[Plowboy]

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This is a photo of the first time we drove our youngest horses together. Dixie is in the open bridle. Dan is only 22 months and coming along well. He is in an open bridle now so I’ll try and post some newer pictures soon now that I’ve figured this out somewhat.

[Plowboy]

I have seen three instances with draft horses where high tensile fence did a number on them. Lucky the first two survived but have permanent scars. The third a Percheron stud colt unfortunately had to be put down because the damage to his leg was unrepairable.
I’m afraid I’m going to step in a hornets nest right now. We use primarily barbed wire around here. At my Dad’s we use a strand of electric along with it on the road side because he lives on a State road. Our horses never get out. We use 3 strands in wooded and brushy areas and 4 on road and meadow sides. The thing about barbed wire is it needs to be used properly. Some folks are against it claim it is awful because it really does some damage if it gets wrapped around their leg. It is impossible for this to happen if the wires are tight. We have never had more than a scratch on any of our horses from barbed wire. Being on a busy road it would be risky to depend solely on electric. I have to build some new fence on 20 acres of my farm. Typically we use 6ft Locust posts but after giving it some thought I am going to cut some 7ft. 4 good strands of barbed wire with a strand of electric on top to prevent reaching and stretching wires. We drive our posts each year to tighten them up after the frost goes out so they get a little shorter each year. I may have to stand on a bucket to drive the 7 footers but I think the height will be beneficial. We might start cutting posts this week. I have a customer that is going to pay us to cut down some locust trees! I would like to put up some board fence on my farm for astetic reasons around the house and barns. 5×5 posts and 5/4 planks works good out of Larch (Tamarack). I’m not sure how the Larch will last in the ground. I built a fence out of it at my Day job 3 years ago so maybe I’ll wait and see how long theirs lasts.

[Plowboy]

Robert I think if you reread my post you’ll see that this is a temporary problem as last year bull calves were bringing over $100 if they were near 100#. We even kept some of them for a couple weeks so they were well started and heavy. Jerseys have always been a problem but the larger breeds there has usually been at least a marginal market. This is probably a short term thing so I don’t see where every farmer that is already suffering from low milk prices should be building a facility to deal with bull calves. Even the finished beef market isn’t that great now. We have yet to dispatch any healthy calves here. For farmers to take on another losing venture would put many over the edge when they are already on shaky ground. You see that there is food value in these calves but it takes time and money to put it there that most dairymen are short of at this time.

[Plowboy]

Probably 15 years ago when Jersey calves were worthless a farmer near here took two with him in a calf box on his pickup to the sale barn. While he went in to watch the sale he put a sign on the calf box that said “Free Calves”. When he came back out he had 5 instead of 2! Too bad about the current situation.A year or so ago a nice started Holstein bull calf around 100# would bring as much as $150. My Dad has a couple around the barn that need to go but he’ll wait until he’s going that way so he doesn’t go in the hole for gas.

[Plowboy]

Drove Dixie and Dan on monday both in open bridles. He is just starting out this was his second time open and pays no attention to the big trucks or traffic. He doesn’t even look at them and never reacts. These two are laid back so I can’t make a concrete decision. For these two I think they will be fine open. I guess I’ll have to find a more lively one to try it on. We did use our Belgian gelding one time to cultivate potatoes. He hadn’t done alot of precision work single so I led him while Dad held the cultivator. He didn’t pull well because I think he was confused being led while pulling. We had a brief conversation about what to do. We didn’t think driving him was the best option because of his inexperience and our need to have those potatoes unscaved. We agreed on a plan so I reached up and unbuckled his throat latch and peeled his bridle off. When we started to go again he saw the cultivator chasing him. It made him uneasy and we cultivated alot of potatoes in a hurry “Mister”. He was never out of control just a little speedy. After he got used to it he was fine with it. He also jumps when things come up on him quick so maybe he might be our next experiment but at 13 I wonder how he would transition? He is dopy and the only thing that remotely bothers him is when something comes up suddenly. His reactions are insignificant but I wonder if he would react at all If he could see what is coming? There is always something new to learn or try to keep things interesting!

[Plowboy]

Thanks folks everything is going good! Mom and baby are both doing well but it will be a relief after he is here! Hope for an early spring so plowing and planting is done before. Plan to take a week off from the day job when he is born to help his mom get situated at home. Have alot of extra work booked for this summer but I’ll want to be home as much as I can!

[Plowboy]

Sanhestar,
Training and handling are part of the daily routine here. They are all let in the barn have their halters put on,looked over, given some grain, Have their halters taken off and let out. If we take them out to harness them we walk in the stall with them and they get over to allow you in and are backed out with their halter. All of our horses are easily caught on pasture but try to get a team out a gate without some of the other six trying to get out too. We had loose housing years ago and the horses weren’t used to getting over to let you through like when they are in a stock trailer. Since we have had these straight stalls all the horses will get over easily. You are right training and handling helps with manners and that is what we are doing every day when they are handled in the barn. Some days just for a few minutes but that routine is part of their training. I’ve had plenty of positive comments on how well mannered and trained our horses are so I don’t think that is the issue. I think that for the small amount of time our horses are in stalls the tie stalls work good and help with training and handling.

