[Steven F]

Hi, glad to see that you are not riding on the forecart while discing. If you look at old horse drawn equipment, if it did have a seat, it was situated where if you fell off you would land behind everything. This was for a very good reason,SAFETY. I have seen post of people riding forecarts that, if they fell off (could be something startled the horses) would result in serious injury at the very least least.
They old timers knew how to be safe around horses and they would have been horrified at the though of riding in front of something dangerous.

Steven

[Steven F]

If you are thinking about using a Swiss ox collar I can recommend it. I have a single ox and showed my son a photo of a Swiss collar. He made one for me and it is great. I tried a single yoke and it was a problem. It would twist and get out of place. I reckon that he can pull more with the collar as the pressure is spread over a larger area. I don’t have a photo of the Swiss collar that my son has made but I will take one if you are interested. We have attached felt to it. The point where the chains hook on is critical so we drilled several holes (it is made from wood) so that we could alter the pull-point depending on what the bullock (we call them bullocks here in Australia. You probably refer to them as ox) is pulling and allow for adjustment as he grows. I am training a second bullock who is 15 months younger and the same collar fits him. I just make a few easy adjustments.
When I was training my bullock (chock) I cobbled together a collar from and old set of draft horse hames. I wrapped them in hessian and it was fine. Great for training. I will attach a photo of the young Chock in his cobbled collar. He was earning his keep shifting bales of hay when he was 15 months old. He is now almost three, has a wonderful temperament and is a willing worker. Last year we used him to cultivate between our potato rows.
The bullocks are out of our Jersey house cow and by a Belted Galloway (beef) bull. I have attached a photo of the cow and the bull is in the background. He has an outstanding temperament which his progeny has inherited. Crucial with a single bullock.

Steve

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[Steven F]

Wow, what an ordeal. It sounds like your heifer was never taught to lead as a calf. It can still be done though. We used to exhibit shorthorn cattle at shows (fairs) and we usually didn’t start working on the bulls until they were 15 to 18 months old. We used to use a head stall and not a rope halter as the halters would get too tight around the head of the animal which distressed them. A head stall would become comfortable as soon as the cattle stopped fighting the lead rope.

After they had been tied for a while and stopped fighting the rope we then tied them to the back of a tractor. We had a carry-all with a ring attached and we tied the rope to that. Someone would walk alongside the bull with their hand on the rope as the tractor inched forward. The bull figured that the person holding the rope was actually leading them. Some bulls would give in pretty quickly while others took more time, but we never had a failure.

We also put rings in their noses. They were not led by the rings but we would clip a second rope to the ring as an insurance policy. If they ever did decide to pull away they soon stopped when the ring was pulled (never harshly).

I have never seen a heifer ringed but in may be an option in your case. Seems as though you heifer is not afraid of people – just wants her own way all of the time.

I reckon starting to milk her will be interesting – but not impossible. She needs a lot of handling and every time you do make sure to handle her udder. Just make sure that you don’t get kicked.

Steve

[Steven F]

I reckon the two items are not related. The front part looks like half of an International Disc Harrow. At least that is what we called them here in Australia. The second part seem to me to belong to a much heavier disc. I don’t think the International Disc Harrow was ever horse drawn but i could be wrong.

Steven F

[Steven F]

My Dad used to work a team of five Clydesdales on our 175 acre farm here in Tasmania, Australia. That was in the days before tractors and they performed all of the farm work. The team of five used to pull a three furrow plough. He never had the horses shod. He said shoeing damaged their hoofs. Our land is also quite stony. I don’t think they ever left the farm unless it was to take something to the railway station which was only a couple of miles away.
We have been on this same property since 1865 and Dad said that neither his father nor his grandfather shod their horses. His grandfather was a noted horseman and used to import Clydesdale stallions from the UK.
The funny thing is that when we plough nowdays we often turn up old horse shoes which must have come from the horses of the farmer who worked the land prior to 1865.

[Steven F]

I reckon that it should work very well. You will need some way to attach it to a swingle tree. Preferably something adjustable. It looks like an excellent way to cultivate between rows with a small horse.

Steven F

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