[Billy Foster]

Sickle hocks
Nice to hear from you. Farming is a great experiment, don’t you think? I use my education in science all the time when I am thinking about how to do a particular project. On the other hand there is so much “art” in all this that a book can never teach you. The sustainability thing is so important to us. We know we will never put a dent in supplying food to the country but our thoughts are: if we work our small farm this way, and people see and experience the benefits, we will influence others and help shape how the consumer feels their food should be produced. Our principle goal is to run a small farm sustainably and actually turn a profit, as you know that is a lot to ask. We are getting close but still have a long way to go. Our farm is very new (~2yo) I started a blog to document what we have been doing, if you are interested.
http://www.uponthehillfarm.blogspot.com/

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I am so happy to have these guys, they have the potential to be just the team I dreamed of.
One of the reasons we decided on Hafflingers is all the feedback about how honest workers they were. I have definitely heard plenty of stories about how much they can pull. I must be honest and say that periodically I will have to ask them to pull a good load. Having said that I think most of the time it will be a load that will be more appropriate for them to be able to work longer hours.
Donn: I very much appreciate the advice. Harness fit is something I have been working on and reading about however the finer details have been harder too acquire. My assumption is that the britchen straps should remain horizontal to the ground i.e shortening both straps on both sides of the harness?

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Well here they are.
Arnie and Tank. We looked and looked and could not find a team that would fit what we wanted (solid broke to equipment and over 14h). We ended up befriending a teamster that uses Haflingers and he is helping us put a team together. Tank is a 9yo, (14.3h) that came from a hitch horse team; he was being sold because he was not “hitchy” enough. Driving him the first time he was a little tense but the more he worked the calmer he got. I think the prior owner had to get after him a lot to get him to look hitchy but he seems to be calming down as he realizes I want him to just walk and be calm. Arnie is a 3yo (14.2h) that is fairly green to driving but goes down the road pretty well. He gets nervous with noises behind him but will calm down after a bit, even though he has taken me on 2 rides!. He does not seem to hold a grudge if he gets spooked by something and seems to be better with each spooky thing the second time he is exposed to it. I have worked both these horses single in shafts and ground driving but have not put them together as a team. I actually do not have a pole for my fore cart yet so I couldn’t if I wanted to. I am not in a rush to reach that milestone yet. We have had them both for about 2 weeks so a lot of relationships need to be built, between them and me and each other as well. I want to built Arnie’s confidence more before putting him in that situation and I need to feel comfortable that I can handle the situation as well. I have a lot of education to get before that time comes but rest assured, I will have my friend come over and give me a hand for that first hitch. This is not the equipment broke team that we began looking for but I know they will be in time. They both are nice horses and I think they will be as good as I can make them. Thanks everyone for your advice, even if it was not directed specifically to me, just by posting on this forum you have helped me very much.

[Billy Foster]

Yes I would be making new wooden eveners and using the old hardware. let me know what you have, maybe a picture of the parts?

Thanks
Billy

[Billy Foster]

I am in the market for evener hardware to make up a 2 horse evener.

Billy Foster
West Poland Maine

[Billy Foster]

My primary concern is the proper method to hook the team. It looks to me that one would put an evener on the front and not have a pole? I imagine it could be done sever different ways. I would like best if I could put a pole on it. Maybe some sort of universal joint type connection to the harrow with the evener pinned to the pole? I am good at fabricating but wanted to reduce the trial and error factor if anyone had some suggestions.

Thanks
Billy

[Billy Foster]

I really enjoy reading all your thoughts on this, I just got our first green broke Haflinger and am looking forward to spending the winter working on the basics with him. Some of you know I raced sled dogs for a bunch of years. A very famous Dog musher, Gorge Attla said, “a dog never does anything wrong, he is a dog and he does just what a dog would do in that situation”. That was not a direct quote but it is was how I remember him saying it. I have to believe the same idea goes with the horse as well.

