Two interesting articles

[Uncle Joe]

Thank you Donn. Your letter (and perhaps Dave’s response if he is inclined to provide one) will appear in the May/June issue of the magazine. I appreciate your careful examination of the piece and thoughtful review of its points. Thanks again for the feedback and for supporting the magazine as one of its readers.

Joe Mischka
Rural Heritage

[Carl Russell]

In fact Joe I would also be glad to get a hold of a copy of this issue and write a formal letter. I have written about similar concerns to SFJ, but have always had to limit my expenses, so I never subscribed to RH.

You are welcome to use, or refer to any of the comments I have made here anyway, but seeing as they are based on appraisal of other people’s comments, I will take the time to develop my own first-hand perspective before asking you to print it.

Carl

[near horse]

Okay –

This presents the opportunity to open a whole ‘nother thread on DAP or a series in RH. Some of the comments on this thread speak to the need for some type of compendium or list of “rules of thumb” like Donn’s:

“Trace chains with this style of harness should be adjusted by checking the britchen. Move the team back a step and the britchen is tight, move up a step and you should slip you fingers under the britchen easily, an inch of space perhaps, two hands of space and you are asking for trouble.”

As a new teamster, it is incredibly daunting to just plain figure everything out yourself. Some of us don’t have access to “good mentors” and as I’ve also mentioned in the past, just because someone’s been driving teams for many years, doesn’t mean that they’re doing it well – or right – or safely. (The previous comment is not directed at anyone on this list but is rather the product of my personal experience. I don’t know much but I do recognize when something seems unsafe.)

I know many of you that are good teamsters would rather be working your horses than schooling a bunch of knothead greenhorns (like me) but I hope you can see that the future of using draft animals lies in passing on the craft and those “bits” of wisdom – like Donn’s “checking tension at the brichen ….” are simple, straightforward, invaluable and not compiled in any one place.

Sorry about the ramble but I would find a list or compilation of “rules of thumb” priceless. Thanks for your consideration.

[jac]

I’d second you on that Geoff.. I’ve been hitching Clydes for years but reading how Donn put that description of checking the breeching made me realise what a valuable asset your idea would be to up and comming teamsters.. especialy if no mentor is close to hand..
John

[Donn Hewes]

Geoff, let me start by agreeing with you, that it can be very hard to find all the info you want in one place. I could name what I think are two or three of the best all around books. I would rather make another point instead. I believe that some form of mentoring is vital. I know that is easy to say and can be very hard to do, but let me explain why I think so.

It is in the nature of the thing you want to learn. It is a subtle craft with many inter-related parts. Everything from wild animals to the proper maintenance of machinery. A good mentor will help you keep moving forward. Protect you to some degree from the worst hazards and mistakes. They will push you to continue to learn. They can help you protect your horses from yourself. Because by the very nature of this craft it will take time to learn. I am still learning and I have a few people I consider mentors to me now. People who understand horses better than I do. People who recognize the positive and negative aspects of confirmation better and more easily than I do. People who are breeding the animals to produce farm workers.

Here is the good news. The are many ways to be in touch with your mentor / mentors. Some are fortunate to have one next door. Some only see one occasionally. Some must do all the driving to spend time with the mentor while they work. Others will have the mentor dropping by to see how you are doing. I say all this because over time I have come to believe they are an essential part of the process.

I have said this before but I think it is worth repeating. When you want to know if someone is worth trying to learn something from, watch for one thing. Even if you are unsure of everything that is going on, look to see if the individual remains calm and relaxed. Look to see if the animals do. That is the best advice I can give.

[Uncle Joe]

Carl: Your issue is on its way. Thanks.

Geoff: I am very interested in such a series. I am always trying to cultivate new contributors and would warmly welcome submissions that discussed safety, proficiency and efficiency issues as they relate to any of a myriad of topics including but not limited to: harnessing, driving, stable and pasture management, logging, farming, training, trailering, etc. People with the knowledge rarely take the time to put it down on paper. I am grateful for those that do and am always glad to find new ones. But, I need contributors to spend time with those who aren’t interested in recording it themselves and make a detailed record of their methods and techniques. If you or anyone else is interested, please contact me. My contact information is available on our website, in the magazine and at the end of this post.

