[Plowboy]

Sorry to hear about your old boy. We had to put one of our older mares down a year ago last fall from complications of white horse melanoma. She was like family but she rests here on my farm. She worked the gardens and potato patch here in recent years so it is fitting she remain here. Her daughter is expecting a foal this summer to carry on the good natured bloodline we want to preserve.

[Plowboy]

He looks to have a little Clyde or Shire influence but looks like a nice horse and looking well for his age!

[Plowboy]

I wasn’t really offended. Truthfully we have 1 Belgian ourselves ,3 grey Percherons and 3 blacks. My Dad is still dairy farming and the horses are a joint venture between him and I. He milks around 40 cows and does what he can with horses. My wife and I bought a farm a couple miles away and are starting a small Angus herd, a few laying hens , and my son is getting a donkey from my grandparents in the spring.I’m not sure of the status of my ERDHA membership but many of their more active members come to our events at my parents place. We have a 2 day plowing event in May and a 2 day silo fill in September and are considering an oat threshing event this summer also.

[Plowboy]

I heard he might go. One of his sons and several of his daughters went. I was afraid he might go as well. We lost quite a few of our younger Amish friends to Bombay NY. Now when we come up we go to Rudy’s , Jakes, stop to see Butch Miner and thats about it. We were well aquanted with a lot of the one’s that left. Sad to see them go but they were maxed out as a community with no more land available to them so as they did in the 80’s when they moved here they started a new settlement now up north where cheap land is abundant. Still it’s hard to see your friends pack up and start over somewhere too far to visit in a day.

[Plowboy]

Sean 518 easy with the Percheron cracks. We’ve got 6 farm type that we’re pretty proud of. May run into you guys sometime. We deal regularly with Jake and Rudy J at the equipment shop. They are both first class guys. Both were good farmers and horsemen before they retired to their respective trades only.

[Plowboy]

One of our neighbors was at Jake’s harness shop the other day. Must have been you with the Brabants on a wagon that came by while he was there. Small world.

[Plowboy]

Meader’s is a rip off.

[Plowboy]

Neil , Glad you found a good stallion! Your concerns about him now are the reasons we never owned one. It’s a big commitment and will require seperate facilities if you keep his fillies. we only breed mares on occassion so it would be hard to justify owning our own although when I see a nice chunky percheron stallion I think it would be great to help preserve that sector of the breed. We have a modern looking stud here on loan from a good friend. He’s hardly 17h and has a ton of action but his foals tend to be heavier built than he is. Above all he is puppy dog gentle the most important trait we want to pass along. he is very correct in working conformation also. He pranced like a stallion for two days now he follows the girls around like a milk cow. I do carry an axe handle while in the pasture because every stallion owner I know says to keep the upper hand because they will challenge you at times. Hopefully we get a couple good foals out of him next year!

[Plowboy]

I really do like the Angus breed and have experience with them in years past. We raised a lot of Angus/Holsteins out of our first calf heifers growing up as well as running pure angus bulls with the heifers. I’m sure in the time lapse the genetics have been manipulated to maximize carcass on what has become the premier beef breed resulting in some undesirable traits. Temperment was never a factor for us. I have seen some really crazy bug eyed herefords over the years as well as the Devons I have been around are ornery to say the least. I think I may have found an Angus heifer out of a small commercial grass fed herd. I also looked at an Angus/Dairy? cross first calf heifer with a nice lineback heifer at her side bred back to a holstein bull. The cow looks a litttle rougher than what I wanted but has raised a really nice calf on just pasture and creek water so maybe thats woirth something. Whatever we end up with will be handled almost daily and trained to lead. WE figure if we finish beef at two yrs with only three brood cows we would end up with 9 head and as many as 12 before finishing off the oldest group. If we get more demand I would buy feeders and finish them as I think it probably costs more to keep the cow than the calf is worth most years. Keeping the cows will just be a hobby and It’s fun watching the calves grow up. AS far as function most beef breeds would work but we have a vision of looking out over the back forty from our window and seeing fine black cattle grazing and our black and grey horses on the other side. I could easily get some nice herefords if I was to change my mind. My Uncle and Grandfather still each run a small herd but I’m so far partial to Angus.
Vicki I’m curious how your experience was with charolais. My grandfather experimented with them in the 80’s and you couldn’t chew the meat. One of his Herefords in the same group you could cut with a fork. Just curious?

[Plowboy]

Those are the rewarding days Jen!! You should be proud.

[Plowboy]

We have done a lot of parades in the last 20 yrs. While they are not my favorite thing to do we have never had a problem. We have been blessed with several great teams over the years and if I couldn’t trust them I wouldn’t have taken them. I’ve never felt I was putting them in a stressfull situation either. My Maggie mare went in a centennial parade at 2 hauling the founding members of the local fire department teamed with her rock solid mother. She shyed at a new culvert sitting at the end of the road waiting to be replaced by the highway dept. on the way. I was panicking inside but when we got to the parade the fire trucks, antique cars with funny horns and loud pipes, the crowds applause nothing fazed her. Even our more nervous gelding loves public appearances, children and music. Jenn you have to make the call but if you can read your team and have the confidence you will probably be alright. We do a lot of public work more for the money than the love of doing it. If it wasn’t hard to turn down the money I wouldn’t choose to do it at all but it has it’s rewards. Little kids going nose to nose with a 1600# horse for the first time or the old timers reminiscing about the teams their folks had back when farming with a team was the norm. Good luck Jenn

[Plowboy]

Sounds like you’ve got the ground work right but it sounds like they need a heavier load to get their attention. At their age sweat won’t hurt them. It depends on how much spare time you have to work with them but resistance makes the sessions shorter and more beneficial. Load your stoneboat with rocks or some other ballast but don’t overdo the weight. Just enough to get their attention and tire them out during your training sessions. This will give you quicker results as long as they are willing to pull it . Keep working on the ground work also to build trust and confidence but when you work them work them until they are tired and stand quietly. Above all be safe and good luck!

[Plowboy]

Sounds great Jason !! Sounds like something worth watching. Good luck with it and keep us posted! I’m finally back on line so I’ll chat with you soon.

[Plowboy]

We just feed ours good hay and a couple pounds of grain, upping the grain just before foaling gradually. We use a free choice mineral block but a lot of our friends feed Penwoods minerals to pregnant mares and growing foals. Just like cows you don’t want them too fat at foaling time. Keeping them working is good too so they are in better shape to foal. Looks like a nice pair of mares we have 3 just like them, had 4 but had to put one down a while back.

[Plowboy]

I asked about trailer licenses and DOT numbers when I visited SW Virginia. When he closed the trailer door he pointed out the orange tree marking paint on the tailgate saying “Farm Use” and the same on the loader truck. Apparently many areas aren’t as particular as NY!!

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