[Carl Russell]

I got it in…. On the ground for about 5 days, but only wet from dew. I was having some problems with the baler on the last field, and with the really hot weather and heavy crop (read double windrows) I decided to run the baler behind my truck.

I got this idea from Jay Bailey, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I have only run the baler with the horses, and have not had a chance to fool with it much as it means managing horses that are hot and bothered by the rocking, and the blatting motor.

As it turned out it was a good decision. I was really not aware of how much anxiety I carried when working the horses on the baler. Worrying about knotting, clogging, shearing bolts, or how well the engine will run, took on a different tone yesterday. There were a few stretches where several bales didn’t tie, and with the truck I was able to just apply the parking brake and correct the situation.

Of course I knew I was going to use the truck when raking so I doubled up the windrows. I will feel much more comfortable with the baler next time around, but the horses have a really hard time going slow enough to bale large windrows…

Anyway.. Good hay in the barn and a new horse (more on that another time) introduced to a few good days in the field.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Donn, my little New Idea no. 10 was plugging wicked the other night too. The first swath I got about thirty feet before the first clog, and it went on from there for about 2acres. I was mowing thick rowen, some 18″ tall, and it just would not fall over. I just watched it stand on the cutter bar… Sometimes the clump would pass, other times it started a clog.

I did find every loose nut and made all kinds of field adjustments but it was hot, and it was very hard to adopt a working attitude, but eventually that is all I could do, as I just had to get it mowed. Now tedding it, between cloudy days and dewey nights, I can see all the tufts and strips that I missed, and man does that bug me.

Mowing can be one of the most enjoyable and artistic endeavors on the farm, or it can be a very frustrating and coarse job.

Anyway the hay is drying, and I’ll get some late season grazing this fall, and I will make some mower upgrades this winter too.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

If you nail it down quick, it can make good boards, otherwise as George says it can twist and sweep wickedly. It used to be used for wagon bodies, and truck beds. Old milk wagons and trucks used it because it was light, and got very hard, to the point where it would get smooth enough to slide milk cans on.

I knew a logger who used Cottonwood planks to build a headboard on his log truck. He bolted the 2×6’s in three places, but they had so much sweep that they overlapped at the ends….

If you keep them dry, they can be used for cabin logs.

Markets are pretty scarce as it is often thought of as a species with a lot of defect. As George says there is a market for turning logs, used as interior plywood for high value hardwood veneer facing. It also makes good paper, so generally there are pulp markets where it grows.

I often turn to my copy of “A Natural History of Trees” by Donald Culross Peattie, when thinking about uses for certain species. I just looked now, and here is a short passage:
“Poor though its wood might be, it gave the prairie pioneers their fences and corncribs, their cabins and stables, their ox yokes and saddle trees, and even their coffins. Though the wood checks and warps badly in seasoning, many a primitive church or first hotel or school was run up out of green Cottonwood.
Nor could the lumber industry despise a tree which might be 150 feet tall abd 6-8 feet in diameter, with 50 or 60 feet of the bole clear of branches under the crown. The wood, for all of its faults is as stiff as White Oak, and as light as White Pine. For decades it was made into every kind of crate and box from packing for the heaviest pianos to the lining of cigar boxes. It was cut for excelsior, poles, posts, barrel staves, ironing boards, and trunks”.

Anyway….. have fun.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Thanks Donn for your openness.You are a true leader and educator.

I once had a run-away for many of the same reasons… complacency related to calm responsive horses, and lines that were in disrepair (and I knew it), but in the mouth of a needier horse were a critical failure. Also working on the ground, dragging pasture with spring-toothed harrows, with lines too short to swap sides.

I know that feeling of trying to turn away, all the time getting closer to the killer implement…. and that sinking feeling when you have nothing to do but let go…..

It is interesting also to think about the actions that we take when others are around…. I find I have to dig deeper to be as disciplined when I have interns, or helpers, or spectators. I know intellectually that I am trying to set the best example I can, but deep down I have realized that I am actually more distracted by their presence than it seems on the surface….

Your comment about the intern noticing the nervousness of the horses makes me think about what I am dealing with here after an internship. Recovering responsiveness. Kid did really well, but I could see all kinds of allowances that he made in his attempts, that now I am working to refine against.

