[Thecowboysgirl]

Call me quirky but it kinda defeats the purpose in my mind to pull something gas powered behind a horse…

[Thecowboysgirl]

You said “No- Incorporate a piece of rope, small chain link, or shear bolt to act as a “fuse” to keep the flimsy thing from breaking”

Would this serve as a breakaway like how you use bailing twine on cross-ties so if the horses go back they can bust loose? So if the equipment got hung up and the horse pulled hard it would just detach? I understood everything else there, I just wanted to see if I got that right. I think I’d way rather have it detach than pull the horse up hard. That sounds painful. (?)

Regarding the mower: I got that impression from their ad as well, that it wasn’t meant to be used on tall grass or heavy weeds. Just curious. Are you familiar with the sickle bar mowers on I& J’s website?

http://www.farmingwithhorses.com/horse-drawn-haying-equipment

I can’t understand from looking at this whether these all require power to run– one place says that it can now be “ground driven”. Does that mean the force of the horse pulling operates the mower and it does not need PTO? These all sound too big and heavy to be pulled by one horse but I guess I don’t even know what one horse can comfortably pull.

Any horse drawn sickle bar mower with only one shaft in front is designed to be pulled by two horses, right? (one on either side?)

Thank you thank you for all your patience in answering all my questions and explaining stuff.

[Thecowboysgirl]

Also, is there any type of mower attachment that can be used with a forecart? For instance what about something like this?

http://www.reelmowersetc.com/mascot_five_reel_gang_mower.htm

Though I am unclear whether these mowers could handle pasture or not. The pasture mowing I will have to do will just be clipping down what the horses won’t graze.

[Thecowboysgirl]

Disclaimer: I have zero experience training work horses and very little experience with draft horses period, but I have used roundpens extensively with light horses.

I am a huge believer- there are advantages to working in a roundpen that you can’t find anywhere else, like the ability to let your horse move away from you without being able to go far, and without getting stuck in a corner with their butt in your face. You’d be amazed how different a flight animal thinks once he’s been allowed to run away and then chooses to come back.

I was taught the “show em who’s boss” method first, later learned natural horsemanship. I’m also a psychology student and I’ve studied animal behavior and the differences between the way primates think and relate versus canines and equines. Horses are very willing to learn peaceably and the best place to do it is in a roundpen. I would exercise caution with a heavy horse in such a small space though, and if you’re building it from scratch it might be a benefit to make it a little bigger than the standard size. We never used heavy horses in our lesson program because their hocks usually couldn’t stand up to the constant sharp turns going around and around in an arena.

there is simply no replacement for a strong relationship of trust and respect as a foundation for everything else. Of course, I’m a tree hugging buddhist so feel free to take it all with a grain of salt 😉

[Thecowboysgirl]

Keeping in mind that I am a girl and I am not handy at all (though I am a talented mickey-mouser) can any of the team equipment be modified to be pulled by a single horse?

My husband IS extremely handy and good at carpentry and basically everything. Like a manure spreader meant to be pulled by two horses? Or do they make them to be pulled by just one?

Sorry for all my ignorant questions!

[Thecowboysgirl]

Oh yeah…NOTHING bothers him but he’s NOT for a beginner…hmmm

Anyway, if you believe the ads there isn’t a single horse in FL who has ever bucked, bit, kicked or bolted in his life 😉 And they’re all sound! Isn’t that great? Everyone should move to Florida 😉

I think it might have been on here that someone said believe none of what you read and only half of what you see. All I can say is boy would I hate to wind up with a horse that big who was a bozo or nasty!

[Thecowboysgirl]

Donn

Yeah I totally get that teaching myself is not optimal, though maybe possible. I would certainly never consider it if there were an alternative that was achievable. If I’m lucky maybe I can still find a resource nearby.

If nothing else, I’ve recently learned how to use Youtube, I can have my kids video tape me trying and maybe you guys could critique me 🙂

One idea that I had which no one has really chimed in on: would it do me any good to ask one of the carriage people to teach me a little? Is learning about a heavy horse pulling a carriage applicable enough to fool with?

Thanks so much to everyone for thinking this over with me. I really want to make this work!

[Thecowboysgirl]

“Ned is a 17.3h Belgian… He was used for weddings and the Orange Bowl Parade for years. He was trained well and knows his job. He can pull a large carriage, or a Forecart and adjusts himself well. He has also driven lead in a 4 horse hitch and pairs. He drives for me off voice command and is being sold with a barely used working Forecart w /brakes with 2 Implement seats, hold backs, full harness set, bridle, nice driving reins,riding bridle, new cart shafts etc… Everything you need to drive comes with him. Very well mannered. He is big and needs to be reminded of his place. You can tell him to put his head down to halter or bridle him and he does. NOTHING bothers this boy! I also ride him Dressage and he is great under saddle or harness. Please be a great home and have exp driving big guys. He is NOT a beginner horse. He is very flashy and showy and does well under Meadowbrook cart showing as well. Must be a good home.”

sounds like too much horse for me, but the drafts here in Florida are the city carriage guys.

[Thecowboysgirl]

Bradenton? Wow that’s just an hour away from us. Wish you were still there 🙂 Yeah maybe I’ll host a driving clinic here on my farm next winter and all you poor souls up in the freezing north can come down.

Yeah Florida is the land of cowboys and cattle. Not like the way I remember rural New England. I have watched most of what I could find on Youtube for starters…

At this point my husband and I were discussing buying the most bombproof QH’s we could find and then I could play around with them ground driving and eventually hooking up to something to pull little by slow and see if we couldn’t figure it out together. That way we could horse shop locally (which is hard enough in and of itself- never mind doing it long distance).

I do have tons of experience training horses and I have set out to do new things with little or no instruction and managed to trial and error my way there. I have lived with, worked with, and trained horses for most of my life so I have pretty good skills as far as keeping myself and my horse out of harm’s way. Does that sound like a pipe dream?

[Thecowboysgirl]

One of the bigger reasons I was stuck thinking I needed a pair as opposed to one horse is the equipment: most of what I have seen for sale seems to be designed for two. One horse doesn’t do me much good if I can’t find equipment for him. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places (but I don’t have a huge budget for brand new stuff and have been looking at used)

I have given a lot of thought to a pair of mules- I have seen a few teams for sale that were at least in the deep south. Location is as important for seeing, buying, getting them home as much as acclimation to the heat. As someone else said, I too would be really concerned with taking an animal who lived its whole life in Minnesota and hoping it could handle the heat. Mules seem to come in the right size range and are often already broke to drive and ride although I’m a little wary of trying my hand at it since I have zero experience with mules and from what I understand it’s just not the same as a horse!

I think the bottom line is that light horses would be my first choice but unfortunately they aren’t usually broke to drive and would likely have no experience pulling or doing other farm work. I did post an ad on a Florida horse forum looking for anybody doing anything with draft animals who might be willing to teach me. Maybe I could break them to drive myself if i had gotten some experience somewhere…?

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