the factsâ mentality. Still I do have some degree of expertise in these matters, as this next month I will observe my 28th anniversary in the energy industry; almost all of it in some sort of analytical role. Currently it is in the real time operational analysis of one of the major interstate natural gas pipelines that serves the midâAtlantic into the NYC area, previously I have been in the same role with the major interstate serving the Northeast corridor; Boston, etc. I have also worked in the commercial-operational area of the marketing arm of one of the major producers of natural gas. In fact it was the largest producer of natural gas in the US at that time. Likewise I had a similar role for the marketing affiliate of one of the largest intrastate pipelines in my home state.
That said I donât have any problem with people wanting to minimize their dependence on, or free themselves completely of any reliance on fossil fuels. In fact I have those feeling to some degree myself. If I had NO concerns on the environmental front, which is not the case, it would still be an excellent idea to minimize our dependence on petroleum simply because such a large percentage of it comes from a region of the world where the average citizen despises the US. Regardless of the cause of their distain, it is there. Even if they LOVED us dearly, the flow of dollars leaving the country to pay for that product is putting a serious drain on our economy. So why put a loaded pistol in their hands and guide that hand to our collective head? I donât think anyone on this board or any other would argue that this is faulty logic, so I will move on.
Where I see people jumping the track is in their belief that we are in eminent danger of ârunning out of (fill in the blank) form of energyâ. Sorry, isnât going to happen any time soon. Does that mean that we should be fat, dumb and happy? In no way am I implying that. We still would have all of the geopolitical risk associated with securing petroleum. There would still be the dollar drain on the economy, there would still be the environmental concerns (oil spills, pollution or whatever that might be), there would still be ⊠you name it. Regardless, the talk of âpeak oilâ has been interpreted by many, many people to believe that the tanks are almost empty. In its truest sense âpeak oilâ means that we have passed the peak of our ability to identify, locate and produce easily recoverable oil. Thatâs all well and good. Does it mean we are about to run dry? Well not exactly. The reason I say this is because if I look back at my own career I can identify a time, early on in my working life, that the conventional wisdom said we had about 7 years of natural gas left to produce and then the wells would ârun dryâ.
Did this happen? Obviously not. Did we suddenly cut our use of natural gas to make it last? No, in fact we are using MUCH, MUCH more natural gas than we used 28 years ago. Billions of cubic feet, or dekatherms as we now term it, per DAY more. Recently I sat in a conference in Plainsboro, NJ where multiple presenters used the figure of 70 to 80 years worth of âconventionalâ production AND 100 PLUS years of shale gas left at todayâs rate of use. What changed? In a word ⊠technology. We are producing natural gas now in areas that 12 to 15 years ago we couldnât even consider producing. When I worked for Chevron in the early 1990âs I saw maps of potential oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf of Mexico that were not possible to produce with the technology of that day. Today those same regions are producing oil and gas. Shale gas was virtually untapped 15 years ago. Today pipelines are being built to deliver this very gas into the commercial market streams.
Am I saying this will last forever? No. Is there a need to panic? Again, no. Does it make sense to use the resources we have to bridge us to another form of energy? I think so. Still, many people will tell you that we are on the verge of societal collapse based on the absence of energy. IF that happens it will be because of the actions of terrorists or a bumbling government (ours or others), maybe both or even due to other reasons we canât even envision at this time. It WILL NOT be because the energy industry canât deliver ⊠because it can.
There was a really good posting on this site recently from the CEO of a natural gas producing and marketing firm as he addressed the graduating class of a high school or a college, I forget which. I donât know the guy; donât know his company other than by name. Regardless, his comments reflect and mirror my experiences in this industry. If you havenât read it you should.
ParticipantI drizzle it directly over their feed and then sort of roll it in like you would mix ingredients for baking something.
Not sure about the flies. The biggest fly problem I have is the common house fly and what seems to be the variable there is how much rain we have had recently. More rain equals more flies. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that it helps to reduce the population.
ParticipantWow Jen, glad you didnât land on any thing important! Just a little tease from someone who, as you have learned, knows that it isnât so great landing on your noggin. Ironically, it was exactly 10 years ago yesterday that my daughtersâ gelding dumped me square on my big fat square head. Some folks say I havenât been the same since, but others say âNo, he was always that way!â Anyway, glad you survived. Likewise to anyone else that has ever had such an issue or even a near miss happen to them.
Guess Iâll have to fess up, too. I had an âincidentâ with my Rachel earlier this week. In fact it was Tuesday; the day Jen posted her story. I have been building a stone boat, working on it an hour or so every time I get a chance for the past couple of weeks. I am almost finished with it and decided that maybe going straight to the stone boat wasnât such a great idea since I havenât asked them to drag or skid anything in about a year. So for the past several evenings I had been ground driving each of the mares, letting the single-tree rattle and clank along behind them & rattling a chain off of it, etc, etc. No problems, they accepted it and would stand quietly while I hooked and unhooked to / from their trace chains. I also tied a rope on it and asked my wife to walk behind them and swing the single-tree side to side to get them use to the traces rubbing and banging on their legs. I noticed they didnât like the trace lying solid against their legs while they were turning. In retrospect that should have indicated a need for some additional work. It didnât; my first mistake.
