[Carl Russell]

Got some baled today

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[Carl Russell]

Baling today…. mowed another small field (1 ac.) yesterday….. may be mowing another 3ac. tomorrow if this weather keeps up.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

Making hay while the sun shines.

http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/progs/prog12hr.gif

[Carl Russell]

Got it started…. This field was grazed in May, so it is light in places, but it is good feed. Hoping for some good drying between clouds and showers…

[Carl Russell]

Thunderstorms just passing by….. looks like we’ll be mowing in the rain this afternoon…. won’t be the first time. I’ll let it sit under cloudy skies for tomorrow, and be ready to go on Wed and Thur if the forecast holds…

The old-timer I worked for as a kid would say, “you can’t make hay while you’re watching the sky!”

Carl

[Carl Russell]

I’m going for it….. as soon as the grass dries today…… having trouble getting the Wisconsin to start though…… I’ve still got time between tedding and raking.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

George, I have never used vinyl pads, but I can almost guarantee that the problem is not collar fit but skin reaction to the conditions under the collar. Perhaps the horse is in better flesh since being out on pasture, so the skin is tender…. I have never quite figured it out, but once I started cleaning and drying my pads I have not had a problem. I will admit I have no idea what the vinyl pad is like, but the skin must be able to breathe, or self-regulate temp and moisture, or it will get irritated.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

If your hames are too big for the collar, you can tend to narrow the collar when tightening it. Use shorter hames, or shorten the upper brackets, widen the strap and squeeze the collar from to bottom. Also having a better bend to you hames can help.

I really think it has less to do with the contact, or fit of the collar, and more to do with the collar pad.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

George, I think the 24 looks better. I run 24’s on my horses with pads.

Better tight than loose.

I have had similar “soring” during haying…. With the exact same set-up that I use all winter logging with no ill-effect. I have chalked it up to heat, not draft, or collar fit. I think my first line of action would be to buy new pads. Also, while I never do it myself, I think cleaning the surface with epsoms is good.

While I agree it doesn’t look good, I have never felt it was a major problem. I never notice the horse having a hard time working because of it. Dry clean pads make the biggest difference in my mind.

Haying really isn’t very heavy draft work, so I would not be focusing on collar fit as much as other conditions that could lead to such developments.

Carl

[Carl Russell]

This is the current weather map…… while I still have a few weeks before I need to cut hay, this is NOT the map I would be considering cutting hay under….

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[Carl Russell]

Thanks Jim…. nice vid.

I will be visiting the job again this week, and will get some pics and vids….. between painting trees. These guys are knocking them down as fast as I mark them.

[Carl Russell]

There’s a link in the Title bar at the top-right of the page….. http://draftanimalpower.com/dap-field-days/

September 28 & 29th, 2013

Carl

[Carl Russell]

We will be rescheduling this event due to inadequate preregistration numbers.

Dates to be determined.

Thank you, “The Management”.

[Carl Russell]

Just for repetition, try to step back mentally, and realize that while it may seem like you’re getting out-smarted, it really comes down to her not understanding the purpose for your command.

I believe that it is really important before we start looking for tricks that we really think about how we put together our series of commands, and try to get a picture of how the animals are interpreting them.

I  do not use a switch, twitch, or whip, as there are too many other physical cues that accompany them, like reaching out toward the body, or the swishing in the air, for the horse to get accustomed to. There is also the challenge of maintaining consistent line pressure while using it in harness.

My preference is to use a marshmallow stick…. about 3-4 feet long, with a short fork, slightly sharpened. It can be easily held in one of your driving hands, at just the right distance so that a slight angling of the hand will prevent accidental touching.

I will hold the stick just above the tail-head, and as I give my command, a kissing sound, I touch the horse lightly just at the point where the hair lengths change. I do not snap, or tap, or whip them, just a slight touching. It is important that it occurs exactly as the command is issued. This is not a correction, this is a clarification. This area, and this type of touch will touch an instinctive nerve, and virtually no horse will be able to stand still.

Of course if you outright poke them, then they will really move, and that is not the point. Just Like in George’s exercise, once the desired action is given, reward them by stopping.

Again, I will reiterate that proper preparation is really important, and that comes from the messages of line pressure. Does the horse know the difference between moving, stopping, and standing in terms of line pressure? Think about the cues you are giving the horse. Sometimes ( most times) when a horse is being stubborn about performing, it is because they are unclear about how this command is different for any others.

Good luck, carl

 

 

[Carl Russell]

There are also climatic and soil differences that explain slightly different methods and preferences.   For me raking up hay before the rain really depends on a lot of factors.  How dry is the hay now?  How dry is the ground (I mean soil moisture over the last few weeks).  What is the predicted weather for the next couple days (a chance of rain tonight and then more good weather, or did they change it to 60% chance of rain every day).  Lots of factors.  My problem is at 6 or 8 acres it is a lot of work for a gamble, I need to be pretty sure of making the hay.  Like I said bedding I can make with a lot less effort.  I like the fact that we all have slightly different ideas about how we like to make hay; I know after ten years of making hay all summer I am still  getting better and learning all the time.

It is a bad joke, but I can pretty accurately predict when it will rain during hay season….. generally about 2 days after I lay it down….

I don’t have a lot of hay land, but many of the methods I adhere to are modified to my scale based on many years of working with neighborhood farmers. I used to work for an old guy who never laid down more than 500 bales. He used to say, “you make hay in the field, not in the barn”. So he cut pieces that he could manage easily by himself, or with a small crew, often cutting a new section the evening, before he baled the next day what had been cut the day before. He taught me about windrowing hay that would get rained on, and mowing in the rain, and drying with the rake.

In his mind, the point was to make the best hay he could, not necessarily the most he could, given the conditions. Even if there was a guaranteed week-long dry spell, he would only mow 500 bales worth every day.

Personally, I would rather see grass getting long in the tooth standing, than I would to see it turn black in the rain, but I’m not trying to get high quality goat’s milk either. I mean, I know no one wants to see hay get ruined in the rain. It’s just that some grass managers see their hay getting ruined when allowed to get too mature, which for dairying can be true, so cutting must be within a certain window, and that changes weather-related strategies for sure.

Carl

 

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