[OldKat]

@Countymouse 20813 wrote:

Yes, it was originally designed for a lawn tractor. The settings are supposedly in “pounds per 1000 square feet.” It not even close! I ended up spreading oats at the setting of “11 pounds per 1000 square feet.” It is an easy pull, I can move it around myself no problem. If I was going to pull it with a much smaller animal, I might rig up way to prevent the tongue from nosediving into the ground from time to time. That the only time it gets hard to pull by hand. The horse, of course, doesn’t notice this. She’s way overpowered for this job, but she’s reliable. The booklet on the spreader says the swath is 12 feet, but it looks pretty thin 6 feet away from the center, so I overlapped and made about 8-10 foot passes. I actually made alot more passes than this, because I was getting used to the seeding rate, which was so far off the booklet info it took a while to convince myself. I have concerns that the small seed (turnip seed) may have settled to the bottom of the seeder when mixed with the large seed (oats) and been broadcast at greater rates at the beginning of the run, but not much can be done about that now…

Nope, what is done is done.

However, for next year try premixing your small seed with coarse sand then mixing that with your larger seed. I’ve done that before and it worked pretty well for me.

[OldKat]

@dlskidmore 20843 wrote:

Well this is something I never imagined:

http://toginet.com/shows/amishwisdom/

Obviously the host is not herself Amish, but she has familial ties and spends time working with them.

The guy that is filling in for her, Erik Wesner (sp?) has a blog called Amish America. If anyone is not familiar with it give it a look.

[OldKat]

@mitchmaine 20573 wrote:

hey erika, sounds like a dream vacation.
when we were in school, our local fair was held in october, and we used to get two days off from school to go. seemed like everybody had something to do with it or at it. and up in aroostook, they had three weeks off from school each fall to pick potatoes. lots of hand work then.
if you had stock at the fair, somebody had to spend the night with them. that was before campers and it meant you slept in the hay with a blanket and the cows. night life at a fairgrounds is very interesting. carnies, kids and a watchman or two. i’d like to do that again, but you can only be twelve once, i guess.

Our county fair is still held in October, though this year the wife and I will be in Alabama visiting our oldest so we won’t be attending. 🙁 The kids in our county still get two days off for the fair. Nearly every kid either has something in the fair or finds some reason that they “have to” be there, so it is easier to just shut the schools down for those two days than to deal with all of the absences. A couple of years back our school board was looking for ways to shorten the school year and still get in the state required 185 days of classroom instruction. One of the newcomers to the school board, a lady who had moved into the community some 10 years before from the city suggested doing away with the two days off for the fair. Dang near caused a riot when word got out on that. She did not win re-election later that same year.

Man does THAT bring back memories! Funny how we can live hundreds or even thousands of miles apart and have such experiences in common, yet the people that live just down the road from me would have NO understanding of what that was like. I guess it is just sort of a brotherhood thing.

[OldKat]

Have been out of pocket lately, but catching up on some interesting posts. Thanks for your input on the fairs in your areas.

Nice rig and a beautiful animal there, reb.

[OldKat]

@Robin 20546 wrote:

The Otisville Fair is in Orange County, NY a few miles West of Middletown,NY not too far from the NJ, Pa border. It’s a very small fair put on by the Lions Club.

…

Robin

This kind of touches on something that I had been wondering about regarding the various Fairs in other parts of the country, especially NY state and the Norteast in general. The reason that I ask is “Fair Season” is rapidly approaching where I live and I was wondering how things are done in other areas. Nearly every county in our area will have a County Fair betwen mid-September and the week before Thanksgiving, then no more until early March through the end of May. Ours are usually sponsored by a “Fair Association” and have evolved over time to being 90% or more for the youth of the particular county where the fair is located. Mostly the kids, 4-H and FFA, show market livestock; with some breeding classes particularly for beef heifers. No dairy shows in our area whatsoever, but there was one in each of the two counties to the north of us until very recently. No dairy industry there anymore, so the dairy shows have faded away.

Lots of shows now have colt projects, but they are all for saddle breeds and generally almost all are AQHA colts, with a sprinkling of paints thrown in. No draft horse shows at all, probably in the whole state. Showmanship & Herdsmanship competiton is common at most fairs. The most recent “additions” at the various fairs in our area have been; beef heifer shows -25 to 30 years ago, colt project shows – 15 to 20 years ago, goat shows, both market and breeding – 7 to 10 years ago and ag mechanics competitions – 3 to 5 years ago, though some have had them for much longer. The things that have been phased out have been dairy, almost anything for adults, like; hay shows (we still have one, but this year it moved out from being associated with the fair to being a stand alone event) and “open” classes of breeding animals (mostly these were cattle and a these are still found at a few fairs, but not ours). The cooking and craft parts of the fair remain popular events for the ladies, virtually nothing for men. Not that men couldn’t compete in those areas, they just generally don’t. The “entertainment” side of most fairs has grown; local, regional and nationally known recording artsists are commonly booked and the “mid-way” or carnival has become a bigger deal than it was when I was a youngster. Stll it seems to be that we are moving away from what these fairs once were and I am not convinced that this is a good idea.