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Him being a happy dog that you are able to communicate with is a big big plus. The dogs I raced with wanted to pull from when they first are put in harness. At about 6 months old we would put them in harness, hook them in line, with some experienced dogs to maintain continuity, and off we would go down the trail keeping them from running to fast and scaring themselves. The term “born to run” really applied. Having said that I had a real hard time calming these race dogs down so I could use the team for work like hauling fire wood. The guys with freight teams had dogs that I would never use for racing, they were very calm, almost board.

If I was in your shoes I would work on the dog following me pulling something so he could stay with me and get praised for it, gradually working up to larger and larger loads. The way I train dogs is always setting them up to succeed. In your case I would be nervous about increasing the weight of the load unless I was 99.9999% positive he would succeed. With dogs I have found that building on small successes is a slow but dependable way to shape their behavior. For the racing dogs letting them run was a good positive reinforcement, I am not sure what your dog will see as a reward, maybe just following behind you?

For fun here is a video of a very good friends dog teem he raced up in Canada this weekend. Notice the dogs tails wagging before the start and how quiet it is after he is underway. As I said the dogs are running because it is what they want to, you don’t hear him shouting at the dogs to go all you hear is the dirt hitting the camera. Notice the dogs tugs are tight all the way, even after running flat out for 8 or 9 minutes (at a little less than 30mph) and they still use a 4wheeler to bring them back to the truck because they would still pull than little rig wherever they wanted to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp6ml1UvWc4&feature=player_detailpage

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Countrymouse
Look up Pulk on the web; you will find ones with shafts specifically made for dogs.
I raced sled dogs for a lot of years. We would harness the pups at a pretty early age but would not really start muscling them up until they were about a year. A single dog can get distracted pretty easily so I would work on obedience as well. Lots of recourses on the web about training dogs to pull; my experience is if a dog is going to be a good puller it is already evident. If the dog does not want to pull find him another job.

Just my input
Billy

[Billy Foster]

We keep 2 Maremma with our NCC flock. Depending on what time of year they may be single with a group in different pastures. I like feeding them every day, as opposed to an automatic feeder, because it gets them excited to see me and a reason for them to come to me. I have worked with dogs of one type or another for most of my life. My experience with LGD is one handles them on their terms, not ours. The only reason they are going to come to you is if THEY want to, not because you said so. I teach them to be respectful of peoples space, not to jump at the dog food and if I sit down on the ground and say there name playfully they will get their belly scratched and that is about all I try and teach them. It took me a few months before either one of these guys warmed up to me. Even though it seems like I have gained their trust, if they think something is up they will still stay just out of reach.

Billy

[Billy Foster]

reb
How far from Poland do you live? What kind of work do you do with your pair?

Billy

[Billy Foster]

Really good info about the different breeding lines Joshua, we have been talking about the differences we have seen in the structure of different Halflingers but didn’t realize there were actually different lines. This will definitely help us in our search for a good appropriately built pair. Do you know of any one breeding or selling working type Halflingers in the north east?
Billy

[Billy Foster]

MitchMaine: Brian Mitchell, usually has a big plug of chaw in his cheek. Yes I have done some work on one of his father’s trucks back when I was wrenching on trucks. Did he sell his team? I will have to go talk to him. Thanks for the other contacts as well. We have been thinking about the Farmers and draft horse assn sounds like it is a good placed to start.

Pete & Jesse: Good info, I was thinking about pulling the spreader just as you have. I would start with a small load and gradually increase the weight as they become more confident that they can pull it. I really like to hear that they are easy keepers. Feed is my biggest expense so the less they eat the more cost effective they will be. This type of horse sounds like it will fit in really well with us.

[Billy Foster]

Thanks Dave
Fjords and mules have come up in conversation as well. I have started looking around locally for someone to learn from I think I said it in my first post but one thing I have read over and over again on this forum is “find a mentor”.
Billy

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