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Here is a picture of the double crown bridle add-on (pictured in back of the throat latch) I ordered from Zimmerman’s harness (phone 717.354.5667). They are made out of beta and I paid $25 / unit including shipping (she will also make it out of leather). At that price, (less than half the price of the source listed in the Small Farmer’s Journal), it seemed like reasonable insurance to me.
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Hi Donn:

We have had some bumps, but overall things are going very well. I have been having a lot of fun with him. The first time I hooked him to a fence post he was going well until he stopped. I went around the side to stand by his head to help calm him. He pulled away from me while I was holding the halter, swung his but around and faced me (all the while this strange and scary thing was moving and making noise behind him). I pulled him to the right with the lines to get his rear end facing me and he spun 360 degrees. He then had his right line wrapped around his chest and I only had use left line. I ran forward and grabbed the lines under his bit and stopped him. This was all in the space of a few seconds. Like everything in my short history with horses, I can only learn from my mistakes and hope that we all (horses and me) make out ok – both physically and psychologically. In this case we did. My lesson here was to keep lines in hand and ready, especially during a new and stressful situation.

Since then, we went back to driving without a single tree and the fence post and he was pretty much non-stop prancing. He also wasn’t standing well. When I would check his forward movement, he would start backing. When he did this I would tell him “back” and we would back up for a while. This helped. After 3 or 4 days of his prancing about I was becoming discouraged. I decided to hook him back up to the single tree and post with the thought that this added element might focus him. Normally I don’t move onto the next phase until I see the horse relaxed. It turns out this did the trick. He was nervous at first but settled into with head down and long relaxed strides. Interestingly, he stands really well when I am messing around with the single tree and chains. Again, I think it is something for him to focus on. After a few days on the fence post we moved onto a tractor tire weighing about 150 lbs. He pulled that really well and was quite relaxed. He is also standing much better.

I plan on continuing with the tire for a few days. I will start riding the tire today (I made a platform inside the tire), and this will add some weight. If things continue to progress I will hook him with another horse next week to the large tire. Then I will go to a chain drag on a forecart (minimal britchen pressure) and then we will move some blocked wood in a wagon. I do not plan on hooking the buck back rope at this point.

Good luck with your donkey. Any pictures?

George

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George:

From a purely business perspective, one of the smartest things my wife and I did in a long line of learning experiences (read stupid mistakes) is purchase land within an hour’s drive of our intended market – Burlington, VT (population 42,000). If you are having to deliver your products a long distance or work with a distributer, it really cuts into your margins. Depending on what you are selling, it might make sense to locate on a smaller piece of property close to a vibrant market and buy in some of your winter feed.

Good luck.

George

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Carl and Bill:

Thanks for the responses. Hooking to a non-wheeled implement first makes sense – one less thing to deal with for the new horse (i.e. britchen pressure). Carl, I have a tire off a front end loader that I use as a snow groomer / driveway packer. Here is a picture of the first time I hooked this halflinger as a double – worked well. I’ll keep you posted…

George

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Thanks Mitch, very interesting and informative. Sounds like fun.

George

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Here’s the picture……..

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Donn, I think it is a great idea if it can work financially. Perhaps those sister/brother organizations could offer free/discounted advertising for DAPnet in their various publications in return for a reduced rate for their members? I did a NOFA-sponsored, draft horse workshop this summer. When someone at NOFA asked what they could do to promote draft animal power, I suggested free/reduced advertising for DAPnet and broadening their mentor program to include draft animals and their use on small farms. I think their is a lot of interest out there. Suggestions like yours would help transform that interest into concrete action (like joining DAPnet) and may provide the spark to start with animals.

George

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Mitch, what do you mean by “smooth mouth”? Also when you mentioned older teams, are you talking teenagers? I am also interested to hear about your experience buying horses at auction. I have only been to a few auctions and have never bought a horse at one. Are you able to get a good look at the horses before the bidding starts? When you have purchased horses at auction, were they what you expected? Any tips for those of us who might buy at an auction in the future? Finally, did you see many shorter, stouter chunks or were most of the horses tall and “hitchy”?

Thanks.

George

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Hey Mitch:

Thanks for the update. Did any bays (belg/perch crosses) come up in the sale? Just curious…

George

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I’m glad you both like Canadian’s. It was kind of an impulse buy. I didn’t really know much about the breed, I just like the way this horse looked and moved. I think he should team well with my mare and they should make a nice mowing team. Michael, who do you team your Canadian with or do you just work him single? When you trained him, did you start him single? At what point did you team him with another horse?

George

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Great saw. If you do any amount of cutting in the winter in snow, I would recommend the 372 XPG which has heated grips and a heated carb. I think I paid $20 more for this option.

