Behind-The-Lines Video of horse-logging at Earthwise Farm and Forest

[Carl Russell]

It was 80º at 4:30am, so I decided not to go to the woods. I put together this little clip instead.

[video=youtube_share;R2XE2XhYra8]http://youtu.be/R2XE2XhYra8[/video]

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Here’s a little more….[video=youtube_share;zUOMtZSqb74]http://youtu.be/zUOMtZSqb74[/video]

[Carl Russell]

This one shows stump to landing, highlighting some of the attributes of the Barden Cart.

[video=youtube_share;eko8TVTAKVg]http://youtu.be/eko8TVTAKVg[/video]

[Demented Donkey Dame]

Thank you Carl for the videos! I really enjoyed seeing the close up details and those beautiful logs. I may have even learn something! You’ve certainly got a hard working team!

Here in North Central Idaho we had 60 degrees with a cold wind during my driving time so I played with harness instead, that was yesterday … tomorrow we are in the 90’s for the first time this year! It’s in the 30’s right now and we are still trying to get hay dry enough to bale. Seems we are all over the map on temperatures.

[Tim Harrigan]

Good stuff, Carl. Thanks.

[Tim Harrigan]

Carl, how do you stack the logs next to the trail? If you are walking those logs up those rails with a peavey I am more than impressed.

[Carl Russell]

@Tim Harrigan 28362 wrote:

Carl, how do you stack the logs next to the trail? If you are walking those logs up those rails with a peavey I am more than impressed.

I was thinking I needed to catch that on video too…. it really isn’t all that hard. 🙂

[wvhorsedoc]

Carl, Is the breeching on the D-ring harnesses your own design? To a novice it looks like a combination of two different types of breeching. Your video clips are great. Thanks for sharing. Doc

[Carl Russell]

@wvhorsedoc 28408 wrote:

Carl, Is the breeching on the D-ring harnesses your own design? To a novice it looks like a combination of two different types of breeching. Your video clips are great. Thanks for sharing. Doc

No it is a reasonbly common design called a “Basket Britchen”. Or at least every harness I have had was made this way. It may be a regional variation.

Carl

[Does’ Leap]

Carl:

Thanks for posting these. It was interesting to see when you stop your horses and how long you rest. Based on what I could see on the video, I tend to go longer and rest longer. If my perception is correct, can you comment on the value of more frequent, shorter duration rests?

George

[Carl Russell]

@Does’ Leap 28414 wrote:

Carl:Thanks for posting these. It was interesting to see when you stop your horses and how long you rest. Based on what I could see on the video, I tend to go longer and rest longer. If my perception is correct, can you comment on the value of more frequent, shorter duration rests?George

George… it kind of depends on the size of the hitch and the conditions but I work them (let them work) hard… until I see their drive start to decline….. not flagging, just that I can see they are working at it…. I tend to let them go a bit, but not to the point where they decide they are losing it…. then I stop them at a point where they have given me a good go, and they still have energy to go more…. and I rest them until their breathing slows a bit…. I never really rest them that long, as I try not to make them too tired….. I figure they can rest at the landing…. the whole point in my mind is to help manage their energy so that they can work as hard as they can when I ask.

Oh yeah, and the rest is not as much for them to recover as it is me giving them a reward for working as hard as I want them to. It really doesn’t need to be that long for them to get the benefit.

Carl

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