I had a hornet nest unload on me the other day…. not on me but the horses. Rearing, pawing, stamping…. pasted on them in bunches of 5-10. Luckily they were hitched to logs they couldn’t move easily. Unluckily, they couldn’t, or refused to pull the load, so I had to unhitch, managing the lines, and trying to assure them that it wasn’t I that was maligning them like that. Once unhitched I asked them to move before I even got back on the cart, and I had the shooting fear that that was a F’ing stupid thing to do, as I was in a very unsafe and hard to control situation. I expected them to charge off down the trail dragging me running beside the cart. Luckily when I threw off the chains, one got caught on itself and one log remained attached, so they had some good drag which allowed me the time to stop them and get on. It took a good 3-400 feet to get away from the nasty creatures.

Anyway, I’m glad you are OK, and that nothing is bad enough to offset the lessons, for all of us. It is sobering. I have said many times that safety with horses is really a matter of the degree of risk you are willing to take…. to some extent.

In environmental science there is a concept called “Shifting Baselines”, where water (or air, or health) is degraded so slowly, in small increments, that we begin to accept the lesser situation as normal. My father was in munitions in WWII, and one day while instructing how to set up booby-traps he brushed his own trip-wire (Dummy loads), but he just walked off the field leaving all the cadets slack-jawed.

By sharing this you have reminded us all that we need to start each day fresh, and the more we know, the more we need to be open to more learning. This is not an art that once you cross the rudimentary thresholds, you never have to look back. We cannot allow our baselines to shift.

Thanks Donn, and be safe out there. I hope you recover soon.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

That was supposed to be “cutting”…. GD iPad….

[Carl Russell]

I plan on curing a field tomorrow or Friday. I have been flinching every time I think about cutting it. For the last few weeks, every 2-3 days is cloudy or showers… Just enough that I daren’t knock down this nice hay.. Looking good for a stretch now.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

It is important to remember that we down want the horse to bend when turning. I like the exercise with a single of creating a rectangle out of my shoulders parallel to the bit, and reins as the long sides. Keeping the rectangle perfectly square, I step to the left or right to turn them the opposite way.

When in a team even when virtually stepping sideways I like to allow the inside horse to step ahead slightly, allowing them to cross over by stepping one foot in front of the stationary one.

I use reins almost exclusively. I think of turning, more as holding the horse back, rather than pulling them over. I only use voice to enhance the command if I need more sideways action, but I am more inclined to say easy than gee or haw. Especially in the woods I want to have precise control when turning. I have seen a lot of horses told to turn, and them allowed to turn with basically very little guidance. I have found that to create unnecessary anxiety.

I recently was going over this very same issue with an intern here. The hardest part in describing this is that it takes hundreds of turns to develop the sensitivity to these things. Horses will turn, and they will step over, but finding the way to guide them so that they can continue to apply power, or so that the maneuver is comfortable, takes the creation of an image in your mind of what you want to accomplish, and then it takes a lot of practice to accomplish the consistent communication to get the desired result.

As I was trying to explain this to John, I used a phrase that rang true to me…. And I intend to repeat it often. “The objective is not to get logs to the landing, it is to have responsive horses”. I don’t just get them around to hook up, I turn them the way I want them to turn, and if that means stopping and going back to do it over that is what I do.

To illustrate, the other day I was cutting wood in my wood lot, on a very steep slope. I drove my horses up to where the trees were cut, and turned them around on a small plateau that was the remnant of a blown over tree. It gave me only just enough room to step them over a few steps, back, then repeat until in position. Remember my off horse is blind, and on that slope I want perfect response for safety, and comfort, otherwise I’m just asking for a fiasco.

When I turn my horses I barely change pressure on either side, but a slight increase on the inside is immediately compensated with corresponding pressure to hold back to the control the rate. My friend Dave was there that day, and as in that situation I did reiterate the verbal commands, he said it appears although I am using voice entirely because by movements are imperceptible. But as I wrote before, it really is all in the lines.

Pressure and release. Intent and reward. Recognize the slightest tries. The horse learns on the release. Same old saw….

