New Horse

[hunterbrooksfarm]

I bought my first horse about a month ago. A 12yo Belgian, she was broke to ride and drive by the Amish and then dumped at auction where she was then bought by a lady to use as a brood mare for her freishan’s, but she didn’t have an Optimal uterus to implant embryos although she was deemed ok for regular breading. She was then sold to a guy who had to many horses, who then sold her to a farrier who was gonna put together a team, but ended up dislocating his shoulder and didn’t have time to work with her and he didn’t want her to just go to waste out in the pasture so he then sold her to me. In the last 3yrs she has been sold about 4 times. I got her home and gave her a good once over twice with the vet and my farrier and found her sound, just a little out of shape from being out on pasture and not working for the last yr. I don’t have a saddle, so I’ve just jumped up on her back and rode her out through the back pasture just about every day since I’ve gotten her. I bought a used biothane harness about a week ago, but had to buy a new collar as the 26″ that came with the harness was to small. So I bought a adjustable 28-30″ with a pad, that came in on Friday afternoon. I put the harness on her Friday afternoon, and she stood patiently as I fumbled my way through getting it on her and everything buckled and snapped. I did some ground driving out back in the pasture. I only had a couple times as I was passing the barn where she wanted to go into her stall, but after a couple laps around she realized that it was time to work not time to go in for the night. Now that I have the right collar for her, my plans are to start conditioning her so that I’ll be able to haul some logs out of the woods this winter. I’ve almost finished my scoot/stoneboat which will serve double duty in the winter hauling firewood and other miscellaneous tasks that we can find for her to do. Tomorrow we will be twitching some dead and fallen trees from out back, the largest about a foot in diameter, popular, maple, oak. I’ll be keeping them to about 16′ and under as I don’t want to over work her on the first day, I want to see how well she handles moving in/around the brush/trees. If I get 1 log out of the woods, I will consider it a sucessfull day.

One question though, I would like to put a set of pulling shoes on her for this winter to help give her better footing in/on snowy/icy conditions. You know the ones with the large heel corks and the toe corks. I’ve looked around on the internet and can’t seem to find them listed anywhere, Are these a custom built thing? or is there someone who knows where I can get some.
Thanks

[Donn Hewes]

Just curious what made you decide to shoe the horse? It seems clear to me that a commercial logger can move more wood with a well shod an caulked horse, especially in the winter. But there is a cost. IE. it is somewhat expensive to maintain (every six to eight weeks). Horses with good feet work work well and pull lots of fire wood and big logs bare foot. They work in most any condition all though you do need to be careful about a sheet of ice on the drive way. This will sometimes stop me from plowing snow, but it doesn’t usually keep them out of the woods.

Ask your farrier and I am sure they can “make” some for you.

[Brad Johnson]

I would strongly recommend that you do not use standard pulling shoes for work. I have tried that options on my logging team and it does not work well. They are too long, putting lots of pressure on the horses legs as well as on the nails, and they are cumbersome for the horses as they catch on slash in the woods.

I think that Donn is right to recommend that you may not need shoes unless you are doing regular commercial work or your conditions are really tricky. If you find you need shoes, you can take a torch or grinder and take down the corks on a set of pulling shoes until they are more manageable (3/8″) or so. But, if you have ice you also need to tip them with drill tech or borium or you will find them no better than ice skates. A good farrier can do this for you. I think a second, better option, is to order flat shoes (I use Kerckhaert 3/8″, unclipped) and drill holes in them. Then you can order studs, threaded or drive-in. If you choose the threaded you will need a tap to thread the holes, and the drive in studs just need a tool to drive them in. These studs have a borium center with softer steel around it, and they come in different sizes and shapes. Check Meader Supply in NH (online) for all these supplies, including the shoes. I work in VT on steep and icy ground and have found that this second option works very well, along with chain to hold back my sled loads. But, as Donn said you may find that you do not need shoes at all. Good luck and be safe out there!
-Brad

[Does’ Leap]

Like Donn, I encourage you consider giving logging a try without shoes. I am not a commercial logger but I do pull 20-30 MBF of sawlogs and another 20 chords of wood / year without shoeing my horses. That said, there are days when I don’t go out b/c of the ice (I live in northern Vermont) and last year’s conditions were particularly challenging. I am setting myself up this year so that I can shoe my horses if I face extended icy conditions like last year. Surprisingly, I have spoken with several old timers who did not regularly shoe their horses in the winter. The three elderly gentlemen who generously shared their horse-logging stories with me would shoe their horses only if conditions warranted it. Two of them would set shoes with a limited number of nails and would pull the shoes after conditions changed (sometime only after a week).

Brad, if you tap your shoes is it easy to screw in the studs after the shoes have been set? What size studs do you use?

George

[Rod44]

I use drilltec on my shoes in the winter to keep them from slipping on the ice. Also use snow pads to keep from having snowballs build up.

[hunterbrooksfarm]

