skidding wood with a single horse

[mink]

i was wondering if anybody here skids wood to a landing with the horse going out by itself and someone unhooking them and sending them back by themselfs. if so whats the best method of getting the horse into the hang of doing this ? maybe short skids? i have heard that the old timers used to cut wood with 2 people like this. mink

[Farrier]

My grandpaw swears they had a mule that would do it. He said a man in the woods would hook her up and point her down the skid trail and a man at the landing would unhook and send her back.

[OldKat]

I’m thinking that someone posted a video on this site about a year or so ago of some horses in Eastern Europe doing exactly what you are asking about. I think maybe it was bivol that posted it, so you might check all posts that he has made and see if you can find it.

Good luck …

[OldKat]

@OldKat 23215 wrote:

I’m thinking that someone posted a video on this site about a year or so ago of some horses in Eastern Europe doing exactly what you are asking about. I think maybe it was bivol that posted it, so you might check all posts that he has made and see if you can find it.

Good luck …

Actually, the horses that I am thinking about were carrying firewood in bundles on their backs … sort of a pack saddle rig and not dragging the logs. Point is they were doing it unsupervised and not driven. Pretty cool video if you can put your finger on it. Maybe send bivol a PM and ask if he can remember posting something like that.

[dominiquer60]

Here is Bivol’s original post, he posted another this June also, I remember liking this one a lot. I have heard of horses here in the US doing this, I am sure it had been some time since it was a little more of a common practice.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=1016

Erika

[Anonymous]

I have had a few that would go both in and out by themselves. All our logging horses skid to the landing on long skids with just a tail rien. We start them by putting a piece of rope or stiring across the end of the trail like a gate. The tail rien is just a loop of string that goes from the bit through hame ring around the rump and a ring braided in the tail back to the bit. Its purpose is to help you steer the horse wile backing into the load. As the horse is heading for the landing the reins are up out of the way. As the horse reaches the string or rope gate I say whoa. Are horses are acustomed to electric fence and for the most part respect the string. Starting out I lead the horse back to the cutter who gives it a treat for returning to the woods for the next load. Then using the tail rien back into the load hook on and wait for a min so the horse dosen’t get in the habit of taking off as soon as it is hooked. We also put bells on thier hames. If the horse is out of sight and you can’t hear the bells tinkling it’s a good bet the horse is hung up on some thing.

Each horse and situation need to be aproched a little differntly. Also keep in mind that I’m using these horses every day for a couple of months before I start training them to yard by themselves. Some horses never get the chance.

Hope this helps. I’ll post some pictures when I figure out how. haha

Tristan

A really good horse is worth more than a man in the woods.

[mink]

i seen my grand fathers horse do this when i was 7-8 yers old or so. but being that long ago i dont remember much about it as he died shortly afterwards. seems though he and his brother sent the horse back and forth between the woods and the house . one cut the trees in the woods and they other cut the wood down by the house for firewood and pulp. the ole -timers took all this kind of info with them . mink

[dlskidmore]

I’ve heard of doing this with dogs pulling firewood. Horses are about as smart…

[Gabe Ayers]

I think a factor is the herd instinct of the horses. Usually their herd mate is in the woods while they are skidding and if they are working some distance from the homeplace, it seems natural that going back to the other horse would be their nature. That is a factor my papa pointed out to me. The horses are often turned aloose when they are skidding off real steep ground. They learn to go no faster than they have to and of course they also are worked regularly and learn by sheer volume of effort against resistance to use no more energy than necessary.

Also they are individuals and all horses may no have enough training, experience or the resulting sense to do this.

I agree a good horse is worth more than a man that doesn’t know what he’s doing. It usually takes one man per horse though in most systems, even if it is one man cutting timber, bucking logs and clearing skid trails. I have done much logging with a team by myself, but that is not my favorite way of logging. Goes awful slow and isn’t as safe in case something happens and you’re working where there is no cell phone signal….it also isn’t as much fun as sharing the experience with another human.

Jason

[Dan Buczala]

I was talking with a friend in town who runs a mechanized logging business. I asked him if he ever logged with horses (he’s in his 70s). He told me he worked for Concord Lumber years ago, and they would have around 20 horses in a woodlot, skidding logs between the cutters and the landing, with no one driving them. Sounds like quite an operation.

[Gabe Ayers]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rubxQ5ATGZM&feature=player_embedded

Here is some nice single horse logging from Scandinavia.

Jason

[Charlie B]

25 years ago I was a hog buyer in amish country (Bloomfield, Iowa). There was a family there by the name of Lambright. I bought alot of hogs from them (2000-3000/year). The Lambright’s were great with livestock and especially horses. One brother would load the fat hogs on a wagon at the finishing house about 1/2 mile off the blacktop. When he got the hogs loaded he would send the team out to the blacktop, when they got there another brother would direct the team to turn and back the wagon up to the livestock traile where he would unload the hogs, then he would send the team and wagon back to his brother at the finishing house. This would go on all morning till they had moved 200-300 head of hogs 20 head at time. No one ever touched a line on the teams and there would be at least two teams and wagons moving and passing one another.

Wasn’t logs, wasn’t in the woods,,,,, but broke hoses that knew their jobs and listened when spoken to. I won’t say that I’m hard to impress, but it isn’t every horse and team that can do it. Good horses and great horseman are few and far between and I remember the ones i’ve seen.

[Author]

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