[Donn Hewes]

Hi all, The next Mid Ohio draft horse auction begins March 9th. Sounds like fun. Five days and 1400 horses. I am very curious about the price of horses. I had some friends that attended Harrisburg last week and said horse were almost double the expected price. I can’t figure how that fits with the fall Ohio sale. I am toying with going to ohio.

[Donn Hewes]

I guess there are as many approaches to this basic question as there are horses and teamsters. It can take a lot of work and patience. When I start with an animal, (doesn’t matter if it is trained or not) I start with a loose unrestrained horse. I teach it to move on my command, and stand on my command. Some might use a round pen for this work, but they need to remember the object is to get the horses undivided attention. Some times for a green animal or an animal that is having trouble giving me it’s attention I will work with a rope halter. Either in a few hours or a few days I have a horse (mule, or donkey) that without a rope, halter or pen, will move when I ask, but more important, will stand while I work around it. I will trim it’s feet while it stands, all ways retraining as needed. using my hands, voice and body to encourage the standing we want. I harness them while they are unrestrained, again teaching and developing their ability to stand and be patient.

None of this means that I won’t have to repeat the process when we try something new like hooking to a cart, or a log. But, now the horse and I have the knowledge of what to do (how hard it will be) get them to be still. They know as well as I know that I can and will do it. I tell a beginning teamster that is trying to hook to a log, to go slow. Think about what it takes to make them stand still for trimming (the focus, the quite, the body language). This is just the same.

I know what you mean, but the word ‘leave’ provides the wrong image for me. When I want an animal to learn to stand they should feel me (my eyes, energy, focus, perhaps a little touch) just as if I where sitting on them. Then I slowly and carefully go about the thing I want to do (hooking, what ever,) while maintaining this connection (no leaving, not even for a fraction of a second) with the horse.

The horses understanding of each new task grows quickly, and they ability to stand when and where you want grows with each successful effort. It gets easier and easier over time. Just my two cents. DH

[Donn Hewes]

I would love to see a picture of the pieces that broke if you feel like posting them. There is always the question of what is the best design, but also what is a strong execution of the design. Obviously the parts are lighter on a small cart than on a four horse plow hitch. When ever we make neck yokes or eveners at home we face the question of what is a strong design and how strong do I have to make it? Not always as easy as it sounds. It also makes it hard to answer for someone else. It sounds like you and your horses handled that situation about as well as you can. On a different kind of neck yoke I have used a lot of 1/2 eye bolts welded shut.

[Donn Hewes]

There is a very good thread right above in the mule section that talks about this question. There was one thing in your question that I was curious about though. You said “leave him” , and I was wondering exactly what you wanted to use this skill for. The skill of standing is primarily taught so you can move around the animal, work around him. Open a gate, load a sled, harness, hook to carts and vehicles. None of these require use to leave the animal. Part of how this skill is taught and maintained is the fact that we are there and can correct and encourage the right behavior.

Haveing an animal that you can “leave” is a whole ‘nother thing. Harder to teach (takes longer), less useful (to me), and usually a result of more hard work (physical work will encourage an animal to stand still longer). The ability to stand calmly can be taught and practiced before, during or after hard work.

[Donn Hewes]

As usual I know nothing about the question at hand but will through in my two cents (in this case maybe one) anyway. First, are these horses you are thinking about getting or you got? I use to be down on tall horses, but I never really owned one. A couple years ago I bought a some what hitchy horse, 17.2 hand Percheron. She has proven to be one of the best horses I have ever had. Granted there are horses a lot taller than her and I still probably wouldn’t wanted them, but I would be afraid to give them a try. As for the experience of being a show horse I wouldn’t worry about it much. I would treat them just like any other horse. What is their temperament? Are they calm and relaxed when you work around them? Do they stand quietly for hitching? If they can pass those tests chances are good they will work on the farm. I when I bring them home I would forget that history. Set the same expectations you would for any horse you bring home.

[Donn Hewes]

yes, horizontal is good. Sometimes you might even see them a bit high in the front. Idea being make the britchen lay flat across the butt. I think horizontal is good, but front down might make the edge wear on the hair a little. It sounds to me like you are on the right track. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

I hope you don’t mind a couple of suggestions. I think they look like a nice team, heavy type haflingers. I worked with a pair like that for several years. sometimes with smaller drafts there is a temptation to make every job see how much they can do. IE. they can pull the same spreader as my big horses; they can pull the same mower; and so on. These are usually very gutsy horses with a lot of try. One problem that can result is to make them a little sour. No problem finding out how much they can do or asking them to pull hard, just don’t get to the point where ever task and pull is like that.

I personally like to set my britchens up a little higher. They will back and stop a load easier. Find the turn of the hip (the hind most part) and set the britchen just two inches below that.

