Question For The Horse Loggers?

[TBigLug]

How do you protect the horses from thorns? Or do you not have thorns out there?

I’ve got a section of trees my unrelated dumb *blah* uncle cut down and I wanted to skid the logs out with the horses but there’s too many thorns in there for me. Short of going in and spending a week clearing thorn bushes, any tips or tricks of the trade?

[Carl Russell]

John, are these trees Hawthornes? or Locusts? We do have some areas where the hawthornes grow thick and it can be a real bummer. I am more worried about me than the horses. I got stuck with one a few years back that went right through my glove. Got me between my index and middle finger, and my whole hand swelled up, past the wrist…..

I generally protect the horses by using a long chain and stopping and backing up to take another grab. I use the same procedure in deep deep snow. My cart has a grab on it, so I back the cart as far as I care to, hitch the long chain, sometimes two, and then pull the stem closer to the trail. I unhook the chain and back up to take another grab, and repeat until the tree is out by the skid trail, then I hitch the short chain and head to the landing.

I’m not sure that this is really a new idea, nor is it rocket science, but it is probably how I would try to proceed.

Take care, Carl

[TBigLug]

Yeah that sounds like the best bet. As far as species, I don’t know. It’s mainly a couple (million) clusters of thorn bushes between the gate and the logs. I’ll probably just go in a week ahead of time and clear the thorns out the hard way. One shrub at a time! lol

[Scott G]

No thorns out here, just rock piles, broken terrain, ravines, brush thickets, etc.

For any nasty/inaccessible hole just as Carl said, lengths of chain/rope,cable until you get it out to a better place. A block hung in a tree with rope is really handy too.

[Tim Harrigan]

Probably Multiflora Rose. Really nasty stuff. On the up side, if you have a fence row full of it you will not need a fence. My steers will not go near it.

[LaNette]

Here in SE New Mexico we have nothing but thorns, horns, and spines. Hard to find a bush that doesn’t have some type of mechanical defense from mammals or birds. But then that how these plants survive in the desert environment. Clochids (the tinier spines from cactus) are the most insidious of them all. For work purposes I usually don’t have to encounter them. Though ironically my re-naturalization projects means I’m eventually propagrating them. But when I go on recreational or exploring drives with my wagon team it becomes a problem in a real hurry. Here’s where blinders on the bridle really help me out. In time both the horses and mules learn to tilt there head inwards when traveling down a road where the brush sticks out. Basically they learn how to use the blinders as protectors. Where they can’t duck their heads, the brush just runs along the blinder and keeps their eye protected. This isn’t something you teach them they just figure it out with time and practice.

I groom the animals every day to make sure there isn’t something stuck in them and I take extra time to run my fingers along the inside of their ears to make sure a thorn isn’t lodged in there as well. That’s why its very important to desensitize your animal to having their ears handled. Actually my animals really enjoy having the insides of their ear scratched and will lean into my hand to have them rubbed.

If I’m going through cactus country I’ll put on brush leggings that I’ve rigged up myself. I make them out of old levis. No point in buying them as the clochids make it impossible to remove (too numerous and too hard to see). So I just throw them away at the end of the trip.

Eye protection for yourself is a good idea too.

LaNette

[Robert MoonShadow]

Out here, we have multiflora rose, and yellow starthistle (a noxious/invasive & nasty little thing with thornheads), as well as puncture vines (AKA “goatheads” for the shape of their thorny seedpods).
People here hate all three…my goats love ’em = I throw up my electric netting; turn the girls loose; and wait about 4 days…pck up my $$ for ‘custom grazing’ and away I go.
Sounds like your solution might be to buy a couple of wethers (castrated goats) – they make good eating when you’re done w/ every thorny thing you can find for them to eat. Or rent them out = I charge $5/day for the entire herd; not much money, but it adds up = I made right about $800 this season from the little sweethearts. Bought me 2 donkeys, plus extras, with it. Even if it’s something they won’t eat (those thorns of yours), they’ll clear enough leaves off, and the rest of the brush, so that it’ll be a heck of a lot easier for you to get in there & cut it out, or whatever.

[TBigLug]

Goats sound like a good idea. Maybe I can fence that area in. Could I put one on a stake with a chain (like a dog)? I had one goat that we kept in our yard at the old house. I don’t know If I could afford netting to put up all over back there. Pretty big stretch of land and too far away for electricity.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Sure, you can stake a goat out w/ a collar and chain (it’ll chew up any rope); PROVIDING IF: you take the time to move it several times a day, provide water, and very importantly –> make damn sure there’s no dog or predator that can get to it. As for electric netting: I buy mine used at 1/3 the price of new from the local big-time outfits (competing exhusband/wife) – they use miles of the stuff, and rotate it out every 3 years. Perhaps you can find a similar source. But the new stuff, you can get at about $1 a foot (in 165′ rolls) – with one goat (I recommend 2, as they’re herd animals) you can get a large enough area that it’ll take it/them about 3 days to eat down. Portable fencing is just that – portable. A fence charger (battery – make sure it has at least 2 joules) can cost anywhere from $130 on up. Mine set me back $180 from Kencove.com. Figure that one roll of netting, a charger, a deep cycle battery & a trickle charger. All new, it’ll set you back 4 bills…but will last you 10 years, ‘cept the battery. And whenever you’re not grazing the guy on your own stuff, rent him out as “custom grazing” –> you’ll find all kinds of people that need small patches cleaned up {I know, because even out here, not everyone needs or wants Ray’s 9,000 head or MaryAnne’s 800 :eek:}. You get fresh grazing for not just free – but put a little cash in your pocket. Rented out for even just 60 days total over the season, you’ve got a new roll of fencing or a winter’s hay for the little brushmower. 2 words of caution: 1) “It takes a strong fence or chain to starve a goat” 2) If you DO chain it out, NEVER in the ditches alongside the roads…usually toxic weed spray’s been sprayed, but actually the main danger is from the fact there’s some people who just can’t seem to bypass such a tempting target for their guns/beercans/rocks. Oh, and caution #3 = Spend any amount of time watching the antics of one of these critters (especially when they’re young) and you’ll be hooked for life. :p Just ask Jennifer…she knows. 😀 But I’d recommend the full-sized breeds, rather than her little guys, for this; you want them to get up as high as possible on that nasty old thornbush. They’ll even eat most of the thorns for you…ain’t that just sweet of them?

[TBigLug]

I might have to look at this closer. I was figuring if I got three or four and staked them out while I was out there cleaning up loose brush and let them eat up around where I wanted to cut the next day. Interesting thought. Thanks.

[Robert MoonShadow]

I think that might work, too; after all, you’d then be there to protect them & move them around…the only downside would be that they might get tangled up in heavy brush.
When I first started out, I bought welded-wire stock panels (they’re about 16’L x 4’H}, and w/ 2 (or more) per side, I’d make a box, using two snaps to join each section together. Fairly easily movable, and they’re fairly stable (unless the goats get to climbing/pushing), for temporary fencing. These are what I use – cut down to 8′ lengths – to take the little ones to the farmers’ market for sale. I’ve also made similar panels out of wood & regular stock/field fencing. Screw eyebolts into the ends, run a piece of L-shaped rebar down through them. {I can’t weld, so I never used the eyebolts welded to the stock panels}. These DO get awkward to use on steep ground…specifically, on the lip and bottom of the slope, but it can be dealt with, with some thought. I’ve even used wood pallets tied together w/ the rebar for support.

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