[the.lilac.dragonfly]

I’m not sure where this would best be posted for visibility. If I should re-post elsewhere, please let me know.

I attended the first NEAPFD in 2007. At one of those early events, I heard Jason Rutledge speak and was convinced of his philosophy right off the bat and have remembered some of the things he said all these years. I missed some years in there, but once again attended this year’s DAPFD.

In 2005, my son (12 at the time) bought two young bull calves and trained them for several years. For a variety of reasons (we didn’t have pasture so had to buy hay or borrow pasture and other troubles…), we didn’t keep them. I have been yearning to get another team to train for some time, but even if I did, it would be some time before they would be big enough to do significant work.

I now find myself in the position of being the steward of the land my mom purchased in 2000, and I need some land cleared for pasture. I woke up very early yesterday morning and realized DAPNet might have a solution to my dilemma.

I would like to connect with an experienced teamster (horses or oxen) who could help me come up with a plan for this land, as well as do some clearing for pasture. I am in Acworth, New Hampshire. There are about 30 acres here. There are existing skidder trails (logged about 30-40 years ago) which I would like to keep open for walking, cross country skiing, and working access trails. We have removed some of the saplings in the skidder trails over the past 17 years. It would be a quick job to open them up completely again. I haven’t seen any trees larger than about 5″ diameter in the trails. The land is very accessible with nice nearly-level trails and very little steep land which doesn’t have to be bothered with unless someone wants to do it.

This is not about making money to me. It is about taking care of this land and opening up some areas so I may some day (soon…) have the grazing space to have a cow or two.

My mom purchased this land in 2000. We moved here to homestead, but it was a big learning curve, not being able to identify trees initially, and even when we could do so, not knowing which trees we should cut and which ones we should leave.

My mom actually contacted a horse logger almost 20 years ago, to log her property in Chesterfield, but the prospective buyer (town of Chesterfield) didn’t want the land logged. They convinced my mom (a Vietnam widow) the land was worth the same with or without the huge pine trees so she just sold it to them and then bought this land in Acworth. The town of Chesterfield then proceeded to log the land and they got the money instead. Anyway, the point is, we have been interested in animal power for quite a while.

If there is someone who is interested in some DAP logging work, please contact me. I met some nice teamsters at DAPFD this year and would like to talk to someone who would be interested in working with me on this project.

Since a connection like this will involve ongoing interaction, there must be a significant level of trust. I hope to connect with someone who is honest, experienced, and completely trustworthy.

Deanne Sanville

[the.lilac.dragonfly]

Yikes. This is not good news. Although I don’t/never have worked horses, I like to watch them at work and want them to continue to be available at reasonable prices. It’s kind of like people who make their money doing big city jobs, coming up here and buying up land. Then regular folks can’t afford to buy land to homestead or farm because sellers are holding out for the rich Flatlanders to pay big bucks.

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