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Giving injectable ivermectin orally makes a lot more sense. I came up with roughly the same dosage of around 20cc per horse (based on a 91 mcg/lb undiluted ivermectin). A 250 ml bottle of ivermectin is around $48 which equates to 12-15 draft doses (depending on size). This translates to around $3.50 per dose – less than half of what is costs for ivermectin paste.

Bachelor Farmer, we haven’t wormed much either as we rotationally graze our horses in conjunction with our goats. In the summer horses follow goats and are given a fresh paddock every 12-24 hours, so we weren’t too worried about parasites. Our horses are also in good condition with no signs of parasitism. However, when we wormed them for the first time in over a year this fall, we saw an impressive amount of dead larvae in their feces. We are going to go every three months for a year to clean them out and make a plan from there.

Thanks for the input.

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Just a quick question related to this thread. we bought used harness from someone we knew and we replaced the hame straps then (2 years ago) I’ve noticed that they have some cracks in them and am wondering if folks just change them out regularly since they are such a small but important piece. If so, how often or at what point? Our leather looks generally good but there are cracks…

Kristan

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I just spent hours removing miles of barbed wire from adjacent farm we recently purchased. I can’t understand the use of barbed wire, when high-tensile electrified steel wire is: (1) cheaper; (2) easier to install; (3) safer; and (4) more durable. We run 6 strands of high tensile for our goat herd and subdivide with net fence. If I were just running horses I would run 1 high tensile wire using j-hooks at trees for corners and support posts as needed (wood with insulators). I would put plastic flagging periodically to make sure the horses learn where the fence is. I regularly cut limbs and trees off my fences with no ill-effects which would down most barbed wire and standard steel fences. The only additional cost is an energizer (preferably low-impedance). If you decide to go with electrified wire Kencove.com is a good resource. The use of electrified high-tensile steel also gives you the flexibility to graze other animals like sheep or goats who couldn’t be contained by barbed wire.

Good luck.

George

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When I started with horses a couple of years ago I was asking for advice from Pat Palmer, a teamster and Pioneer dealer in central Vermont. Among the things he suggested was driving horses without a bit using the halter. His reason, as I remember, was to get the horses softer in the mouth and more responsive. For me, the process of removing the bit was a step toward communicating with the horse at his level.

Last winter, I had the vision of riding our horses back and forth to pasture with just a halter and a lead rope serving for the reigns. We played a round a bit with riding our horses, but they had never been ridden prior to our purchasing them. The endeavor evolved many small steps which challenged my ability to communicate with them. The first step was placing a 5 gallon bucket beside them without moving. Every time the horse took a step, I would send him in some circles on the lead rope. I kept my energy neutral and just did my thing. Next step, standing on the bucket beside the horse – same technique. This went on until I could get on the horse without him moving. When finally up on the horse and riding I felt vulnerable but also a fierce determination to exert my leadership with no physical aids. At any point, that horse could do what he wanted with minimal pressure encouraging him to do otherwise.

We progressed to the point where both me and my wife can ride one horse and lead our 2 other horses to pasture (I believe the term is ponying?) bareback with halters. After a hard day’s work they are eager to get out to pasture and it is my presence as leader that keeps them in check. This confidence cannot be faked. I am convinced that anyone who got on any of those horses with any apprehension would be taken advantage of. Likewise, the same horses would keep in check for any other confident leader.

I know ponying or even riding bareback without bit is nothing new or novel, but for me was and continues to be a great way to communicate and connect with horses on a more level playing field.

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I had the same thing happen with one of my geldings. Whenever I entered his stall I would have my leatherman in hand. When he leaned against me he would lean against the tip of my pliars. The only pressure on the tip of the pliars is what he exerted. When he stopped leaning toward me the pressure went away. He stopped doing it.

George

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Rod44, will those nubby lines slide between your hands? When logging I usually drive with one hand (while holding on with the other). When I drive with one hand I am constantly letting one line or the other slide.

Earl – I’m impressed! Snaking cold chain around snowy logs in single digit weather w/out gloves is more than I can handle. I’ll stick with the gloves, however imperfect:).

George

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I wanted to offer that marketing forest products through a CSA doesn’t necessarily have to be a stand-alone operation. I have no interest in running a CSA with all of the management and advertising. However, I am interested in selling my product at top dollar and having a connection with the consumer. Our solution has been to offer our products through other CSAs. They do all of the advertising and management and we simply offer our product as an add-on. The CSA benefits by having a diversity of products (which could include forest products) and the producer benefits through higher prices. For their work, we give the CSA 10% of gross sales. We market over 3000 lbs of cheese through a number of CSAs this way with essentially no marketing time or additional labor. We are not capturing 100% of the final price but it is a lot better than 50-60% that we get from selling in stores. Out of all the venues we use to sell our cheese (stores, restaurants, farmer’s market) the CSAs are the best. We still need the other venues to make a living, but CSAs are by far the best for us. So maybe check out your local CSAs and see if they might be interested in offering your products. Good thread!

