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Thanks for the replies. We’ll be spreading tomorrow as well. I will go a little lighter and mix in hills with flatter areas. I’ll keep you posted.

George

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Jack:

I am so sorry you are having such a hard time with this horse. As I was reading your last post, I was thinking of a lever bit with curb chain (before you acutally mentioned it). I switched from a snaffle bit to levered bits with my youngish horses a few years back and they were like a different team. I know more power is not always the answer but, combined with your experience, it may help. Doc Hammil writes “go back to the basics” in situations like this. It has worked with me.

Good luck and keep the faith.

George

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Carl:

Got it. Thanks for the clarification. In support of your view, my wife went for a 4 or 5 mile ride (trotting) with one of horses pictured above along with my daughter and her friend (both with riding horses). The draft is in much better shape than the other 2 horses after logging in the winter and spreading manure in the spring, yet he was the most affected by the exertion and the heat.

George

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Thanks for the comments. Ed, I don’t grain my horses. They get alfalfa pellets and oil when logging in the winter and dairy quality grass (12 hours only) during the summer as they follow our goats. Carl, I appreciate your comments and also prefer this style of horse. I am having a hard time understanding your quote below. Can you elaborate?

@Carl Russell 18504 wrote:

I think this conformation provides excellent power through muscle mass on the hinds, with a long spinal lever against the ballast of the deep chest.

George

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Tim:

Thanks for posting that. For some reason, the pdf didn’t open for me. If others have the same problem, I found a link here: http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmstn5581.pdf

Interesting information. We give our goats a fresh paddock of grass every 12 hours (after milking). In addition, we have been trying to move them at around 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon, which has resulted in a 10% increase in milk production. I imagine the increase grass sugars play a role in this.

George

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Tim:

Thanks for this information. How does field slope affect overall draft? Were your measurements done on flat land? We mow with a 6 foot bar on a Vermont hill farm. I consider our horses in pretty good shape, but haying is tough work for them, especially first cut. When mowing is over, we tedd and rake with the same team. Luckily for them, we bale with a tractor. We hope to hook our halflinger with our team during tedding and raking to make things easier. We are debating between hooking 3 abreast or switching the halflinger in and hooking her with just one, giving the other a rest. Any thoughts on what would be more restful?

This picture was taken in late May of last year and gives a sense of the slope and hay density.

George

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Just to add to Kristan’s comments, we also do not feed grain b/c of Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM) and its connection with grain feeding, particularly in drafts. For those interested in more information, here’s a link to a couple of good articles:
http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/epsm.htm.

George

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I have thought about this quite a bit myself. Our main reason for having the horses is definitely the joy of them, but I like to think about energy use as well. I like the fact that they put up more hay than they eat. We feed next to no grain, but I wonder if we should. We have top notch pasture 6-7 mos a year then they are on hay. we had one this winter start to lose a little conditions so we supplemented with about 3# alfalfa pellets with oil. We have not had a loss of condition under work that has really bothered me, but I am wondering about the energy level. They definitely seemed pretty whipped during haying last year and am wondering if a little grain boost would help out there.

Also, I have been feeding a daily selinium supplement, figuring that’s all they need with a good pasture, but what do you all think? Anyone have a great reasonable priced mineral mix they like to feed? free choice?

Kristan

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John:

google Farmer Brown and you can buy it from his website.

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I borrowed the dvd from a friend and also liked it quite a bit – highly recommended.

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I use 2 sets of drop ringsl. The system I use is 1 double clip with a 2″ ring. 1 clip clips on the the hame, the other holds the ring through which your line passes. It’s cheap and works well. This idea came from Les Barden upon whose advice Doc Hammil wrote the article in SFJ. I like the drop rings for the reasons mentioned by Carl and what was stated in the article. I also use keepers (adjustable leather strap with a 2″ ring sewed in by my harness maker) clipped to the top of the britchen. I like them as they keep the lines above where they can sometimes snag on the harness.

George

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We’ve had animals out for 5 days prior to the snow. We have 3 leaveson most of our grasses which are 5-6″. Now the snow.

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We had 16 inches and no power at 5:30 this morning. It has been snowing all day and just stopped!

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I have been following this thread with interest as I have 100 acres of woodland that I have been managing and will continue to manage with horses. I have been considering hiring a forwarder to reduce the skid distance in the most remote area of my property. I am a farmer who does some logging (on the order of 20 mbf / winter + 25 chords of firewood). As such, I could use an education on some logging terms. From Carl’s post:

Chopping: same as felling?
Twitching: I use this term synonymously with skidding. Correct?
Heading: ?

My vision with the forwarder was to skid as many logs (and tops) as possible (12 mbf or more?) to my main skid road before things got to congested, and then hire the fowarder to move it to where I can get a log truck. Scott, is this what you mean by “pre-bunching the entire job trailside”?

George

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When you mention drifting or stepping away from each other, I would check the position of the cross-checks on your main lines. If your cross checks (short lines) are attached to far forward on your main lines and your horses are either: (a) attached at the hip (as you mentioned); or (b) attached to an evener they will tend to drift apart from each other. If this continues to be a problem, you might consider moving the cross-checks back a hole or two and see how they drive.

George

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