[sanhestar]

Hi,

well, now depending on the amount of oats, his daily intake of this mineral feed and the amount of minerals in you hay/grass, it could (!) be ok.

It’s a typical cattle mix, from what I can tell. Very wide Ca:P ratio to allow additional grain feeding.

Could you tell us about the type of hay you feed and the daily quantity? Have you had this analized some time?

If you chose to feed a pelleted mix you have to take into consideration the amounts of minerals and trace minerals in that in relation to the mineral lick.

[sanhestar]

Jennifer,

I didn’t want to suggest to stop the free choice kelp just point out that there could be another thing to think about when choosing a mineral supplement.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

you have already an overabundance of phosphorus due to the grain (oats) you feed. So you should primarily look at calcium sources.

Alfalfa f.e. is one, it’s also good energy feed for a horse and gives additional roughage for his gut.

But I would start with an analysis of the hay and the soil to see (if you don’t know already) what minerals and trace minerals are available to your colt. You may have covered the trace minerals with the kelp and a bit with the Graziers Choice.

But you should look also at magnesium, potassium, iron, iodum.

The high copper amount that is often found in kelp is likely to block the absorption of iron and/or zincum.

[sanhestar]

well,

what a luck that the summer pastures are far away from every building 🙂

I know what you mean. We have a dairy farm as neighbors and I now every time when he has to inseminate one of the cows.

[sanhestar]

Assuming that I manage a working cow the same way as a dairy or calves-for-meat cow (don`t know how you call them in English).

Who`s to say that I HAVE to keep her pregnant and with a calve at her side all the time?

[sanhestar]

we live in a historical rather poor (income wise) region of Germany. Up until the 1950s a lot of farming was done with the local cattle breed and most people used the cows because they couldn’t afford to keep an oxen solely for working. The cows gave milk, work and calves.

It has been said that you will need more animals for the same task (don’t know if I read it hear or somewhere else).

I’m in the same spot and tend now heavily towards cows.

[sanhestar]

although you all think horses, ponies and donkeys I want to add a well trained pair of goats (wethers, more precisely).

They are low-cost, could clear brushes by eating them as well and can pull a down-sized cultivator without problems (hoegger goat supply offers one).

[sanhestar]

This looks interesting!

[sanhestar]

Hello,

Haflinger are strong minded horses. If he had success with bolting from work in the past it’s likely that he will try it again and again.

Best thing and hard, too, is for you to learn to read him better so that you can anticipate WHEN he’s going to bolt and stop him dead in his tracks. If there are people in your area that work with natural horsemanship you may consider joining a class or two for learning basic horse body language.

You may also sit down with your daughter and recollect the incidences she had with him to find common causes and/or situations in which he bolted. Knowing haflinger a bit I would say it’s very probably that he bolts when he’s asked to do something he doesn’t like to do. Both of you should try to remember if he always bolts in the same direction.

I had a horse that would bolt to the right in certain situations, preferably when turning right meant getting home, never to the left. With him it was training errors from his previous owners. I learnt to live with it and not to trigger this response by recreating the situation he would want to escape from.

BTW – I wouldn’t think of selling him, yet. A strong minded horse that comes around to want working WITH you is a great gift.

[sanhestar]

Hello Elke,

check the http://www.pferdekutscher.de Forum. I remember that – maybe two years ago – someone built a snow plow for his horse – with pictures.

[sanhestar]

@becorson 2911 wrote:

In the US and England most people say “whoa” or “ho” to stop a horse or ox but in Norway they make a sound like a trill ” ptrtrtrt ” how do Germans tell a horse to stop?

it’s an old thread but I was intruiged to find the vocal command “ptrtrtrt” in a different context.

In Iceland, they apparently use this command to tell the dogs to move the sheep resp. horses. When I grew up I spent a lot of time on a Iceland horse riding school. They were among the first people that brought the typical Iceland dog to Germany – she worked on Icelandic commands. And whenever a horse wouldn’t move, she got the “ptrtrtrtrt” to make it moving.

As in the meantime the regular riding scene – not so much the draft horses – is influenced by training methods originated in the US, at least the whoa has established itself among the riders.

[sanhestar]

it seems that it’s different in cattle.

In goats, the one with the horns will dominate the dehorned/polled unless said dehorned/polled goat has either been born into the herd to a high-ranking mother / has a high-ranking horned friend and the horned was born to a low-ranking mother.

But even then, it’s often enough that the horned goat shows its “weapons” and the dehorned/polled will give way. They adapt to bite, though, preferably in the ears.

@Jonny: that’s funny – we have an English Shepherd girl. One of approx. 20 here in Germany.

[sanhestar]

Josh,

the dehorned cow, was she born into the herd or did you buy her?

[sanhestar]

Carl,

no way you would have scared me 🙂

My hubby had a hard time “catching up” with all the animal stuff (horses, goats, dogs) after we married – I bet he thought it would be easier.

He’s completey hooked on this draft oxen thing, I came up a while ago.

[sanhestar]

Howie

I’m in Germany.

The cattle are handled very little and should I decide to take two calves from my friends herd I would make sure that they get “good” attention. But I can’t estimate (?) the effect the behaviour of the mother towards human will have on the calves. With the goats I know that the lambs will learn from the mothers and that if you have a shy mother you will get a shy lamb, no matter how early you’ve sozialized it. Hard work after weaning, but with persistence and food most of them come around (they are quite smaller, though).

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