want to "take off"

[PeytonM]

Hey guys. I’m not really sure if this is normal or not, I got my team of Belgians and when pulling my disk or anything that makes them work they want to like run, its not like they will just walk. I am very new with this team I got them in the first part of march and I’ve been taking it kind of slow with them, I know the guys that owned them before me worked them logging and farmed with them but they have had time to be kind of lazy. I know in the horse pulls its like wide open give it all you got but at the same time they don’t have a whole field they have to pull the sled around.

The day I disked with they I made sure they had plenty of hay and gave them a little oats the night before and when I took them out I hitched them up to my wagon and just drove them down the field and it was like a 2 mile warm up. and then i took them out back and had them pull the wagon up a few steeper hills and they would want to go like run up the hill and not walk, I assume its easier for them doing it that way maybe but I would think a nice easy study pull wouldn’t or shouldn’t pull that hard up the hill. It was empty and prolly ways 300#? if that so 450-500 with me in it. then I hooked them to the disk.. I took it really slow let them pull like 50 yards and take a break 75 yards take a break 50 yards and break. once we got to the spot where it needed to be disked they would walk really nice like it wasn’t hard work and just out of no where want to “take off” like it was a giant stone boat or something I’d slow them down and make them stop just so I could better judge if they were tired or what not and from my point of view they didn’t seem too tired, they were breathing heavy but it wasn’t like they were gasping for every last breath from being REALLY worked.

here’s a picture of the disk I was using. and the wagon

[Does’ Leap]

Peyton:

There are a lot more folks with more experience than me who I am sure will chime in, but here are my 2 cents based on what you wrote. They should pull an empty wagon up a hill without breaking into a trot. My experience is that you have read your horses before they change gait and apply appropriate pressure to check their speed before it happens. Easier said than done, but after time you should be able to read their increase in energy or affect, before they change gaits. I feel that is more effective than trying to slow them once they change.

Some other (and easier) things you might also try are not to feed them any oats or grain for a while (or ever). Those carbs and soluble sugars may exacerbate their excitability. Finally, that is a lot of disk for a single team that hasn’t been worked for a while. Generally, a team pulls one set of disks and not a tandem like you have in the picture (those were likely used on a tractor). I would try working them single on smaller loads. Once they are moving out well, stopping, and standing single maybe try pairing them up again with a lighter load.

Good luck.

George

[PeytonM]

you are correct, that disk is was meant for a tractor, when I first hooked them too it like i said i took it easy… the main reason I hooked them to it is something to make them really work and buckle down and work together, I shouldn’t say they were totally out of shape but it wasn’t like they were out skidding logs with me as soon as i got them and everything, the disk was the first thing that really made them work.

I’m gonna make a stone boat big enough to put a round bail on it. I’m gonna use 4×4 and then 2×6 for the base

[chrisf.]

Thats not the set of disks you’d want to hook to if you want to get any real work done. They’d be a good load for a 40hp tractor. Unless your worried about your horses running off with the disk harrow I’d unhook the back set. they are pobably having trouble keeping it rolling at a walk.

[PeytonM]

that disk doesn’t cut very well I pull it with a farmall H that is TIRED in 3rd up hills

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