[Carl Russell]

dominiquer60;14235 wrote:

…. then I would have to sleep in the office with Bazel….

This I know, would not be a hard sell:D.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

While I agree with much of this appraisal, having been involved with some of the preliminary discussion, my sense is that Lynn and his core group realize the magnitude of the undertaking. As many of you know Lynn is a high-soaring big picturist. He is prone to grandiose notions and language. I think his inclination is to flesh out the depth and breadth of this concept because of the implications it could have on the community of farmers around the world.

Realistically though, they are starting where they know they can have some real impact. The discussions we were having at Sanborn Mills Farm this fall were focused primarily on how networking, mentoring, apprenticing, knowledge sharing, labor sharing, and land conservation can all play significant and current roles in strengthening an organization like SFC. These are also some of the most significant foundational components to creating successful future farm communities.

I also know that there is no intension of being some coast to coast blanketing organization. There is a recognition that Lynn (and SFJ) has unequaled name recognition and precedent-setting outreach as assets that could be used positively to pull these effort together with the help of lots of regional efforts. It really is no different than what he has been preaching all these years, it’s just in the current packaging, it seems too much for one over-worked, over-extended, and aging farming magazine editor to pull off.

Many of us have been working for years to build strong community to address all of the issues that SFC is championing. Lynn Miller knows this. He is really not trying to be the ONE to solve these problems. I think he is clear about his legacy. He has built a huge clearing house for communication and disemmination of ideas through the journal, and he wants to be able to use it to great advantage. It may not happen the way he is laying it out, but bare in mind that he is both a farmer and an artist, and he is fully capable of modifying the approach as it moves forward.

He wants as much honest feed-back and discussion as any of you are capable of. Contact him directly. I know he would love to talk with you.

We are on board, and we will do all we can, through the contacts that we have developed here and through the Northeast Animal Power Field Days, to try to bring to the ground the best efforts of this group.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Here’s another front view of collar/hame/trace fit-location…..on my horses.

[ATTACH]815.jpg” />

Make of it what you will.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Donn, here is a photo of John Plowden’s arch set-up. It has wheels but the design seems close to what you are exploring.

[ATTACH]814.jpg” />

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Mark, I don’t know how big your horses are, but I have 23″ and 24″ collars on mine with deer hair sweat pads in them.[ATTACH]813.jpg” /> My off horse is 17 hands and possibly 1700 lbs.

From the picture it looks to me like the collar is forward at the top, and therefore is also down too low at the bottom. This can happen if the top straps from the britchen are too loose, and the horse will stretch, often just after stopping, its neck out which will cause the collar to move forward. Because of the positioning of th collar in the picture I really can’t determine the correct angle of draft.

It is really hard to evaluate a collar fit from a side view, but 24″ sounds a bit big. What happens is that then the hames are also too big for the horse, putting the point of draft too low. I usually go with a rule of thumb for positioning the front traces-hame size-collar size.

The collar should fit snug on the sides and a hand should be able to fit under the throat, when back tight against the shoulder(under load). Hames are made to fit certain size collars, but within that, they should fit so that the bottom of the trace bolt is about the distance of my hand spread out with thumb on the point of the shoulder, and my pinky(:o) touching the trace. This is a spread hand, not tight fingers together.

In the second picture the trace looks to be only a few inches above the point of the shoulder. The first seems a little higher, but is low too.

The more I look at the photos, the more it appears that the collars and hames are too big. The hames are adjusted to fit the collars, but that is bringing the point of draft too low, which is pulling the collars down, pitching the top of the collars forward.

I think you can see from my picture that when the point of draft is in the right location for the collar, it will pull the collar back against the shoulder, so the top will be back and the angle of the collar will match the angle of the shoulder.

I would try smaller collars, and again it is hard to tell, but it looks like your hames are maxxed out with these collars, so you may be able to use them just fine with smaller collars.

Really this is only soft advice, as I really cannot tell, not having the animals in front of me, seeing them move etc. I may be all wet.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Right down the road from you. They’re headed to Wolcott.

