The official thread of my horse endeavor

[Robernson]

To reduce the risk of crowding the forum with threads of my questions,I figured that it would be a more valuable use of space to start a thread and ask my questions in it.

For those of you who haven’t read the “Anti-horse people” thread, I will fill you in. That thread was a thrilling epic of a young boy (me) getting permission from my Dad to begin an expedtion into the world of equine draft.
I went further to produce percentages on my amount of time available for the animals.
I was wondering however what form of facilities you have for your horses. I am unable to produce anything fancy but it would be clean and weather tight.
I am also looking into breeds currently. I would like something easy to handle,capable of logging on a rather intense level,and a breed that can tolerate heat. Other than that I am open. So ideas,thing I need to know,ect.
~~R

[Anonymous]

i have a 2 barns available for my horse at all times but very rarely do they use them it can be 30 degrees and raining/snowing and they will stand out in the the weather i put the water trough in the barn thinking that would keep them in there more they come in get there drink and right back out they do however use it in the summer so my pesonal opinion they need or want very litte shelter this determination has been over 10 years and lots of horses and mules. as for breeds of horses i hear alot of good about suffolks i have never had one but would love a good team to try as a breed they are very hardy with good feet im sure one of the suffolk guys out there can tell you a lot about them but dont get stuck on a breed my best horses have been cross bred no paper nothings tough as nails and aint scared to work not to mention half the price whatever you chose be a firm consistent teamster and you will be just fine

[Simple Living]

I have to say your enthusiasm is refreshing. I wish all young men had your drive toward a positive hobby/enterprise. As to horse facilities, clean dry and out of the wind is about all they need. I live in NW Ohio and my Haflingers would rather stand out in the snow than in the barn (they can go in and out on their own). Breed selection I will leave to others, as we all have opinions on that subject. One thing I will say, get a reliable teamster to help you assess any team you are looking at. Your first team, be it horse or other, will teach you more than almost any other. It is best to play to win. If you have to wait a little while to save up the money it will be worth the wait, don’t settle on a team just because of price. Other than that, learn all you can and above all else, be safe and have fun!!

Gordon

[MNMULE]

As far as shelter goes I would say the previous posts have about covered it, Its been my same experience that basic shelter is ample. Now onto the breed, forget about breed, look for a good broke experienced team of horses/mules. I can tell you from experience that starting out you need something that will let you get away with mistakes, because being new there will be mistakes. There are things that you need to be thinking about when handling draft animals in work situations that you probably don’t even think about yet and won’t till you have the misfortune of having a wreck or learn by having the experiences enough to really get to know the several little things that can turn into big things if you’re not careful. Not trying to scare you away here but with the wrong team something as simple as a bridle falling off or a line coming unhooked could cause a bigger wreck than you ever though possible. Also I think its been mentioned before but finding someone who could be a mentor to you would mean the world. I myself got hooked up with a seventy year old guy when I was twelve who started taking me on wagon trains and teaching me about driving horses and such. Now after listening to him and learning from him for almost twelve years I feel very confident in my ability to handle animals and work them safely. You’ll learn things from guys like this that’ll never show up in a book. Poor old Bob though I don’t think he ever knew he was training what would become a mule guy, he might have reconsidered taking me on.

[Does’ Leap]

Ditto on all the housing advice above. A basic 3 sided shed with a frost-free hydrant or automatic waterer. MNMULE is right on regarding breed advice. Get the best broke team you can find and forget about breed. Our first team of mares kicked our *ss! We drove them for 3 months and were lucky to make it through relatively unscathed (although I was kicked twice). I would hire an experience teamster to shop for a team for you.

Good luck.

George

[Robernson]

Thanks guys! I hear you on the shelter thing. We build the sheep a large leanto on the back of the tractor shed. WE spent months on that shed making it all tight and sealed. After all of that effort the sheep don’t go in it. So I feel like a royal idiot for asking my Dad to build that shed!!