[Plowboy]

We have tie stalls for our horses. I think that it does help with manners having them in straight stalls. They learn to get over and back out as well as have their halters taken on and off. Our horses are out most of the time but in the coldest part of winter they are in nights. Tie stalls are nice when you have alot of horses and want to catch a team to work. You open the door and in they come. You tie up the ones you want and turn the rest out. If I had to keep a horse in a stall for very long I would definately want a large box stall but for our purposes tie stalls are good. I’m planning on building a new barn at my farm in the next few years and will probably add a couple box stalls just in case the need arises. If I don’t need them they can be used for hay or other storage. They each have their place.

[Plowboy]

Surprisingly enough even some of the tin work is also available and we’re gonna need some too. Have another trip to Rudy’s planned before reassembly. I’ve learned alot about it by tearing it all apart. The wood was all dry rotted and some of the parts were set up from sitting in an old dirt floor barn for 30 years. It isn’t worn much and is one of the later one’s with grease fittings. I need to learn more about them because our binder technicians are all 85 and older. I use the John Deere mostly so last year when the other McCormick had been put away after running out of string it took a while to thread it. The usual operator was in the hospital getting a pacemaker and we almost had to go sign him out to thread his binder! I got it figured out eventually and made it tie a couple knots by hand before I sent them out to cut and it never missed a beat.

[Plowboy]

Going back to Carl’s post about his mentor’s not handing him the keys. As I thought about it more nobody took me through it either. We got together with many of them often with our large local group. We plowed and planted in the spring, hauled roundbales in the summer ,Harvested crops in the fall and got together to skid logs in the late fall and winter wherever someone of us had the need. No single person led me through the process I was just allowed to hang around or ride along and drove alot of good horses along the way. It was in my blood from generations of horsemen in my family but my Dad had a 30 yr void in his life where he didn’t have any draft horses. When he was nearly 40 he got back into it and never looked back. He had some relearning to do about some things he couldn’t remember. We did have a large support network but old horsemen aren’t classroom teachers. They’ll help you out but respect you more if you give it a go and get through it. Then they’ll tell you a better or easier way at lunch. Most of my learning was done by paying attention to see how everyone else did it and how the best did it easier. Just having the old boys to fall back on was a good safety net. One of our mentors that passed away in 97 had a herd of registered farm type Belgians and a herd of registered Percherons totaling over 100 head in all. In the winter we used to go over and watch them hitch colts and learned a lot. His herd was responsible for repopulating the area with draft horses in the early 80’s when the “comeback” occured. In the spring the belgian foals sprang up between the dandelions in the pasture behind his house. It was an amazing sight for a kid that was all about draft horses to see that many in one spot. That farm was where alot of my education took place because he hosted many of the events. Sometimes when I’m out in the field and something arises I can almost hear his raspy voice again reminding me of something he told me 20 yrs ago. Too bad I didn’t think to write all that stuff down then.

[Plowboy]

Aaron, Sounds like you’ve caught the draft horse bug! Don’t worry most of us here have it but it is contagious. There is a cure though. It requires helping folks like you are doing, attending sales as well as public and private draft events. Then you must scrape together all the available cash you have and some you don’t and buy a team, harness and equipment. Well maybe thats not a cure but it is the treatment. Good Luck!

[Plowboy]

Excellent pair of Crosses “Drafty”. If I was needing a team and found some like that I’d bring them home without hesitation. Jason is right you have plenty of horse right there for any farm work. Some of our registered Percherons aren’t much bigger than that and plenty handy around the farm and will perform well in the woods too! Enjoy them they are real nice. Jason is right if you ever wanted to raise colts his Suffolk Stallion would be a nice cross. I’ve seen him in person,nice build, great temperment and well broke. There are several pictures of “Rudy” on the Photo page.

[Plowboy]

A good friend of ours used to have a herd of Belgian mares and used to borrow a Stallion every summer. His daughters were in 4-H and had saddle horse mares and he got a little 14 hand mare probably Quarter horse to ride and rope stock off. As the daughters got older the saddle horses ran with the Belgians and they all had crossbred colts. He liked the ones out of his mare and kept them all. They were red sorrel with light manes and tails about 15.2 and 1350-1400. I spent a lot of time as a teenager bunching logs with a pair of them and they would put some big horses to shame. They had heart and endurance and sucked some pretty big logs out of tight spots so they could be forwarded by the guys with log carts. Truthfully most of the old horsedrawn equipment was designed for 1200# horses. I think my Dad said my great grandfathers first team during the Depression weighed 2570# with their harness on at the local feedstore. He milked 23 cows by hand and plowed 26 acres walking behind a sulky plow the first fall he started dairy farming.

[Plowboy]

Well Robert thats a good one but I meant without skis. I don’t have all the answers yet but have seen a lot of horses spooked seeing things over their blinders or things coming alongside them suddenly past their blinders. The jury is still out but so far they are comfortable seeing what is going on and pay attention to the task at hand. Others will be scared of motion behind them or distracted as Donn said.
Our stud colt is a Percheron He was born at my friends place and his mother is a good mare real gentle.
He was hitched alongside our big gelding and we were driving them on a training sled. Sorry I can’t give you concrete answers but we are still in the experimental stages also.

[Plowboy]

Horsepower
All the boards are available individually. They are made with yellow pine which is original equipment with white oak wear pieces. We bought the entire kit for $218 from Rudy’s Repair shop in Fort Plain, N.Y. He outsources them from an Amish shop in New Holland P.A.

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