You might already know all that, but just trying to help. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

The situation you describe is very really, Jen. We have all been there. No matter what you do it takes time to make the lines become that extension of your hands, that tells you to switch them if you pick them up in the wrong hands. I pass the lines to one hand (actually either hand) just about all the time. This has helped me learn to manage the lines and tail with out thinking or looking at them.

[Donn Hewes]

Regarding working a little farther back; eventually you will learn to step over a log when it is safe to do it. You never want to step over a chain or in front of the log. Too hard to see and easy to trip. All ways step over the log. You should be comfortable with your driving and your footing before trying that.

[Donn Hewes]

You definitely can find harnesses where the lazy strap (trace carrier) is too short for some ground skidding. Especially with a tall horse. Just look at the horse while it is under load and see if the tug is bending at that point. If it is the strap is too short. It is good to call them a lazy strap because they shouldn’t be doing anything when the horse is working. After a few years with teams Most folks won’t need the two colors of lines, but I have seen many beginners that would have found that helpful. Black and brown doesn’t seem like much of a distinction to me. I think you need red and green. Just kidding.

When I explain to some one why my lines are tied together I all ways point out the down side, and the alternative. I think either method has it’s merits, but after a few years with lines tied together going with out would be like going out with out a belt on my pants. Just have to go back and get one, it doesn’t feel right.

It goes with out saying that regardless of how you hook the heal chain for length, don’t leave it hitting the horse on the way back to the woods.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Karl, I found out this summer that there are a couple of different hooks to use on that front side strap. The ones I have face side to side, and horse’s bits can get caught on them. The other one’s point down and are a lot harder to get caught on. I plan to change these hooks this winter.

[Donn Hewes]

One thing to watch out for is the book is more specifically written for a number nine mower. In many ways the two are similar, but the wheels are very different. With a number seven you should be able to tell if your wheel is wobbling on the shaft, or if the play is coming from the gear box. If the wheel is moving on the shaft it should come off easily, but I am not sure how you will tighten it up. Perhaps building the shaft up. If the shaft is moving in the machine and the wheel is tight to the shaft, you don’t necessarily need to take the wheel off. Pull the shafts out from the gear box. You probably will need Wheel bearings, and hopefully the shafts are not too worn. I would not try to fix that until I was sure about the quality / repair of the rest of the mower. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

I think both you and the horse look like you have been working together a long time. There are probably a lot of different ways to hook a log but one method I like frees both of my hands to place the chain. I drive the horse (or team) nose in to any log I want to pull. I put their noses very close to the butt of the log while they are learning the system. That way I can reach up and steady them if they think of moving. Once I stop, I pick up the chain and leave the lines on the horses hames as I walk by. For a first time horse I will even pull a few inches of line through the hames ring so it will hang down where I can reach it easily. Now I stand at the horses head to fix the chain, while they wait. Once the chain is ready,I go back to the evener picking up the lines as I go(once again you teach them to stand still as you move). With the evener in one hand and lines in the other, turn the horse and back up to the log. Then you just have to put the lines in your lap while you hook the chain. Find your safe place to start the log and ask them to go.

I also prefer my lines tied together. The down side is stepping in a loop, for example. But if you drop one and they are tied together you will recover much easier than you will with them loose.

I also agree with Carl, not much benefit to being close to the horse or in front of the log. Better to slide back where you can see the horse evener and log.

[Donn Hewes]

There have been lots of posts about standing in the past. I don’t know how easy it would be to search them. Lots of folks have different ideas about standing. First of all I really doubt there is “some trick” out there. I think there are a lot of steps that going into making a team stand well.

First, I make sure an animal will stand in their initial training. Loose and unrestrained, hoof care and harnessing. This won’t teach them to stand indefinitely, but it does start to build the expectation that we can ask them to stand while we work around them.

Second, make simple opportunities for them to stand. Sometime because we hook for an hour, there is no real need to rest a horse. As a result some horses don’t get much of a chance to practice good standing behavior. I stop to talk to someone or something like that when ever I can. Eventually they will except this as normal and relax until you are ready to go. When an animal becomes restless, but before it walks off, it is time to go.

Some folks feels that making a horse tired is the best way to teach them to stand. Certainly a tired horse is motivated to stand, but that is not the only way to teach them to stand, just as that is not the only time we want them to stand.

I do believe their ability to stand will improve over time, but that is because we choose each place for them to practice and we know when to ask them to move.

[Donn Hewes]

Good question Jay. Unless you are changing the wheel to a different wheel, you are better off not taking them off. If you need to work in the gear box, the axles will come apart there and slide out with the wheel attached. Same for working on wheel bareings. If you have a broken wheel you will need to get that off. Some number sevens have a bolt and cap in the end. But some have two bolts that clamp the wheel on. If you are looking for a replacement wheel these two types are not interchangeable.

[Author]

Posts