Second mistake was the one that really bothers me, because I knew better. I keep my harness, lines etc at home because I currently donât have a secure place to store them at the barn. Not a good situation & one that will change this year. Anyway, I was driving them with a set of lines that I happened to have in my pickup. When I was just ground driving the mares individually and walking right behind them the lines were plenty long enough. Of course when I started driving them as a team I was using a good long set team lines; still no issue. However as soon as I started dragging an old fence corner brace assembly that I had in my burn pile I realized that my lines were now too short. Way too short. That same little voice that Jen had heard said to me: âStop right now, go home and get your longer set of linesâ. Well, I didnât because it was getting late and I was making good progress. Hello mistake # 2.
After I took Miss Maggie for about a half dozen passes around the little two acre trap I keep them in I decided it was time for Rachel, who is generally the calmer of the two, to take her turn. She settled down fine. About halfway through the first pass around she dropped her head and just started calmly walking the course I had her on. I relaxed a little bit; I guess maybe mistake # 3. I noticed on one particularly tight turn that the tugs really pressed into her off side rear leg, which she did not like one bit. About the third pass that way I decided to swing her to the right and go to more of an open area. Just about the time the tug pressing into her leg was really bugging her I swung her away and toward the gate. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side and started getting a little squeezed between the adjacent fence and the deal she was dragging, so I gave her a whoa and pulled her up. She stopped and did stand still while I switched sides, but she was a little nervous about it. Unfortunately, when she started up the brace hung up briefly and then popped loose with a jump. Rachel lurched ahead; no big deal or would have been no big deal had I long enough lines. If it has never happened to you it might surprise you how fast they can yank the lines through your hands, especially if they are too short. The lines slapped her rump and she bolted before I could even think âWHOA!â
She flat out ran to the far end of the lot, dragging the now disintegrating brace as she went. She made about two or three passes around a little half acre lot before the brace hung up on something. Fortunately I had a smallish chain attaching it to the single-tree and the grab hook snapped. Rachel ran up to where I had Maggie tied and planted herself right next to her. I ran over and caught her and got the single-tree off her and hung the chains in the carriers while my wife and I looked her over and lead her around a little to calm her down.
Once we were satisfied that she was not injured I drove her around a little just dragging the single-tree. Then we got some old 16â tires out the barn and rigged up the chain to drag a couple of them. After about three passes around she settled down a little. Unfortunately it was now after 9:00 PM by this point and my wife was pointing at her watch, as in âit is time to go homeâ, otherwise we would have stayed at it for another 30 minutes or more. Anyway, a couple of lessons learned ⊠primarily when that little voice says âThis looks like a major screw up in the makingâ âŠyou BETTER listen.
A further comment, other commitments prevented me from driving them yesterday. I am away from home through Sunday due to business issues. So if anybody has any ideas on any special considerations I should be thinking about before I harness her up on Monday and start dragging whatever, I am all ears. Finally, it so happens that I am off work all next week so I will have a whole week to put in some serious hours in driving the mares. If any of you have any ideas on how I should best utilize this time to acclimate them to dragging things feel free to speak up.
Participant@Fermentation 9293 wrote:
my vote is Raw Organic Apple cider vinegar. I like the brand braggs. The plus is that you can eat it too đ I never use white vinegar, most of it is synthetic and made from Charcoal and tar. they don’t tell you that! I also vote for plain baking soda. Third and last is castille soap, like Dr. Bronners unscented. If the first two can’t do it, move to a new location. You’re never need anything beyond those three rarely for household cleaning and etc. IMVHO as always DYODD ( Do your own Due Dilligence)
I don’t have access to the “raw organic” part, but I do feed 3 oz per day per head of apple cider vinegar to each of our horses. I can’t remember the last time I have tested them for internal parasites (worms) and found a positive.
ParticipantInteresting stuff and very well done. Jason, enjoyed your comments on the video.
Looks like a neat town that Floyd, Va. Have to check it out sometime.
Participant@Plowboy 9202 wrote:
Trevor John Decker is his name. I won’t stand in his way if he likes Percheron mules or Suffolk horses. In fact I’m a little partial to both. In fact Jason if we ever need to find young stock and can’t find good stout Percherons don’t be suprised if we give you a call some summer to look over your foal crop. Trevor has my darker skin and has brownish hair right now but his hair could change. He looks like a carbon copy of my first baby picture right now with lighter hair. He might be long legged like his mom and we can’t tell if he has her blue eyes yet or not. We are both relieved that the delivery went well and he is healthy and active.
That’s the key, right there.
Congrats, Dennis and all of the “Plowboy” family on the new arrival. I know this is an exciting thing and a great time for you all.
They sure grow up fast, so look for ways to stay involved. People told me that when mine were little, and it is not that I didn’t believe them … it is just that, even with fair warning, I was still shocked when the youngest left home to go off to college 3 years ago. Where did all of the time go?
ParticipantCarl;
In fact you can’t put a dollar value on those experiences, can you?
Participant@Donn Hewes 9094 wrote:
I have the luxury of having an old bus seat on one of my fore carts. I all ways look forward to raking hay from there. never had much trouble with seeing where I was going or turning radius. I wish I had an umbrella!
We are just about to sell the Ford Expedition that my wife drives. It has a removable third row seat that has essentially never been used. Since we are going to be practically giving the car away anyway, I made an executive decision that the forecart I am going to build is going to have a nice car seat on it. đ
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