Gwyneth posted an update in this thread the other day.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=2620

Carl

[Carl Russell]

My comment about marketability was not intended to mean that marketing would be easy, in fact it is certainly the part of the equation that many people take for granted.

I was just trying to to say that even if there were markets for whatever you want to grow, it is important to have a realistic understanding of how much work is involved in growing it.

Even hot items require time and effort to market, but if the production time is not managed appropriately there will be so much to do that the quality of produce will suffer, the reward will be diminished, and the profit will be undermined.

If you do a small patch by hand and horse, and develop the skills and methods, then you can gradually increase the production to meet the market.

It is a long slow development, and requires outside income to help cover living expenses, but I believe it is more successful in the long run. I have seen so many flashes in the pan. Folks who had a vision that was at a scale that attracted a lot of attention quickly, but didn’t have the staying power.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

FYI
The Darwins are out!!!! Yes, it’s that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here is the glorious winner:1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Provo , Utah would-be robber Jason Ellison did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked. 😮

And now, the honorable mentions:
2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef’s claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped… Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

5.. A teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer… $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he’d just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.:rolleyes:

8. As a female shopper exited a South Carolina convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

9.. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on an Atlanta street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he’d ever had.:confused:

[Carl Russell]

Scott G;14182 wrote:

…..
Of course when we have the warm weather like they do down in VA when it only gets down to -15 or so nothing more than a long sleeve shirt is needed. If it gets chillier than that than I’ll usually wear gloves and a light jacket… 😉

It’s that DRY Colorado air. In NE we get a little moisture mixed in to draw the heat right out of you. :p

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Front traces look good in length. I also agree the angle on the hames could be better. Raise the D. On the second photo, it is hard to tell, collar looks forward and a little low, probably at rest after stretching. I would also say to tighten the side straps too.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Pretty much anything you grow will be marketable, it is just as BF suggests, if you grow less than you can easily handle, you can always do more the next year. If you try to do more than you can do, you will be overwhelmed. My own personal philosophy is to start small and grow into it.

As far as the single horse is concerned, there is no reason why you can’t farm 5-10 acres with one horse. The problem is not the animal, but as you wrote, finding appropriate equipment. You really shouldn’t have to plow very deep anyway, 4-6″ tops.

Good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Geez George, good to hear you made it all right. Might have to spend a little time on DAP??:D:cool::eek:

Take care of yourself. Not much less that 5 pounds on a farm.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Excellent job Erika. The bows look just right. I LOVE seeing you working on this. You’ll have no excuse not to be a NEAPFD 2010 with your new shorthorns…when you get them.:D

Have fun in FLA.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Thanks Rick. I just did finally get to your site. You certainly do a fine job of presentation. And you have nicely captured many images that are beautiful, showing the enthusiasm of the draft animal community.

I will just offer a bit of feed-back. It is a pet peeve of mine that so many photos of working horses are like the one you posted, your favorite. I absolutely appreciate your connection with the photo, showing such a fine teamster and comfortable animals. However, all it really shows is a man and seven beasts. There is no evidence of what he is actually doing with the horses. No clear view of how the animals are hitched. No representation of the magnitude of the undertaking. Very little, if anything, that can actually inform anybody about working horses.

Another picture of horses’ heads may be interesting to some people, but I wish that the eye behind the lens could see more of the “work”. There definitely is a culture of “draft horse enthusiasts” who want to see “horses” no matter what they are doing, but I am more interested in seeing pictures that reflect the work behind the image, the equipment, the sweat, and the real life challenges that are the backbone of the successful working horse community.

Keep up the good work, and thanks for posting your link, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Tim reminded me that one of the reasons I really enjoy working cattle in the woods is because I can stand off to the side and out of the way. Often times I will hitch them and walk out a head of them, and call them to me. Or stand off to the side and watch them go by, then walk behind the log.

Horses are certainly very maneuverable in the woods with lines, but not having lines on the cattle is a distinct advantage.

Carl

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