Walking a straight line

[Andy Carson]

In the midst of trying out my seeder today, I learned that my horse tends to wander to the left or right when seeding. It’s not a fast turn, but a slow wander that is annoying when you are trying to space rows precisely. This is defiantly a training issue I need to tackle to some degree, as when I am seeding my attention tends to be drawn in all sorts of directions (making sure the seeder is operating correctly, looking for rocks, watching spacing, etc) and it is hard for me to have to “micromanage” her going straight forward. I hate to say it, but I can’t think of anything other than simply making her walk a straight line back and forth over and over again and hope she gets in the habit of walking straighter. I bet this will work eventually, but I kinda wanted to see if anyone has any clever training tricks or tips they could share. Any takers?

Another thing to think about is that when I am seeding, I don’t think the marks left by the previous pass are noticeable to my horse. She’s not bad about generally following a disk mark that she can see, for example, so this is a somewhat different task.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Andy, I think they all wonder to some extent. At first it seems like a lot of effort to steer them constantly, but eventually it becomes natural and easy. One thing I often suggest is to “steer the head”. What I mean by that is the animal will be looking around, moving its head from side to side, this is part of what causes the wondering, as it’s body follows it’s head. Keep one eye on the head and after allowing a glance in either direction keep the head pointed in the right direction. This might help. I do believe you have to steer them to make them walk in a straight line. Probably even more so with a single.

I was out doing a little plowing yesterday and after a while you might think you weren’t steering much as the furrow horse knows where it belongs and they are working on light lines. Let a beginning teamster try it for a second and see how quick you will be up out of the furrow.

[dominiquer60]

Even with a tractor (without GPS) it can be difficult to keep straight, especially at slow transplanting speeds. I will often mark a bed first at a normal speed just so that I or the the person driving have something decent to follow while they are struggling to stay awake at our breakneck speed of 320 ft/hour.

If you mark a first row with something and focus on keeping her straight you will have a good first pass mark. If you couple this first mark with a row marker on your seeder, you may be able to make the trail of the next row for her to follow. A row marker could attach to your stabilizer and should not unbalance it too much, heck Planet Jrs used to come with a row marker.

Erika

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the thoughts,
Maybe much of the wandering is indeed due (in large part) to my split attention… I really like Erikas suggestion of marking the rows with something first then coming back with the seeder. I think I’ll try that then I can focus on one less thing at a time. I can indeed see the mark left by the previous pass, but sometimes there was a little wondering in the previous pass, so I was trying to mentally adjust for this by taking into account both where the mark is, where the mark ought to be, and what is straight in my mind. If I continue to follow the mark left by the previous pass solely, a small wonder turns into a big sweeping curve after several passes. It becomes a lot to think about… Aren’t I supposed to be the brains of this work party? :rolleyes: It seems I am not doing my job!:D

[mitchmaine]

hey andy, not sure about your process, but i try to finish my discing in a different direction from the drilling. as much for me as the horses. they are pretty good at finding the wheel rut of the drill going against the “grain” of the disc pattern, but i’d be lost for sure without it. i also find it hard steering looking down six or eight feet at a time. even following a furrow the horses can put a sweep in plowing. sometimes i have to fix on a tree or something on the edge of the field with my eyes (presumably where i want to end up) and just head for it hoping to end up better off. tricky job no matter how hard you try, but i liked donns comment on passing lines off to a beginner. amen.

[Lanny Collins]

Ok guy’s. Don’t start laughing but I did a little brainstorming and tried to think out of the box. Come up with this idea but it would be best if the rows are not too long and you have some help it would make it faster. Here goes;

You have all seen those volley ball goal post made with car wheels filled with concrete. What if you have 2ea of these at the ends of your plowed area. Set them up and stretch string between them to make a “lane” for the single horse to walk between. This may only be needed to make the first row. If you start off straight there is a better chance of keeping it that way. If you had someone at the opposite end both of you could easily roll the goal posts a few feet to make the next lane, if needed.

Ok, remember you’re not supposed to be laughing.:D

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, maybe your wife will be willing to help you at first by leading or driving the horse while you get the planter problems worked out. That way you can focus on one thing at a time.

[grey]

The two-man approach has long been the traditional solution to this problem. Many artistic depictions of this activity show one person on the lines and one futzing with the seeder.

[Andy Carson]

Hmmm… You all are making me feel like a better teamster (or at least a better singlester). 🙂 I convinced my wife to help out, but she insists on riding… My mare does this fine though. Rain has again kept me sidelined though until the end of this week. The forecast said it wasn’t supposed to rain yesterday, but it did anyway.

Thanks for the reality check. It’s better to have reasonable expectations…

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