So in your area how are the fairs? i.e. Who generally sponsors them? Where are they held? Are they usually in the fall of the year, or is one going on somewhere most of the year? What is the focus of these Fairs? By that I mean are these mainly for the area youth? Do they focus on livestock & poultry projects or other? Are there “open” classes for anyone that wants to compete or are the fairs limited to youth only? Is there any kind of opportunity for adults to compete or otherwise display products, produce, crafts, hobbies etc?

Just thinking …

[OldKat]

@near horse 20534 wrote:

I guess that was my original thought – is there a way to convey to motorists what “you want them to do”? Not just a slow-moving vehicle sign, but maybe a “Please pass with care when safe!” sign on the back of your rig. You’d hope people would know but as you said, one hesitant driver causes the jam up and then folks further back take bigger risks trying to pass.

I know what you’re saying Erik. Good safe drivers still can get killed by idiots on the road. Be careful and good luck!

Good teamsters and good teams, too. SOME people are absolutely idiots when they get behind the wheel. I have thought about a sign that says: “Please pass with care at normal speed”, just for that same reason.

When I use to have some lease property that was on either side of small, narrow and mostly unpopulated country lane I had the opposite problem. You would think you would never see any Indy 500 type drivers on such a road, but I was constantly amazed when people would blast into my herd of cows at 60, 70 mph when I was trying to drive them from one side of the road to the other. I thought about having some signs made up that said “SLOW, totally nude 10K FUN RUN just ahead” and put them out 1/4 of a mile or so on either side of the driveway that I brought them out to cross the road. I figure they may not slow down for a “Livestock Crossing” sign, but let them think they were going to see some flesh and they would probably slow to a crawl. I never made up the signs and don’t have that lease anymore, but I bet it would work

[OldKat]

@grey 20418 wrote:

Those would have all been fall-over-faint-with-joy prices over here on my side of the country. Heck, those are even go-buy-it-all-and-ship-it-home prices. And in such excellent condition, too. 😮

If this stuff had been within a days drive of me that is EXACTLY what I would have done.

BTW: Says something about Carl for taking the time to help these folks sell their stuff.

[OldKat]

@Timbits 20343 wrote:

I’ve meaning to ask this for awhile now, but laziness/busyness has gotten the better of me.

Has anyone come across a good book that talks about the different styles of harness out there. Would love to find one that talks about western/box breeching harness and New England D ring and Yankee and side backer harness? and maybe even breast collar?

Or am i just asking for too much in one book?

Tim

I bought a book one time that I thought would do just what you are askig about, but it really didn’t. It was titled something like “Harness Makers Guide” or similar. It has dimensions for the various types of harness, but it was first published about 1895 and I suspect that the horses of that era were quite a bit smaller than what we see today. Also, it really doesn’t go into why each particular type was used or its benefits. So I really only bring this up so that people so inclined to buy a book on harness design be cautious and investigate before forking over your hard earned cash.

BTW: This particular book did not mention the New England D Ring harness by name, and although it has been a couple of years since I last looked at it; I do think it had something that strikes me (best I can remember it) as a similar design, which was called a “Boston Backer” harness. By any chance is this the same design?

[OldKat]

@Countymouse 20333 wrote:

I read that one group used 3 pigs in a 12×12 corral that would be moved once every day… I don’t know if this is a “normal” stocking rate for this purpose, but it gives me numbers to work with. That’s 48 square feet per pig per day (12×12/3), or about 1440 square feet per pig per month. 3 months would be 4320 square feet, so to work 5 acres in 3 months would require 50 pigs (43560×5/4320). I don’t think I want 50 pigs… Does this answer seem ridiculous?

Andy,

I don’t know about pastured pigs; I have never owned any pigs that were put out on pasture. However, we have feral pigs in our area. There are about a dozen and a half that travel in a pack that routinely travels in our area; despite the best efforts to trap, shoot or fence them out.

The rooting that they can do in a night is astounding. I’d say they can root anywhere anywhere from 1/8 to 1/4 acre per night and do a pretty thorough job of it. Devastating when they get in your pastures for several nights. Not sure if feral pigs can root more than domesticated ones, or not.

[OldKat]

@Howling Farmer 20143 wrote:

Milt seems to have figured out the mowing. Had a retired farmer friend out last week to check out the mower. He thought it was running fine. Went out the next day to clip a pasture. Milt kept balking. I’ve been concerned that the mower was too heavy, but I’ve also been suspicious that some of Milt’s reluctance boiled down “bratty poniness.”

So finally I got off the mower and walked on the left so I could reach his butt with the whip. I have a rule about never getting off the mower with the blade engaged, but it seemed like as safe a situation as possible. We were in a pasture he’d been in for a week, and in his mind, he was hitched to the Titanic.

Mowed downhill, and as he started to slow around the turn to go up, I popped him a good one. I swear you could see the thought bubble over his head — “I didn’t think she could reach me!” Shot forward about three steps, then slowed to a steady walk. I had to get after him a couple more times as we went around, and then he went around once without stalling at all, so we quit.

