We are going shopping!!!!

[Robernson]

This spring for a team. I have my neighbor as a mentor and will help me with my purchase and along the way. I have saved a total of about $3500 for this draft project since I was 8 years old,6 years later I think I am ready to jump on the bandwagon. I looked at all of my options, Oxen,mules,horses,and even donkeys and I decided that horses are the way to go. (no worries I will be keeping the donkey,she is a great pet…..)

I am needing advice though,how do you charming individuals like haflingers? I was looking at a haflinger team because they look small and easy to harness.
However I would wonder if they would be able to keep up with our work schedual as we are always on the move. We are avid “brush cutters” clearing land for pasture. We work in 100 degree heat and 32 degree snow,for the most part every weekend. Not to mention my chores every day.

So that puts me in a bit of a pickle…small easy to harness animals VS large, harder to harness animals that might prove more useful.
I don’t know:confused:

Anyhow thanks for reading my ramblings

~~R

[gebritt]

The halflingers will last as long or longer than you as long as you hook them to something relative to their size. You will find they will give you all they have but they can’t do the work of a 4000lb team of larger drafts.

[blue80]

Don’t know about halflingers firsthand, but about 8 years ago I rode around with one of my dads clients, an Amish man, in SW Ontario. For most of his life he used Belgians, the bigger the better.
Then he purchased some Norwegians Fjords, and ended up on the receiving end of the communities humor with regards to his “toy” horses. It turns out he was a visionary, as more and more of the Amish have Fjords all the time. Work hard, eat less. My dad says they have few medical problems. This amish gentleman told me the only thing they couldn’t do as well way heavy plowing, at which time you just hook a couple more up.
Saving the drafty Fjord is also a noble enterprise, as unfortunately they are being bred largely for jumping and show rings now.
We are seriously considering Fjords, as our family can use them to pack, ride and work. But they are not cheap!
Kevin

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Roberson, I hope you don’t mind if I ask what happened to driving and working the donkey? The reason I ask is because it might reflect on recommendations I would make regarding Halflingers. Unless you plan to go into commercial hardwood logging, (20″ butts and 20′ logs) Halflingers will do anything you want to do. Remembering of course that asking folks about breeds is a highly subjective question; some Halflingers are a little more “up” and can be a little harder to train and work with for a green teamster. Certainly not true of all of them, as I have seen some good ones.

I also prefer the Fiord to the Halflinger, but that is just my preference. In both breeds you can see a distinct difference between some individuals that are heavier boned and built in the chest and hind quarters, and others are slighter, and more built to ride. Remember the best way (only way?) to evaluate a “broke” horse is in harness. If you don’t know anything else to look for; look for calm and relaxed; people and horses. Good luck.

PS. I personally wouldn’t make a choice based on which I thought was easier to harness. The horses will live for thirty years. In two years which will be hard to harness?

[Robernson]

@Donn Hewes 15641 wrote:

Hi Roberson, I hope you don’t mind if I ask what happened to driving and working the donkey?

My neighbor has been looking at her since we brought her home and has said that in his opinion, due to years of malnutrition, she shouldn’t be worked. At the time of purchase her ribs were visible from 7 ft away. But I felt compelled to buy one for a pet and to see if I could help it. FYI: she is looking a little better now. Neighbor said that her hooves hadn’t been picked for at least a year. There was a lot of rot when we first went after her hooves,it is getting better though.

~~R

[TBigLug]

I think you’re on the right track with the Halfingers. We had 10 of them or so back when grandpa used to pull ponies. They’ll do alot of work and are hartier than alot of people give them credit for. I would suggest a plan. Get a team of well broke Haflingers to start out with for a couple years. After that invest in a good big team of Belgians once you get strong enough to heft the harnesses up there. I started out on Belgians but when I was 14 I was 5’10” and 300 lbs. We grow ’em big on the farm here! 😉

[TBigLug]

Also, FWIW the market is way down around here right now so good well broke horses are going VERY cheap. Great time to get into the horse business.

[dominiquer60]

I second what Don said, there are good haflingers out there, from what I have seen of both breeds the fjords seem more fitting to my liking, but that is only my liking. I’m know that there are bad and good in each breed, so choose based on the horses mind, limb and hoof rather than the color. I have seen some wonderful grade animals that I would bring home in a heart beat.

Chunks appeal to me a lot, and I fantasize what a pair of welsh cob crossed to suffolks would be like. You might consider finding a chunky grade pair that are larger than fjorlingers that have hybrid vigor and perhaps you have to be clever with harnessing at first, but in couple of years you will have an easier time of it and have a pair of horses. Grade horses can be cheaper than purebreds and unless you plan on breeding or showing you don’t need to pay the long dollar for registered papered purebreds.

Make sure you test drive, the more time the seller is willing to take with you, probably means the better the situation. Of course there are wheeler and dealers that will do anything for a sale, never underestimate your gut feeling. Don’t rush if the seller is pressuring you at all, if the horses have been sold before you are good and ready to part with your money, than it wasn’t meant to be.

