Young horse perdicaments

[Gabe Ayers]

Well yesterday morning when checking the herd I again experienced a surprise from being a horseman.

We keep our horses of mixed ages in a big herd, in our pastures, so there are all ages and sizes. One colt or a yearling gelding that has proven to be curious and a typical adolescent. I have a rack that we put on top of the pulling sled to hold feed bags on when we get a donation of those for weights in our friendly Biological Woodsmen pulling contest. The rack is smooth round steel with no sharp edges and has been setting on the ground beside the stoneboat for a year or so. The horses like to rub their tails on it and I had thought it would save my nice metal gates from getting bent by the same butt rubbing, so I have just left it out there. That was my mistake.

That morning we came over the hill to see the yearling with his rear legs through the top rail of the frame and literally stuck between the frame trapped in the rack. It was an impossible looking situation that reminded me of one of those play toys that you can figure out how to get apart with some careful study, but one of the parts of this deal was a living animal. I really should have taken a photo of this situation as it was hard to believe and equally hard to describe in words. But I was anxious to get him out of his predicament. So the only way we could get him out is turn the frame up on it’s end and lift his feet through the bars and walk him forward to freedom.
Fortunately he was tired enough he stood for all of the manipulation for the rack to get him free.

The lesson is – if there is any way a horse can get in trouble, they will….I guess the colt got in there by kicking at someone else and having his rear feet go through the slots on the frame and down to the ground. I wish there was a better way of describing this but this is the best I can do. He is scratched up a bit and swollen in the stifle but is not lame and seems to be doing well this morning. No doubt the big seemingly harmless butt scratching frame is not in the field any longer.

So if you have anything not needed in the field, take it out, I knew this but thought it would be safe… I was wrong. …again… and keep learning….

Stay cool DAP people, it is hot in the east, probably even the northeast…

[ngcmcn]

Hey jason, yes it is hot here in the N.E……….got a question for you.? I know its a bit off your thread. Last year after mowing about four acres in a morning with my team in this kind’ve heat i brought them to the barn unhitched and tied them.. I usually give thme a sip, of water when i break for lunch and seeing how i had a jug of molassas and some redmond salt(granular) i made them a mixture of sorts, not to rich, gave them a sip with their hay then let them have enough to satisfy themselves before heading back to cut another 3 acres about an hour later. Boy did that perk them right back up. Gatorade for horses so to speak. You ever try anything like this?

Suppose to cool down this wknd.

Ciao

Neal

[Gabe Ayers]

Neal,

Never tried any particular formulas other than good old mountain water, usually not letting them drink more than seven swallows at a time if they are wet between the front legs.

But that sounds like a great idea. If they drank it then they must have wanted it, because as the old saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Sounds like good common sense to me.

What is the formula exactly, if you are willing to share – maybe you can develop a product that could be called Equiade and sell it and make millions. It would have to be sold to hobby or sport horse people because there are not enough working horse people to constitute such a market of millions. You can put HHFF in for a cut for the fancy name…. we can use any pennies to keep our efforts going.

Do you give it to them air temperature or cold as it comes out of the ground?

If I could do such a thing, (make millions) I wouldn’t change one thing about how I live or what I do, I would just be doing it with new equipment in the future. Of course we have small salt blocks in each manger in the barn and when we bring the horses in for lunch they have access to that and a small amount of hay, after they drink a bit. Some times we pour water on the horses while they work just to cool them quickly and supplement their natural sweating cooling mechanism.

I have a video from England that suggest giving molasses and salt to horses mixed in their feed, but not necessarily after or during the active working time.

Interesting approach man, my horses are usually much better at anything they are doing after lunch, but not necessarily faster, just pay better attention and don’t waste any energy wondering about what is going to happen next.

Thanks for sharing Neal.

[Andy H]

What happens if the horses drink more water when they are hot?

[ngcmcn]

Jason,

The highly secret Imperial Knowledge formula for Equaide is as such:

a five gallon bucket of water….cool

a blob of molasses, maybe a cup……..

a good handfull of redmond salt…..

mix…….

Goodluck on marketing this at Walmart. We’ve been using a Fertrell Grazers salt mix lately. 50# bag not cheap but has lots of trace minerals in it, We give it to our cows as well. the eight sip rule when hot is good horse sense. I know, with your picture on the bottle the dough will be rolling in.

Good to hear from you, maybe we’ll catch up with you in Vt. in the fall

Neal

[Crabapple Farm]

Sounds like good old fashioned switchel to me – an old haymaking drink which is great for the hot weather, though we haven’t offered it to any of the animals.
For ourselves, we mix some cider vinegar, salt, maple syrup or molasses, sometimes juice, sometimes ginger, with water. Good stuff.

[Carl Russell]

Andy H;1818 wrote:

What happens if the horses drink more water when they are hot?

It is not supposed to be good. Although I have never let them drink their fill, I always operate on the premise that when I’m hot and thirsty, I need to drink. It is no different with horses. 15 swallows is the most when they are “hot”, but generally an easy walk back to the barn will cool’em down enough, so that they are ready for a drink.

I did have a horse get colic once from drinking water with ice on it in the winter, but he was a horse prone to colic (died of a twisted gut)(not that time).