Since then, I’ve adjusted the hitch so I can reach his butt from the seat, but I haven’t really had to get after him at all. He’s been mowing better and better. Today he actually seemed to enjoy himself, accelerating on his own on the inclines. I enjoyed myself too.

Leslie

Ooohhhh! Please don’t do that again. If he yanks the lines out of your hands and gets away from you this could really be ugly.

If he gets balky again and you feel the need to “motivate” him try a longer buggy whip or get someone to either walk along while you mow and let them motivate him, or, let them mow and you tickle his rump. Mowing while on the ground is really NOT a good idea. Didn’t want to barge into your thread, but this really concerned me.

[OldKat]

@Joshua Kingsley 20017 wrote:

I have a pair of haflinger geldings that have really heavy double manes and I am thinking about roaching them.. The question is are there pros and cons to roaching?

I have never fully roached my mares, but I use to roach saddle horses that I would pen cattle on. I think it keeps them cooler, it is sure easier to keep them groomed without dealing with all that hair. It is easy to do, especially if you have good set of clippers. I guess those are the pro’s.

The con’s: usually takes awhile to get them to get use to clippers, I would simulate clipping them by running clippers up around their ears, etc SEVERAL times before I would ever actually start clipping hair. That way if they melt down on you there won’t be a half roached horse running around you place. If you wait this late in the year to start roaching they can sunburn pretty easily, but maybe not where you live. I usually did mine in late spring, on through the summer and started letting them grow out in the winter. Then again I was more concerned about heat than anything else. It does grow out pretty fast, so you have to do it several times in the summer and it looks like hell when you decide to let them grow back out and they get about halfway grown there. Looks like a a long, badly cut Mohawk.

I use what we call a Texas Clip on my mares; roaching the poll and down about 25% to one third of the way down the neck, but leaving the rest long. I do thin the balance of the mane, but not a lot. That is common here, because of the heat. May get you some weird looks up there though!

[OldKat]

@Stable-Man 20004 wrote:

I pretty much see it the way dls and bivol see it: the availability of things that make modern ag would have to surpass production costs or disappear before anyone made it a priority. It’s been mentioned in other discussions, but integration of agriculture in schools is dead in suburbs and cities, public and private; therefore, nobody except very few would even think to consider it as a career. In my county students have to volunteer 75 hours to graduate from high school, and while volunteering at a CSA nearby I met a couple of students, so opening up more opportunities that way is another route. This is also good because you aren’t just pulling weeds or harvesting in the sun, but have the option of interaction with, potentially, people your own age and it isn’t so much a chore anymore. It’s sad to hear kids in college and upper grade school referring to farmland as the “end of civilization” when really it’s the beginning, but they have no way of appreciating it.

Fair enough. Specifically what I was asking though is how would the process work (in your mind) where we would go from where we are now to where we would be if there were, as you said, people are living on 80 acre tracts?

I am not baiting you, because quite frankly I use to envision EXACTLY what you are talking about. I have since changed my mind entirely, but I’d rather not go into that until I see where you are going with this.

[OldKat]

@Ixy 19982 wrote:

I do a lot of things for the greater good already…some (my OH) would say too much….at some point you have to have something to live on – these oxen don’t quite live on fresh air 😉 The writing only takes moments, but the travel for interviews, photography etc all takes time and money.

I think what Scott was saying is “do what you can do”. What you can’t do is beyond your control and we all know that, but I think each of us can do more than we are currently doing to help the draft animal culture gain wider recognition and acceptance. I know I can do more than I am now, just haven’t figured out how to go about doing it effectively.

[OldKat]

@Stable-Man 19990 wrote:

It’s a possible solution, though I think we already have enough people in the US to populate the countryside to 80 acres/family like many of us here would like to see.

And good post up above the one quoted here

Just curious Stable-Man; how would you see something like that coming about? (The redistribution of urban and suburban population to rural areas that is)

[OldKat]

From bivol’s post above;

what is needed is a consensus of both parties, but no political party will actually bite the hand of those who feed them. no, i’m not talking about voters, i’m talking about big bussiness.

This is correct, as far as it goes. I have no idea what happens in your part of the world, bivol. I can tell you for sure that a politician bending to the wishes of business is a problem in the USA.

Unfortunately they are not the only special interest group looking to wield political influence. Add in unions, ethnic minority “representatives”, various other special interest groups such as environmentalists (hard core fanatics, not your garden variety type that really only want to see clean air & unpolluted water etc), pro-hunting groups, anti-hunting groups, animal “welfare” groups, etc, etc. There are many, many more, but you get the picture.

All have their place in the political process and that is all well and good. However, we are never going to please 100% of the public because we all have such differing views, wants, agendas. Currently nearly 1/2 of the people in the United States pay NO federal taxes, yet they still have a say in how our taxes are spent. If that number surpasses 50%, how long before the remaining (shrinking) percentage of tax payers says “To heck with this, I’m not going to support a system where I pay all of the taxes and somebody else gets all of the benefits”? The modern political process leaves a lot to be desired, no doubt.

[Author]

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