Good Luck I am excited for you,

Erika

[OldKat]

@Robernson 15631 wrote:

This spring for a team. I have my neighbor as a mentor and will help me with my purchase and along the way. I have saved a total of about $3500 for this draft project since I was 8 years old,6 years later I think I am ready to jump on the bandwagon. I looked at all of my options, Oxen,mules,horses,and even donkeys and I decided that horses are the way to go. (no worries I will be keeping the donkey,she is a great pet…..)

I am needing advice though,how do you charming individuals like haflingers? I was looking at a haflinger team because they look small and easy to harness.
However I would wonder if they would be able to keep up with our work schedual as we are always on the move. We are avid “brush cutters” clearing land for pasture. We work in 100 degree heat and 32 degree snow,for the most part every weekend. Not to mention my chores every day.

So that puts me in a bit of a pickle…small easy to harness animals VS large, harder to harness animals that might prove more useful.
I don’t know:confused:

Anyhow thanks for reading my ramblings

~~R

I can’t add anything of value for you, Robernson re: selecting the appropriate team. Sounds like others are giving you sound advice relative to your question, but I will add that sort of like Donn said; if you are about 14 years old (& a male) you will PROBABLY be more capable of harnessing a bigger team in a couple of years than you are now so don’t let that dissuade from picking a bigger team if you would otherwise be thinking that way. If your mom and dad are of average or above height and build, you PROBABLY will be too. (Doesn’t ALWAYS follow true though: my dad was maybe 5’10”, I am 6’3&3/4″, my older brother is about 5’9″!) Of course, from the discussion feedback, above, sounds like Halflingers or Fjords may fit the bill anyway.

What I really wanted to comment on though is your ability to stay focused on your goal for almost half your life AND your ability to save the amount of $$$$ that you have to realize that goal. Quite an accomplishment! Tip of my hat to you Robernson!

[Does’ Leap]

Roberson:

I was not a fan of halflingers per se, but we picked up a free 8 year old mare who was sound last summer. I must say, I am a convert. I still prefer my full size team of bays (1700-1800 lbs/per), but she is a nice horse. I haven’t seen a halflinger built as sturdy as her (although I am certainly no expert) and I believe she pulls pound for pound more than my larger horses who are young and in good shape. She was not well broke when we got her (we didn’t know her history), but I have been twitching firewood with her throughout the season. She has an energy (I call it spunk) about her that is different from my horses (perhaps the Arabian that was bred into them), and I wouldn’t have been able to handle her a few years back. I personally would feel a bit limited by a team of halflingers while logging, but otherwise they would be great. My two cents: get the best broke team of horses you can find irregardless of breed.

Good luck.

George

[gebritt]

I got a call from a young lady near Charlotte NC. She has a pair of Percheron yearlings that are very near match. Both mares are black with a white diamond in forehead that is shaped nearly the same. They are half sisters with the sire standing right at 19 hands and the dams at 16+ hands. I saw this pair last weekend and have been tempted to go back and buy them but my wife said I better like them a lot if I brought them home because I would be sleeping with them. They appear to be a tad bit thin but a lot of that is their age and their tremendous bone structure. She paid big bucks for these girls and began by offering them at $3000 for the pair. She is now down to $1500 but she said that she was open to offers as long as they were going to a good home and would stay together. She said they came from registered stock but the man said he couldn’t get the papers although she has seen the dams and sire. I am afraid this guy say this 20 year old young lady and saw an easy mark. But that’s what I assume and we all know what assume means ASS U ME

[Robernson]

Thanks everybody. I wasn’t really looking at a “breed” but more looking for “type” if you get what i am saying. Anyhow thanks for the advice and I will keep you guys posted.

~~R

[Robernson]

Well,
We went to look at a team of Haflingers today. A pair of geldings. They fought us the entire time we took a test drive so we obviously didn’t buy them. They wanted $3000 for them, I wouldn’t have given them $5 for them. Anyhow, as my neighbor and I were leaving from our fight with the little horses he turned to me in the truck and said,” So you wanna look for mules?”

But regardless, I am in NO hurry to buy as I work his mules and horses anyway. I reached a huge milestone with the mules today too!

I groomed,harnessed,hitched them to the hay wagon, and fed the cows, then put them “away” all by myself. Did I mention this was one of his younger teams (I don’t know why I work better with them…)?!?!?!?!?

I am quite proud of myself…..

~~R

[Joshua Kingsley]

Keep looking you will find what you want.

If you were closer I would tell ya to come over and give the team I just picked up a spin. They are 11 and 12, about 12.2hh geldings and they seem to have it together even after many years off.. I plan to work them steady for the next several weeks and see how they do. If Jess had it her way I think that she would have them stay right here… I don’t know though its hard to beat a good Suffolk..
Joshua

[Robernson]

We went yesterday to look at a Belgian team that was also disappointing. They were just plain old.
Me and my neighbor had a long and insightful conversation about how these horses that we are looking at are “no mules by any means”. I am yet to see anything that is as good and easy driving as those mules, we might start looking at mules too, you never know. Just thought I would give you all an update on the shopping adventure.

~~R 🙂

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