[dominiquer60]

Extension recommends P and K in the fall and 2 side dressings of 25 to 50 pounds an acre of N in the spring once on emergence and again 3-4 weeks later.

In the past I have applied hot chicken manure right out of a house onto my garlic patch a week or 2 before planting the garlic, I worked it in well and applied lightly, I don’t have a rate.  What ever the ex’s manure spreader was to a 1/3 Acre of ground seemed to grow very nice garlic with no burning.

More recently I have applied draft animal manure (equine/bovine) prior to planting and applied one application of Kreher’s composted and granulated poultry manure (5-4-3), a 50# bag to 0.1 acre.  If I can get some poultry fresh poultry manure this fall I will not hesitate to go back to that method, but any manure is better than no manure.

 

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[dominiquer60]

Pads are a good idea for working horses.  We used to use the canvas covered deer hair, but switched to vinyl and won’t go back.

[dominiquer60]

Thank you Anthony, we had such a great group last year and I hope to have just as much fun and educational opportunities this year.

I saw Dale (pictured below with greys) yesterday and he is just tickled with how well his plow goes after getting it set up properly at last years clinic.  he no longer struggles with taking too much land at once, it turned a messy furrow and tired the horses out taking 6″ too much.  Now plowing is an enjoyable task that he looks forward to and seeks out every opportunity to do so.

I audited last year and I learned a ton, auditing really gives a person the advantage of being able to see all the different things going on at once. I wanted to add that as Sam Rich’s partner, we really look forward to this clinic.  There is much to learn by going out and just doing/attempting a task, in time you can master your situation. But there is something about the melding of different minds, equipment and animals that really steps it up a notch every time we all get together.  Education is an ever continuing adventure, though Sam is giving this clinic he will also learn something new guaranteed, and hopes that everyone attending will too. Exchanging information and ideas, and making connections is what makes our DAPNet community such a worth while investment, whether we invest time volunteering or funds to keep events like this possible.

 

 

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[dominiquer60]

Last call for DAPNet Plow Clinic teamsters and auditors. Currently the clinic is only half full, we need a couple more teamsters and a few more auditors to cover the cost of putting this event on. Sam Rich will be giving this clinic at his own shop and is a great opportunity to have minor repairs and tuneup done to your plow, not to mention the 2 days of one on one instruction and help in the field. It will be a few years until DAPNet will be able to do another clinic with Sam Rich so please take the opportunity now while it is being offered. If we cannot reach a minimum number of participants for this clinic, we will not be able to hold it. Thank you all for your support and we hope to see a great bunch of folks in Abington, CT.

Use the link below (scroll down below the calendar) to find out more details.
http://draftanimalpower.com/events/, be sure to scroll down below the calendar.

Contact Bekah dapnetinfo@gmail.com, to register.

 

[dominiquer60]

So we are not done after all, 2 loads yesterday and 2 loads today, and yesterdays lightened up to almost fancy again.  The peepers have sung for 6 nights  total now even though it seems too cold (windy really), I don’t know when this season will really end.

[dominiquer60]

Ed, looks like you are having a light year too.  It ran light here into last week, most folks are done.  Our neighbor is boiling thru this cold snap then he/we are done.

[dominiquer60]

Mylar bits are the bees knees.  My two favorite riding horse bits that I just can’t part with are Mylars. For anyone not familiar these bits are shaped to fit in a horses mouth more comfortably that most traditional bits.  They can really help a sensitive horse find that calm and relaxed place.  Pricy, but it would not surprise me if these bits last a few generations of horses, plus they have a high resale value on ebay.

[dominiquer60]

Eli, Our Electrician is a guy from Rhode Island that ran his own dairy farm in Wisconsin for 5 years, until his wife got tired of it, he loved that place and misses his cows.  Anyway, I think if a magic wand could be waved it would be awesome to have you over to hook up my cooler and treat you to a proper dairy farm dinner and invite the electrician over too, Ted has endless stories and songs.  Day dreams….