When in the field, or turning under way, I expect the inside horse to step ahead slightly to lead around, getting the straight forward muscle action.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

These guys are looking for really large and character-wood logs….. in MA http://www.berkproducts.com/logs_wanted.php

Carl

[Carl Russell]

You may be able to send the clear logs to Wards in Moretown…. Clear Spruce and Pine Logs – Top Prices Delivered to Patten, ME or Moretown, VT Ward Clapboard Mill days: (207) 528-2933 Cecil Gallagher eves: (207) 528-6250

[Carl Russell]

Certainly take advantage of the hoof issue to work on intent and reward. I think handling feet is one of the best ways to improve communication with horses…..

Sounds like you are very aware and focused, which is great.

My last two-cents will be that I don’t think that any of us suggested to let whoa develop on its own…. rather focus on other aspects of your work with her, and whoa will be a natural part.

Your example of driving her around until it appeared she was ready to stop indicates what I am talking about. All of that driving and you seem to be focusing on getting her to stop. Think about focusing on how she is working, which is what Donn was referring to.

I know sometimes is seems like this is just semantics, but to me it means everything.

In one scenario the teamster is intent on getting a horse that will stop and stand…. often purposefully trying to tire, or bore, the horse with repetition, until it seems that stopping is a good option. The awareness is used to look for signs that the horse is tiring, or may be looking to stop.

In the other, the teamster is paying attention to how she responds to direction, how she works under pressure, and regardless of how many times it takes to get the desired response during movement, once it is clear that there is even the slightest try to walk calmly, or to turn smoothly, or to back up one step, then “whoa”, or the opportunity to stop, is given immediately as a reward for that behavior. It will take several replications for the horse to believe that the reward comes unfailingly after that particular expression, but that is how you use your awareness…. “recognize the slightest tries” ..

In the first, the driver is thinking that the desired result is a good stop, so all response to pressure leading up to the point where the horse begins to suggest it is ready to stop is secondary.

In the second the focus is entirely on the slightest responses to pressure, and stopping and standing is a decision that the teamster makes, but it is one that the horse enjoys. As it relates to the prior movement, stopping becomes part of how the horse thinks about responding to your pressure… if you will “I will move now under load, because I KNOW that I will get to stop once I do as asked”…. In this way “whoa” develops on its own, but it is part of the bag of tricks from the onset, and enhances response.

Always try to think of how you can be responsible for the decision making. Don’t leave it up the the horse to decide it is a good time to stop. That indicates that she is not getting enough direction.

Make this between you and the horse…. have fun with her…. let go of performance expectations that may be coming from the outside…… just be present with her… show her that your focus is on her and how she responds to you, nothing else… you are just looking at HER…. you can SEE her, and she will know that, and be pleased.

If you are focused on what you want her to do, you already have a preconceived notion of the future, you are not present, and she will be able to see that clearly….. and she may not be comfortable because of it.

25 years ago I had a very strong-minded mare. She was big, and had been living with folks who let her have her way…. until they gave her to the neighbors to “straighten her out” while gathering sap….. suffice to say she didn’t respond to the “two handed goad” any better. She was a huge challenge for me given my inexperience, but I didn’t give up. She was actually defiant which is probably different than what you are working with, but I was getting work done and sort of nibbling at the edges of improvement…. she was also about 10-11 when I got her.

As a health care measure I hired Floyd Fuller to come float her teeth. I was pretty apprehensive about how she would respond to being held still and having a file forced into her mouth to grind down her teeth. I was trying to prepare for every scenario because Floyd was in his eighties. We got her in cross-ties, and I started to get tense. Floyd approached the mare with the float in is hand and looked into her eyes, then turned to me and said “relax”(!!!!). I looked at the mare, and I could clearly see that she saw that he was looking at her…. he could see HER, and by so doing he let her know that he was there for her… and I saw her let down her anxiety and just stood there for 30 minutes while he worked on her.

Floyd never said a thing to me about that, but I saw something that I couldn’t ignore. It took me a lot of practice to refine it, and several (perhaps many) years of reflection before I could actually define it. It takes practice to take presence to that level, but that is where our horses are, and they reward us when we make attempts to get there…..