George

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I uploades the photo into Powerpoint and modified it there (just play around with it, you’ll get it). I then saved it as a jpeg and uploaded to DAP from there.

George

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@Mark Cowdrey 14215 wrote:

“secure all the way around…” Does this mean another “U” shaped piece that “caps” the end of the pole? Or more of a box shape that entirely covers the end of the pole? Or something else?
Mark

Yes, this is another u-shaped piece that caps the pole and provides support for the yoke. I start by drilling the end of my pole dead center, then cutting a piece of steel that goes on the end w/ a 5/8″ hole to receive the plug. I put the plug through the cut piece of steel into the pole and then weld my top and bottom pieces to the end piece. Then drill out this piece and secure with carriage bolts.

George

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Mark:

First of all, I really like this design – it is well worth the effort. The main yoke is 2×1 stock, the single yokes 1×1. The thickness of this stock if fairly standard (3/16ths ?). The the eye bolts (all of them on all parts of the yoke are threaded 3/8″ thick with a 3/4″ – 1″ eye) on your single yokes are 24″ OC. The distance of the eyes on the main yoke would need to match your evener (I run a 42″ evener). The eye bolts are drilled through the stock and secured with a weld on the nut and eye side. I had someone with a tire chain tool open up one set of eyes and then close them together in less than a minute or you can heat them up (minimally) and close them yourself. This is where the main and single yokes are attached together via the eyes. I forget the chain i used between the single yokes, but slide them over the threaded part of the eye bolts, nut and weld. This prevents the lines from getting caught and is a good handle.

The piece that receives the yoke and plug is 3″ long looking down at the yoke and 2″ wide. This is eventually a u shaped piece that fits around the main yoke with minimal room that the yoke can move back and forth. Drill through both the u-shaped piece and the main yoke, nut and weld a 1/2 bolt. Before you do this, drill a 5/8 hole in the bottom of u and 5/8 x 5″ grade-8 bolt and weld it. This is your plug. Drill a 11/16″ hole through your pole and secure all the way around with 1/4″ stock, carriage bolted through the pole with a 5/8 hole to receive the yoke. Call with questions and I can explain better than writing (802.827.3046).

Good luck.

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I’ll spread the word. Where are you headed?

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The only thing I might add is that you spend some time figuring out how you are going to sell what you produce. I disagree with Carl that everything you grow will be marketable – especially at that scale if you are thinking veggies. Even a tenth of that would be an effort to sell and much more of an effort to sell profitably. I would start looking into Farmer’s Markets in your area and apply ASAP. Markets in the northeast are getting tighter and harder to get in to. We have had several interns leave our farm, start their own, and struggle with selling their cheese. It is easy to get submerged in the producing part and forget about (or not have time to think about!) selling it until you have the product ready.

BF mentions processing grains into flour. Great idea. Maybe also a hot cereal mix. Here again, there are steps to adding that value that need to be worked out. Also, think realistically about where you are going to sell and for how much. Even flour and cereal, although value-added, are commodities and will be compared with what’s in the supermarket, thus producing a ceiling on what you can sell them for.

As Carl mentions, start small and slow. Grow your clientele and market. Once you have people hooked, you can then maybe raise your prices to a level where you won’t be operating at a loss. Think about adding value to your veggies as well – pesto, braided garlic, pickles, jams, etc. There is a woman at my market who grows a quarter acre of veggies and makes $700+/week selling pickles, relishes etc.

Good luck.

George

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Thanks for the replies. Carl, Snow Seal seems to make more sense than mink oil as I use lard on my Kinco gloves – probably a similar effect as the mink oil. You’re right, it seems to bother only in certain conditions (warmer, snowy conditions in my experience). Donn, I am a big proponent of low pressure driving, but this is more about being able to manipulate the lines rather than “gripping” (my word) the lines and putting a lot of pressure on the horses’ mouths. Plowboy, let us know the brand as I would be eager to try them.

PS I came in from pulling logs at 12 pm yesterday with stomach cramps and had my appendix out shortly before midnight. 2 weeks of no lifting more than 5 lbs!

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I have a White Horse plow and like it. $450 sounds like a very fair price if it is in good condition. Welcome to the site.

George

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@highway 13901 wrote:

That brings up another question, there must be differences in chargers and thier output?

Maybe mine is cheap or just not powerfull enough.

If you end up purchasing a new charger you should consider a low-impedance charger (Kencove.com is a good resource). Higher quality chargers are measured in joules – the more joules the better. I have a 48 joule Gallagher which powers miles of high tensile fence and up to 15 net fences at a time that I use for goats (and horses).

Also, if you have any metal culverts near your charger, run your ground wire to it/them and attach with a self taping screw. It takes a lot of ground rods to equal a large steel culvert despite the better conductivity of copper. Also, a good volt meter takes a lot of the guess work out of fencing. I like a minimum of 3500 volts on my fence.

Good luck.

George

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