George

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I have faced very similar circumstances when I started working horses. My horses were trained for farm work and had never logged. I had too much horse, not enough experience, and no mentor to help out. Five years later, after many mistakes, and some dangerous situations, I believe I have a safe and productive team (now we have 2 teams) of horses who work single and double in all farm and forest environments. For what it is worth, here are my suggestions:

Have very clear expectations of what you want. If you don’t have clear expectations, it is hard to communicate those expectations effectively to your horse. In this case, you want your horse to stand without moving until you are ready to go. Expectations should not be limited to your work with the horse but should pervade every interaction. You are the leader.

Communicate your expectations clearly, compassionately, and unwaveringly. If your horse takes a step, you should have your lines in hand correcting her. Like Carl wrote, “Whoa” means stand. I don’t repeat the command, I just correct with the lines and say “hey” in a low voice. When I write “correct” I mean back the horse to where she was supposed to stand. If your horse wants to turn around to the right to face you, you are there pulling her left line to keep her straight ahead. I advise you to never let go of your lines until your horse stands consistently with our moving over a long period of time (I am talking many months, if not years). If you are finding resistance, it is important to evaluate whether the horse is confused or simply resisting your commands. More often (in my experience), it is the former. If your horse does not understand, you need to be creative in how you might change your communication to get the desired result. If you are convinced she is just resisting, I suggest increasing the pressure until you achieve the desired result. The idea here is that as you increase pressure on the horse, she will choose the path of least resistance (your command) to escape that pressure or discomfort. If you find resistance, it is also important to question whether you are asking too much of your horse.

To back up a step, I would practice these skills – standing, turning, stopping, etc. – in a very familiar, comfortable environment for the horse. It sounds like skidding logs in the woods isn’t comfortable for her, at least at this point. How about pulling a light load around the barn yard? Stop, mess with your chains, correct, mess with your chains, etc. If she can stand for 10 seconds praise her and go. Repeat. Try this again, asking her to stand longer. Try messing with your chains, asking her to stand, and the unhooking from your load and asking her to go. This approach includes concepts of pressure/release, approach/retreat and helps break the horse’s expectations of what you are going to do next. I encourage you to start at a very basic level and move up from there. I have been guilty of “too fast, too soon” and have paid the price and hopefully learned my lesson. If you are getting stuck, go back to the basics and move up from there.

To back up a step further, how is your horse on the ground (i.e. not in harness)? Does she lead on a loose line and vary her speed according to your lead? Does she yield her fore and hind quarters? Head down on command? Can you touch any part of her body without resistance or ticklish spots? Can you drive her with two lead lines attached to her halter? Some would say these a pre-requisites to driving a horse. You can google “horse ground work” and check out material by Perilli, Clinton Anderson, Doc Hammill, and others. You can practice these things in 10 minute intervals every day. These exercises are not “the answer”, but do help establish your leadership and broaden your communication with your horse.

Good luck.

George

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Tim:

What you write makes a lot sense – thanks for the input. I had visions of Mark rolling out the belly-mount grader as a compliment to the piggy back arch, but it sounds like a no-go. I am still interested in the road drag and like the looks of the one made of lumber (as opposed to logs). They seem to recommend oak or another hardwood. What do you think about hemlock?

George

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@Mark Cowdrey 36739 wrote:

It seems to me that that arrangement would tend to bear down more on the crown end which is counter intuitive to me, I would think the ditch end should bear down harder.

Mark: I agree on both fronts. When I grade roads with a york rake I am trying to move material from the ditch to the center simultaneously making the crown and cleaning the ditch.

On a different but related note: What about a belly-mounted grader that could be attached on the underside of a forecart? I envision an angled steel grader on some heavy-duty, large diameter, coarse-threaded bolts that could be raised and lowered on both sides as need dictated. I am not sure a standard forecart would have the room for such a contraption but I know my logging arch has the clearance.

George

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Like Donn, I encourage you consider giving logging a try without shoes. I am not a commercial logger but I do pull 20-30 MBF of sawlogs and another 20 chords of wood / year without shoeing my horses. That said, there are days when I don’t go out b/c of the ice (I live in northern Vermont) and last year’s conditions were particularly challenging. I am setting myself up this year so that I can shoe my horses if I face extended icy conditions like last year. Surprisingly, I have spoken with several old timers who did not regularly shoe their horses in the winter. The three elderly gentlemen who generously shared their horse-logging stories with me would shoe their horses only if conditions warranted it. Two of them would set shoes with a limited number of nails and would pull the shoes after conditions changed (sometime only after a week).

Brad, if you tap your shoes is it easy to screw in the studs after the shoes have been set? What size studs do you use?

George

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