I prefer switchel with vinegar, maple syrup, and ginger, but never thought of feeding similar to the animals, although we do put vinegar in the water for the milk cows as part of milk fever prevention.

Only weeks after getting the young mare, having just put shoes all around, I returned to the barn to find her cast. SOMEHOW(???) she had gotten her hind foot caught on her hitch rope by the heel caulk. Having reacted negatively she has snugged the rope into the crack between shoe and hoof, and was tied up tight as a pretzel. Never was sure how long she was like that, but she wasn’t too sweaty, nor too tired, but she worked with me as I had to cut the rope from the manger first, because I could give her head with her foot still caught. (There was no pulling the rope free from under the shoe) Then I had to cut the rope between head and foot. It turned out to be one of those times when although I would never try to restrain a horse to develop submission, just by being there to release her, she regarded me in a different light. She was fine immediately, and went back to eating her hay. Never before, nor since have I had any similar problem in my tie stalls, but now at least I have it in the back of my mind.

Nice cool morning, gotta go. Carl

[Gabe Ayers]

Heck Yea,

A picture of me, yea that’s the ticket….Some old wrinkly grouch with a perplexed look on his face….Maybe a photo of one of the good horses looking attentive and alert, that would actually be nicer to look at.

Walmart, brilliant, just the place to sell to folks that are interested in working animals and sustainability. Now we just have to figure out how to get it manufacturered in China, for real cheap and of course the quality control that all the wonderful products coming out of the great wall nation to the world. I’ll be sure to have my attorney send you a contract for your share immediately. How many million gallons should we reserve for the DAP members?

Seriously, these extremes do call for any edge we can give the animals as we continue to work through them. I will try something like this on our main pair and see what their interest and response is. It can’t hurt them and may give them some tolerance to these heat extremes.

It has cooled here this morning too and we are also in the woods. We are working on the place in some of the worst topography we have, but it is great. Time to bring some young horses to the woods for the first time, that is always fun and encouraging and promising.

Thanks for sharing folks, have a good time with your work friends.

I probably won’t make it to NEAPFD this year, just simply don’t have the funds to make the ride. I suspect it will be a great event just as Carl and Lisa put it together regardless. You folks are lucky to have a cultural community of interest in the region. We have nothing in the south like that and pretty much have to relate and grow among the practitioners we have trained and the interested few that come along as the result of our public educational work.

We are still not sure we will make it to HPD. We hitched a ride with a fellow coming out of Ga. but now the Amish are balking on paying any expenses for our participation at the logging demonstration. I think they are fearful of a low turnout by the public and don’t want to promise money they are not sure they will make from ticket sales. We are awaiting the results of the latest meeting of the organizers to see if we can get a little travel money to be there and announce the logging demonstration part of the two day event.

An interesting perspective is that we are not “selling” anything so we are not “vendors”. We would participate to promote and perpetuate culture, which just like this formula for Equiade is most useful when given freely for the improvement of all. Hopefully we will be there. The point is that the more anyone uses animals to work in the fields and forests, the more stuff they will need from the vendors of the goods and services of the cultural community.

Thanks to everyone who is working their animals in the natural world. We are all better off from that truly superior method of addressing human needs.

[Carl Russell]

I’m sure you’re all aware that Walmart has undertaken a Green Marketing Initiative. I bet it isn’t targeted at the back-to-the-landers though. The big enviros are trying to back it though, as it is supposed to advance the discussion, and open the eyes of the less informed. I’ve never heard of such a ridiculous concept. Don’t stop consuming, just consume Green!! I’ld love to see Walmart promote Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. That’ll be the day.

Hey Jason, aren’t you supposed to be putting on a large forestry demo in your neck of the woods the week before NEAPFD?

Kind of interesting that HPD is skeptical that there may not be enough turn-out. One of the best ways to make sure you have a low turn-out is to skimp on content. Unfortunately content costs, and there are few in the world of horse powered forestry with less content than you brother.

At NEAPFD we will offer three workshop tracks this year, one with round-table discussions. We are hoping to give participants the opportunity to flesh out topics, brainstorm solutions, and develop networks. Among those under consideration are Energy Drinks for Hor…. no kidding, Food Policy Issues, Farm/Community Resource/Networking Centers, and Cooperative Regional Marketing of Value-added Sustainable Forest Products (a la Draftwood). Any interest in fertilizing the latter discussion with your considerable experience would be welcome.

Carl

[ngcmcn]

Hey Jason, maybe there are a few DAP folks that would make a small donation to HHFF to get you to VT.in SEPT. Your Know- how is valuble. I’ll donate a few bucks.

Neal

[Gabe Ayers]

Hey Neal,

I moved my response and discussion to the Community page. I would love to come to Vermont in September. Last year we got about the same as we asked the Amish for and it paid for the rental car and gas. Carl and Lisa put us up in a lovely B & B in a village up the road. What beautiful country that is.

I also am very confident that there will be adequate cultural depth among the presenters, speakers and participants brought in by Earthwise Farm.

You may let me know what you think about the event beyond that. I would do anything I can to give my time to the culture or modern animal powered efforts, I just simply don’t have money to give. I think everyone understands that reality.

Thanks truly for the interest.

[Author]

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