Last weekend I was able to get out for a day and work with the horse. I managed to get about a cord of wood hualed up in about 3hrs, mostly from really long hauls, the trees are at the very back of the property and its about a 1/4 mile. I did have a few problems, mostly with her not standing still as I try and get a chain on the log and then onto the single tree. I’m working by myself which isn’t ideal.
I laid out the logs so that all I would have to do is ground drive her parallel to the log, stop her and then hook up the log and skid them out. However she’s ground driving fine up and alongside the logs, I can get her to stop, but as soon as I start messing around with putting the chain around the log she starts to walk off, and sometimes will turn around and look at me as I’m trying to put the chain on the log. I’ll go and ground drive her back around and stop her at the log and go to hook the single tree up and she’ll hear me fooling around with the chain and single tree and she’ll walk off again, or she’ll just turn around and face me. I’m letting go of the lines so that I can fool with hooking up the chains.
Today I was gonna hook her up to the stoneboat/sledge that I built so that I could load that up with my saw, chains etc and then skid the logs up, and at he end of the day I would have had it loaded up with all the small kindling sized branches/logs for the return end of the day trip. I got her harness up at the hitching post, she stood great w/o moving then as I walked her around over to the boat/sledge she eyballed it and seemed to not want anypart of it. I had her stand there for a while facing it, standing next to it, and infront of it and she seemed to calm down. so I ground drove her down towards the wood pile and turned her around and headed back to the boat/sledge and had her stand parallel to the boat/sledge and as soon as she heard the jingling of the single tree she started walking off like she thought she was hooked up already. I kept trying to get her to settle down but as soon as she heard the tug chains jingling she’d take off. So I cut my losses and just ground drove her out back to where I had some more logs down, as soon as I got her down there the same thing happened I’d have her all lined up so that I could put the chain on the log and then hook the single tree up and she’d start walking off, or turning around on me to look at me, and then when I finally did get her all hooked up to the log I started to drive her forward to go down the skid trail as it makes a big loop, she wanted to turn around and go the way she came in, no matter how much pressure I had on the lines to try to get her to go the way i wanted. This caused her to walk all over the chain, and get tangled up in her tugs/traces, and made the log spin around just adding to my frustration, and I’m sure hers as well. We skidded the log up to the house and dropped in off next to the wood pile and headed back to try again. This time she seemed to balk at the turn to go down where the logs were, so I had her make a large swooping circle and then started her down the skid trail, she made it about 150′ and wanted to turn around and head back out. So I grabbed her by the lead rope and lead here down the trail thinking maybe she was unsure as to what was going on, I walked her down by the logs and tied her off to a tree for a while as I rolled the logs into position, she was quite entertained to watch me. then I tried hooking her up to a log and yet again she wanted to just walk off a few steps and then turn around to look at me. It took a little while and some manuevering and quick hooking up I got her to skid out some more logs. I’m not sure if she has ever been in the woods before, so it could be her unsure of what is being asked of her. She also hasn’t been really worked in about 3yrs so I’m sure she is rusty. I was able to get another cord of wood up to the wood pile in 4hrs, it was slow going and frustrating at times.
Does anyone have any hints/tips to get her to wait and stand once I get her in postition? Or will she eventually figure everything out as we spend more time together. I would really like to get her to to stop and stand in the same spot as I get everything hooked up. She also really liked to pull, It’s a long skid from out back atleast a 1/8th mile and I was having her skid for 100yds or so and stop/rest for a bit. As we would stop and be there for a little bit she’d want to get going again and try to pull, so I would tell her to whoa and stand till I was ready to go, and then I’d blow her some kisses and she’d get going again. A few times I think she was in a trot pulling some of the logs, it seemed to be easier for her to pull them, All the while I’m jogging alongside. I didn’t let her do that to many times as I surely don’t want her to get into that habbit. Does anyone see where I’m doing something wrong, I sure I am as this is my first time trying to do this, especially by myself. 25yrs ago I helped my uncle skid logs out with his horse, of course I was about 10 at the time so wasn’t paying to much attention at that time. I have helped him the last few years at the fairs hitching his pulling horses to the stoneboat and definetly don’t want my horse to be that jumpy off the line.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi There, What you have is a very common problem. You are a relatively green teamster and the horse is a little rusty.
There are a few suggestions I would make, but mostly it patience and persistence. A method that many of us use when hookig to a log is this; drive your horse nose first right to the spot where you want to put the chain and stop. slow enough so she stays put, pick up your chain and hang up the lines as you go to her head. Now your are in a position to encourage the horse to do the right thing (stay put) while also pretend to ignore her. Work on getting the chain on the log and laid out were you can reach it (go slow – do not rush). When you are ready return to her rear while keeping her still. When you are there with short lines in one hand and single tree in the other, turn the horse around and back if necessary. (again work slowly). When the horse is standing, bend at the waist and hold the lines in your lap, with two hands free you can hook the chain. Now put your self in a safe place before you ask her to go.

Now the question is how do you make her stay still in all those transitions while you are moving, hooking, etc? Practice, work slowly and quietly, be persistent. Pay attention to the horse while you are working. I start all my horses (and new horses I bring home, and new teamsters) loose. ie. free in a small area or pen. Standing while I work around them, cleaning, hoof care, and harnessing. They have a halter and a lead rope loose over their neck in case they need a correction. When I take the beginning horse (or teamster) to the woods I just remind them that they know how to stand while I work around them. I ask the them (horse or teamster) what is different now from when we were in the pen. Usually it is the fact the the logging is also new to the teamster or horse. The teamster isn’t as in tune with the animals comfort or making them relaxed as they try to figure out what it will take to get the chain on the log or hooked.

Just my two cents, good luck. Donn

[nihiljohn]

I agree with all that Donn says. You are now a horse trainer. Train. When you pull up to the logs, keep your lines, rattle the chain, kick the logs, stir the dirt and brush, but keep the horse standing in place. Dont get rough or loud. just be persistent. Easy to say. Sometimes not so easy to do. For a few days, make the focus on training the horse, not moving the wood. You’ll still move wood and the horse will get better, faster.

[Tim Harrigan]

@nihiljohn 37037 wrote:

…make the focus on training the horse, not moving the wood. You’ll still move wood and the horse will get better, faster.

Yes, that is an important shift in mind set. If you only move one log all day, or maybe no logs, but you make positive progress in other areas, consider that a good and successful day. You are setting yourself up for more successful and productive time moving logs in the future.

[J-L]

Donn put it well. Print that little blurb out and tape it to your stall. The man knows horses.

Like everyone says, don’t lose your patience and have enough time to get your point across.

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