AS far as a mentor my neighbor has both mules and horses. He has far more knowledge about mules than horses but I think we will manage.
Anyhow thanks and I will keep ya posted.
~~R

[Donn Hewes]

Simple sheds are best to start with. If you can figure out where you want to keep harness and have it be convenient to a place to tie up, that may be part of the shed as well. Eventually you may want at least one box stall, for a sick, lame, or foaling animal; but you don’t need it right away. You might plan it in to the size of a shed. I don’t put battens on the siding for sheep or horse shelter; both animals want a lot of fresh air in their housing.

if you have a neighbor that is really ‘working’ mules you have something lots of folks here would be very jealous of. If he knows about working mules, he knows about working horses. My advice would be don’t be in a hurry to buy anything. Go learn what you can from him first. Find out when he will be working them. Offer to clean the stalls if you have to. Learn to pick their feet. Harness them. If you play your cards right you can drive those mules. Take your time. If your neighbor is a working teamster that is a gold mine.

[Robernson]

Donn,
He farms T-totally with those mules. He has 4 teams of mules all in various stages of training. He trains mules for the park services and the whole 9 yards. Whenever I am over there,the mules that aren’t working run over to the fence and try to get me to pay attention to them. (They are friendly little boogers) I’ll walk over to them and say,” I’m sorry I don’t pet mules on (day of the week)” But then I have to pet and talk to EVERYBODY including the dog. So going over there is very time consuming……:)
~~R

[Robernson]

I went over to my neighbor’s the other day,for 2 reasons. A-because his cows were hollering someting aweful, and B-Cause I wanted to talk about horses.

This is the information I got.
Horses and Mules are actually alot alike. Mules,aren’t “stubborn” they are just looking out for their best interests. Horse’s are more “trusting”. (he said that trusting isn’t the word he was looking for,but it gets the point across) Good horses will listen to you,majority of the time,if they are in an uneasy situation. Always pick the kind of animal that YOU like. You will never be happy if you don’t. He also said that in his humble opinion that horses are better for beginners than ponys.He has never had a pony but one of his friends couldn’t do a darn thing with them.
His most important word of advice that he tells all beginners,”never,ever,ever let the horses push you around” “Don’t take any crap off of them.”

So that was a start I guess.

I evaluted my situation. He said that my current “fleet” of sheds will be just fine for any creature I buy.So I guess now I just have to resharpen my horse handling skills and start my research.
Thanks Guys

~~R

[DraftDriver]

I just started with a team to drive and do light things around our farm and am trying to absorb everything that I can from my mentor as he is a been there done that sort of guy. My choice of draft are the Percheron, as I feel you can’t go wrong with them, my two will give me the moon if I asked, easy to work with, love to be in harness and the mistakes I have made, yes, they have been very forgiving.

Bachelor Farmer…I will debate you that Belgians and Percherons are the same, as I don’t think so. Belgians are more even keeled in manners and attitude, getting down to business and are honest. Not saying that Percheron’s aren’t but they are a bit more flashy and easy on the eyes if you will. I hope that makes sense.

[Rod44]

Remember – it’s not a runaway unless you try to stop them!!:)

[Carl Russell]

DraftDriver;13977 wrote:

…..
Bachelor Farmer…I will debate you that Belgians and Percherons are the same, as I don’t think so. Belgians are more even keeled in manners and attitude, getting down to business and are honest. Not saying that Percheron’s aren’t but they are a bit more flashy and easy on the eyes if you will. I hope that makes sense.

This statement is far too generalized. There is no way at this day and age that those kind of characterizations can be made about those two breeds. Some breeds like Brabants, or Suffolks, or the like, have not been so overbred that disposition is still a strong genotype. Both modern examples of Belgians and Percherons have far too many variations to be able to make general statements about the breeds.They may not be the “same”, but both breeds are so variable that neither are they “distinctly diferent”.

Carl

[Author]

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