am I at fault?

[PeytonM]

ok so my bigger horse ( Prince) has had alot of energy when I hitch with a team so I thought I would run him single today and I have a really old horse plow, kind of like a digger, has about 6 teeth on it. I use to pull it with our lawn mower, nothing too big, well I was walking him around just letting him warm up alittle bit and then I went and hooked him and he just did not want to pull it, he would stop and act like he was tired so I would have him stop and he would fling his head around and act like a hot head and then I’d tell him to go and he wouldnt want to go. to be honest it really was pissing me off cause I know he can pull it its not hard to pull… and i wasn’t putting down pressure on it.

so is it just cause he wanted his team mate or what?

thanks for the help

Peyton

[Donn Hewes]

Peyton, Several random thoughts (at this hour all thoughts are random). How old is he? Does he have previous experience working single? The digger thing with six teeth, is that a cultivator perhaps? I all ways tell people working horses single is harder than it looks. Remember, they are herd animals, and feel comfortable in a group. Out there the group is you and him; not exactly what he had in mind. That is why we often start an animal’s training single, not because it is easy, but because it forces them to connect with the person. He is unsure (assuming this is what is going on) and hook to a log or something and give him a chance to relax. Go slow and be patient. The reason he seems to have so much energy normally is probably because he is not a totally relaxed horse anyway. Working single would be good for him, but just not easy perhaps.

[PeytonM]

Hes 12, yeah i guess a Cultivator would be the right name, He is more the hyper of the two horses, he tends to want to take off where my other horse is really mellow and laid back for the most part and my other horse is 14. I got them from two guys that lived by each other, they would team them together cause they both were tall and had close markings and looked really nice together, they will hook both ways and work single, Its also been really really hot out, this was at the start of the hot streak so I dont know if that factored in to it or not…

[jen judkins]

Peyton, I suggest you start working him single on something simple, like a log or forecast, and work up to the cultivator. Get him working with you and your cues as a single first, then move onto the cultivator when things are going well. That way you can better assess whether it is the weight or simply his confidence. As Donn said, working a horse single is not as easy as it looks…..they can rely very heavily on their teammate for confidence and you won’t see it until you separate them for work. Good luck. Jennifer.

[PeytonM]

I’m tryin to build a logging arch to use as a forecart also but just havnt had time to build it just yet…

[Carl Russell]

I would not spend time wondering WHY he won’t go forward, and use that as the starting point. He is showing you he is not confident about what you are asking. I think he may need more clear clues. Pressure and release…… it always comes down to pressure and release.

I agree that the “cultivator” may be too dangerous for you to work with if he is acting up, but I see his problem one of not following your guidance.

I have posted elsewhere on here about giving signals to your horse by how you use the lines so that he knows that there is a difference between standing still and starting to move.

I have always “helped” a horse understand my start command by reinforcing it with a touch on the butt. I like to use a marshmallow stick, about 3 feet long, with a fork, slightly sharpened.

When I pick up the lines, creating contact on the bit, I speak an alert, like “ready”(so that they associate the bit contact with a new intention on my part), then I kiss at the horse and gently touch him/her at the tail-head with the stick. There should be no reason to poke, or swat, just set the distance between your hand and the butt of the horse so that you don’t have to affect line pressure, just roll your wrist slightly so that the stick touches the horse.

It may seem hard to believe, especially since he seems to move out fine with the other horse, but I think his “hyper” behavior is also related to uncertainty. He’s just relying on his working partner, and may be following the horse’s lead and not yours.

JMHO, Carl

[PeytonM]

Hey Carl,

thanks for the tips! To be totally honest I’m really green to draft horses, and all this stuff. It all started when my grandma started cleaning out grandpas stuff from the barn ( gramps passed in 06) and I never understood how much my gramps taught me until after he was gone and i couldn’t than him. Horses were always in the family and I ended up to have money and run across this team at just the right time. I got a sort of a buck board wagon from grandma, a bob sled, I got some white rings that im not really sure what they are for and other stuff. I was very emotional for the first month I had them because I felt as if gramps was there helping me and stuff. I think they are a really good starter team for me.. I’m going to make a vid of them some time. I know I still need help with my horsemen skills as far as being a teamster and knowing how to get the most out of them and have them tone in with me.

thanks for the help

[Carl Russell]

@PeytonM 35808 wrote:

….To be totally honest I’m really green to draft horses, and all this stuff. …..

Peyton, I totally understand…… When I bought my first horse I had only very little experience with horses in general, and nearly no experience with draft horses.

The horse I bought was mid-teens and had not been worked regularly, but the man I bought him from had taken him in trade for a pair of ponies, and had him going well on a stone-boat……. and I really wanted a horse. The first time I harnessed him and tried to drive him, I kissed at him…… and he turned around and came right over to me.

It comes with practice, repetition, patience, persistence, and humility……

Good luck, Carl

[PeytonM]

I went to a horse pull a few weeks ago and talked with a guy at the pull and he said he would help me out, I called him last night and was really trying to get me to bring them out but i dont have a trailer to take them over and he offered me his pretty much new alum gooseneck and I was really thankful for it but I said i would pass right now just cause I didnt want anything to happen to it. he said he had a friend that would sell one pretty cheap so I’m waiting to hear back from him and then he said that he had a few stone boat and he said he would help me and show me a few tricks and stuff. He said next time he does field work he invited me out to help and he would help me with that also. thanks for the help you guys.

my question is whats a good way to make a cheap stone boat? is there anything that works good that would be laying around the farm?

[j.l.holt]

Payton’
We used a old car hood for years.. Little noisy on the road but got used to it. When it wore through we just got another from the fence row. Used a dirt pick to make two holes in the front and ran a small chain around them.

[rookie]

j.l.holt,
I thought our family was the only one that used old car hoods for pulling!!! Loved hearing that made me smile!!!

[j.l.holt]

Heck no !!! We was in heaven when we got the first big pony. We would even help him when we were out of sight of the house. Did not want anyone to say it was to much for him. They would make us stop and go back to carrieing it our selves.
We put anything we needed to move on them,,even our selves !

[Author]

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