Thanks for the fun thoughts,

Kevin,This is my 12th season on a market garden, but this is my first in operation on my own without an active gardening partner.  Sam is a great partner, helping to fix tons of stuff, getting equipment up and ready, building things, field work, etc. I am used to having to debate seed varieties, compromise on when to start tomatoes, and discussion on when to harvest crops for winter storage, it is all me on these now.  But it is fun to teach him about growing vegetables and learning all he has to teach me, and together we are tackling cultivating with the drafts, this is certainly a job that we both enjoy.  Good thing we have plans for a fleet of 2 horse cultivators and enough animals so that we can both have our hands on lines at the same time.

I have been hooked ever since my apprenticeship 11 years ago. I registered my business name at the town hall today, no going back now!

 

[dominiquer60]

I is in a different location now.  Look at the grey bar that contains the date of the post that you want to edit, follow it to the right and “Edit” should be the first of a few options that you come across.  Click on that you may need to wait a moment for the server to bring your post up to edit.  I have used it a few times, you  now have the option to show that it has been edited or check the box at the bottom if you don’t want to show that it has been edited.

Hope that helps,

[dominiquer60]

Depending on the task we use our D-ring harness with jockey yokes, but for others we attach a belly backer set up.  As long as the 2 on the pole are the same and your rigging is safe and secure you should be fine using both.

 

[dominiquer60]

Coming from the world of show horses, the jointed bit is often perceived as the most kind. Draft folk seem to lean towards the straight bar bits.  But as Donn says calm and relaxed is the goal, so if this horse is sensitive and responds better to a jointed snaffle, he made prefer a jointed liverpool.  It is very common for many horse folks, work, show or pleasure to have an arsenal of bits on hand, you never know what horse will go best in what, on which day.  I used to show an nice little horse, we had different bits for him depending on what class or who was riding him.  For Hunter classes he did great for me with a snaffle, but the he would pull on the kids without a leverage bit, what ever it took to keep everyone comfortable, happy and safe.

Maybe someone has one that you could borrow and try, or maybe it is worth it to buy one for your bit arsenal. Even if it doesn’t meet your needs today, it may come in handy in the future.

🙂 For entertainment and just to show how important a bit arsenal is to some, they actually make boxes for show folk to take on the road, I have seen these overflowing with metal of all kinds. http://www.birdsongtacktrunks.com/id68.html

 

[dominiquer60]

You could see it on the left side next to who started the post. I agree this was helpful info and let us know if we were looking at a current topic or a revisited topic (especially if you use “What’s New” often).

 

[dominiquer60]

When we hitch 4 we put a team on the pole and split another team with each of the split team going to their respected side.  For example Dylan is the near horse and Sam the off horse, Dylan goes on the near side of the pole team and Sam on the off side of the pole team.  We can switch them up but, we find this works the best for us.  On the picture above with 3 we have the black mares with Sam on the off side of them.  Each horse has something that they are really good at, that Sam horse will follow a window, furrow or crop row and stick to it, even if father falls asleep raking hay 🙂

[dominiquer60]

Thanks fogish, I must have missed that one when I was editing my profile.  The location would still be handy, we are so spread out and it nice to know what othere are referring to when they “around here.”

[dominiquer60]

Here is a conversation on another forum, http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-281154.html, show type, but they ship a ton of horses and mention a few names that all seem to be recommended. Many of my past customers use these types of long distance shippers, another one that I know people use a lot is Brookledge http://www.brookledge.com/testimonials.asp. These are pricey but good shippers, all of the private truckers that I know of are either shady or even more expensive. Cross country is pricey no matter who you end up using.

Just an interesting fact: Brookledge trucks a famous 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist, one of this horse’s part owners is college buddies with a DAPNet Founder, degrees of separation I tell you 🙂

Safe travels for you and the horses,

Erika

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