Keep up the good work, Carl

p.s. I worked that mare for 21 years and she helped me introduce two others to work… both of which have been the best horses I have ever owned.

[Carl Russell]

The way I see it, the horse has been stopping in response to particular body language that you have used…. turning away, or facing her….. just because you use the word whoa does not mean she is reading a consistent message from you, nor has she registered the word with the desired action.

As George says, I train my horses by recognizing that they love to stop, and use stopping as a reward for performing OTHER commands. When whoa is an action that you desire, it is almost impossible to reward the animal for that action, as the reward that they best relate to, now is a pressure.

In your round pen work differentiate between intent (pressure) and reward (release). The horse moving away from your pressure (you intend for the horse to move) is the desired action…. releasing that pressure (the absence of intent) is the reward. The horse stopping is not the desired response… the response already occurred, so when you turn away it is not to see the horse stop and turn to you,it is to reward her….. it is you using her language to tell her that she has pleased you, and she is stopping to show she feels the release of pressure and that she is comfortable not only with the freedom, but also with the consistent messages. She will move under your intent whenever you want, because you have shown that whenever she does that, she is rewarded with dignity, comfort, and freedom.

When a horse understands that communication, she will be easily engaged in the working conversation, and she will learn that pressure off is her reward, her time, and her role to play…. waiting for your next intent.

I use verbal commands because they enhance the response by adding reinforcement to the physical pressure. More consistent verbal command will help the horse respond with less and less pressure. Likewise, my horses will stop without verbal command, but I use whoa to reinforce that the reward is coming as energy can be elevated during work, and it helps them to be more certain of the situation.

I have been baling hay recently with a JD 14T with a Wisconsin motor…. the thing is not quiet…. with the plunger surging and the motor racing, my horses are getting all kinds of strange sensations that are distracting to our work… yet through line pressure (and release) I can get, and keep, their attention and calm them down even while my voice disappears into the blatt of that motor.

I am not going to advise you from this distance, but as George suggests, she may not need more round pen work to learn whoa. You have already seen her stop, so you know she knows the difference between intent and reward, I just think you need to clarify in your own mind what of those responses you are looking for, and which you are allowing to her. Sometimes it does come down to working so that the horse can learn the subtleties between pressure on and pressure off, because it is easier for the teamster to visualize in the context of work.

Good luck, Carl

[Carl Russell]

It really doesn’t look like drying conditions have improved all that much over last weekend….. I hope you folks get some good hay out of this.

I just want to express my appreciation for the attitudes that we all have been sharing here. Even though we all use hay in our livelihoods to one degree or another, we have all also factored in some resiliencies and back-up plans…. Selling mulch, bedding hay, mixed power, off-farm incomes, other important farm work, grazing alternatives….. The list goes on, and the humor and good spirits remain in tact regardless of the obscured challenges that our environment has been hurling at us this summer.

Thank you, and keep up he good work, Carl

[Carl Russell]

Baled the nastiest hay in all my years today. Cut it on the fourth, almost add hay on the seventh, then sat in windrows until we started redding it yesterday…… Anyway, after such a wet year I figure it won’t hurt to put some nutrients back in the gardens in the form of mulch hay….. Making lemonade….. Anyway it sure is nice to have some good weather.

Baler ran great, and horses plugged along through the heat, Tedder this am, raked by 3, then baled 85….

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Build a work sled, or a scoot and put a box body on it. Both should have poles. A stoneboat is far too small to haul a load a mile, especially since there are no sides, and bouncing along the road your load will unload itself. You really should not be using any sliding device in the hills of Vermont without a pole. Even on dirt or gravel they will slide out of control, or up on the horses’ heels.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Just not quite enough sun to really get it dry….. I raked it into windrows this evening, but the air was so humid, and there were still too many green patches that I just couldn’t pull the trigger with thunder boomers all around…. too stressful, I’d be baling in the rain until 9pm, and then I’d still have to put wet bales in the barn…… gonna get rained on for the next few days, but it should keep a bit better rolled up.

Shit happens, Carl

But we are going on nearly 50 hours without rain…. not much sun either though, but thunder all around right now..

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