Imagine, spending a day or two with a mentor-level teamster, learning their methods and techniques, recording their advice and cautions — and being paid to share it with the public at large. While some experts are understandably close-to-the-vest with their expertise, (if only to prevent having their practices in the open where they can be criticized) many others are delighted to have their knowledge passed on accurately. A lot of expert information is transmitted this way, through an intermediary writer. The trick comes in accurately representing the expert’s meaning and intent. The resulting piece would need to be crafted carefully and include back-and-forth feedback between the expert, contributor and editor/publisher to ensure it correctly portrays the expert’s intended message.

Joe Mischka
publisher@ruralheritage.com
Rural Heritage
PO Box 2067
Cedar Rapids IA 52406
319-362-3027

[Gabe Ayers]

A young horse that has accepted you in a round pen will try to follow you off when you leave them anywhere. It is their natural instinct after accepting you as their leader.

~

[Carl Russell]

Joe, Thank you. I look forward to receiving the magazine. I think your series idea would be a great contribution to our community.

Quote:

Biological Woodsman: A young horse that has accepted you in a round pen will try to follow you off when you leave them anywhere. It is their natural instinct after accepting you as their leader.

Jason, You would think that before leaving the horse, this tendency would be addressed so that they can be left to stand. I don’t leave my horses to stand until I know they can do it, and I don’t tie them to teach them to stand.

I will refrain from any more comments specific to this situation until I read the article.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

So I’ve read the article, and I can say that I would not change anything that I wrote before.

I will write a letter to RH, but I am going to make a few comments here first.

I appreciate all of the work that goes into writing an article such as this, and I really appreciate how he has stepped forward with his particular take on the task of training a green horse.

My take-away from this article is that in my mind there is a big difference between what the author sees as the product from working with his horses, and what I expect.

A horse subjected to the techniques he describes will definitely learn to acquiesce to the situation, but at what point does the teamster assert his leadership. I am much more interested in training a horse to respond to my commands, standing because I said to, driving calmly because I instruct him to, than I am in creating an animal that has had its initiative squelched.

I set high expectations for my horses. I want to have a working partner, and I know from experience that I can teach them to do what I want. To do this I have to set high expectations for myself. This is not to say that “things don’t go wrong”, but I purposefully take responsibility to engage the animals in ways that minimize those possibilities.

I was taught to never tie an animal while it is hitched at the same time to apiece of equipment, precisely because it is possible that the animal could get tangled. I was taught to never tie the lines to anything that the horse is not already hitched to. I was also taught that if I expect the animal to stand, then I should have them stand.

There are several aspects of this story that lead me to believe that the author is just not that interested in taking his training exercise to a higher level. Getting the horse to teach himself, tying him when he won’t stand, not adjusting the harness, and not trimming the feet, are all details of husbandry that speak to me in a way that makes me question the value of the information presented here.

This is not to say that there are not people looking for this information, or to be validated in using these techniques. It is not to say that RH should not publish it. However I am still concerned that by being presented in the magazine there is an unspoken acceptance of these short-cuts.

As some one who was taught differently, as a person who works hard to engage the draft animal community to raise the bar, I think we need to do better. I know that to many the bar is already too high, and it just doesn’t look like they could ever get to the level that some purport to be, but if we don’t instill an ethic to try, then we all languish.

As I have been organizing the Northeast Animal-Power Field Days since 2007, I have had a lot of teamsters offer to bring their animals as part of our demonstrations. I decided from the beginning that I would strive to bring teamsters who exemplify the husbandry, attention to details, leadership, and responsibility that I think should be part of the public presentation. This is not a comment in the negative for those who I haven’t invited, every year we bring in new individuals. This is why we pay our teamsters instead of expecting them to volunteer, because they deserve to be compensated, and they help to raise the bar at our event.

Carl

[Uncle Joe]

Carl, Thanks for reading the article and providing your appraisal. The feedback is appreciated.

Joe Mischka
Rural Heritage

[Author]

Posts