[Donn Hewes]

Hi Mitch, I think about this all summer as well. As we slip into less and less energy available we will be looking for ways to use less. This method of making hay would be good for plants as they would have already gone to seed and started store energy in their roots. There would be lots of hay and fine quality for most classes of animals. I am not sure it would be up to sheep standards, but I might do an experiment. I have about an acre and half of this very hay yet to mow. It was too wet early and I never came back for it. Traditionally hay was probably made later in summer, when the weather was easier to work with.

This hay can be tough mowing, but it should be easy to dry and bale.

[Donn Hewes]

I had a great time as usual. Lot of friends and things to learn and see. Good turn out for work shops too. I did miss the community aspect of the slow evenings with everyone eating and talking around in small groups. I think we need a venue like this one, but on our own schedule. And free or nearly so. Maryrose just went outside so I better get going! Donn

[Donn Hewes]

My two cents. When you have one tied up good, put the harness on the other and go to work. Next day tye up the other, do the same. Ignore the noises from the barn and keep the working animal busy enough so they will let go of the other while they are working. That is what I do.

[Donn Hewes]

I think the pros and cons of a round pen should be broken down carefully. I think they are indispensable in a few specific situations, and useful in many others. They can also be a hazard to many beginning teamsters and might be something that is unnecessary. Let me explain.

First, the most important moment with a round pen is with a totally green horse (and not every horse) that needs that pressure of the pen as something you (the trainer) can push against. Eventually they will respond by turning to you, physically and mentally and the fun is over. Even here the round pen is a small part of the process and the skill of the trainer is paramount.

Any horse trainer (that should be any teamster) with some basic training skills, can take a young or green horse into a round pen and teach it some basic, and very important skills. These same skills can almost all ways be taught with a halter, (I like a rope halter) in your front yard.

The down side of the round pen comes when some one is unsure of what they are doing and goes into a round pen because it makes THEM comfortable. These animals are very smart and are looking for a leader. They will quickly sense when someone is unsure of the next thing so we are just repeating what we already know. You must continue to challenge them with some thing new (like get out of the round pen). This can be tricky if you are not comfortable.

I have trained a few horses, mules, and most recently a donkey. I don’t use a round pen because I don’t have one. Every time I think about building one I remind myself that I would use it about two days a year, and I figure out a way to reach that animal and get its attention (the real job of a round pen) with out one.

Just my two cents.

[Donn Hewes]

they won’t be the only ones. DH

[Donn Hewes]

Thanks Brad. One thing I like to tell people about our relationship with horses is always be honest with them. We may not be (probably aren’t) perfect, but at least when we miss something we can honestly claim it and move on. They saw that in you and excepted it. Nice job and thanks for sharing it. I hope I will see you in Mass.

[Donn Hewes]

I have never really counted it but it looks to me to be a small number of threads per inch. Also the wide flat side helps lock it on. B W Macknair would probably send you one in a couple days. 717 – 543 – 5136.

[Donn Hewes]

Actually, the distance from the end of the single tree to the pole does not determine how close to the pole the animal is. The distance from the center of the singletree to the pole determines how much room they have. With the right size of yoke, an animal will walk with the mid line of their body on the center of the evener. If the evener is long enough, they will have plenty of room. If the singletree is too close to the pole they can hit or interfere with each other. Take an evener that was not made for a pole (no space between the singletrees), and put it on a tongue – parts may get hooked on bolts and other problems may follow. Obviously the size of the singletree determines how much room is between the traces (should be apropraiate for the size of the animal). Hope that helps. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

Mitch, I hope you didn’t take any thing I said wrong. I am sure you have them well in hand. I just meant my horses haven’t had that chance to learn that specific skill. Now that you mention it Carl, the ability to have a horse or a team ease back a little would be very useful. Hooking a pin is a great example. It is something I have never put much effort in to teaching, I just keep hooking the pins the best way I can. My horses will easily back too hard and too fast if I am not careful. I can usually get them to ease forward and hook my pin then. I think I will start doing some training while hooking from now on.

[Donn Hewes]

Don’t get me wrong, I think the horses will learn to lean back while hitching. I just wouldn’t make light of it. This is some thing that they will need to be taught. Unlike Mitch, when I spin a team ( or single) around in the woods, I have the evener in one hand and the lines in the other. I all ways choke up on the lines before I pick up the evener. This way I can easily drive the animal or team with the lines, forward, back, or sides. Thus none of my animals have ever been taught NOT to lean into a trace and hold the load. I think that by pulling on the trace, and pausing for a second, then asking softly for the back, they will learn what to do while hooking. Same as they move over with out asking, when you pull on the trace to move them in. I am working with five horses and three teamster right now so it will take a while for every one to figure this out. I can see clearly in my mind exactly how it is working for Carl, Mitch, and Larry. I just would say don’t make light of some one else’s difficulty. My horses have been wearing this harness for six months and I haven’t mastered it yet.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Carl, Just for the record I have not tried the FSS method as I am affriad of messing up the lengths as different people hook up to different equipment. I think you hit the nail when you said your horses lean back. I am guessing you trained them to do that. It would make all the difference. I am hooking horses that feel the pressure and assume they should lean forward, I think they will slowly learn to lean back. I am also hooking an eight year old gelding with two weeks on a tongue. I don’t want to ask him to move too much as he is just learning to keep still. Yesterday I hooked to a fore cart with a rake. It had a slight roll back because of where it was parked. I have to use the lines to back the horses while I hook the last tug. Then I tripped on an evener and banged my shin! dang. I will have to pay more attention to where I leave stuff to hook on to later.

[Donn Hewes]

Carl, I hear you about hooking with a knee on the evener. I think the thing I am lacking so far is horses that instinctively lean back. This is still new for them. When you move them back with the lines it is tricky. Don’t want a lot of moving while hooking. I am getting better at it, but my interns are still struggling a little. I also have to make myself some new tongues. Most of my equipment is hooked on the third link. My gas powered cart is using one or two links. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for my big mares, and the pole really isn’t high enough. I would also like to make my front side straps two inches longer, but will have to wait for the new tongue. My brother cut a tongue for the PTO cart so I should be able to change that soon. Must do it before NEAPFD! Today will test the horses baling in 89 degree heat. My last day of first cutting.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Jenn, Dropping a link is another way of saying to shorten the tug by one link. You both said “raise the tongue by shortening the tug”. I thought it looked high enough. I struggle to get my my horses hooked tight enough some times. I find the D ring unforgiving for hooking to a cart that is already hooked to something else; IE. you can’t move the cart at all while hooking. My only concern with that one piece style of neck yoke is not allowing the jockey yoke to move with the shoulders as the animal walks. Since it is going directly to the D ring maybe that doesn’t matter. I have been planning to make my self some new yokes this fall, so I will be interested to hear other responses. Donn

[Donn Hewes]

I have an old New Idea rake like the one you describe. I used it for years before retiring it because I was tired of trying to fix it. I never felt they put pressure on the wheels per se. When used on a side hill they would put pressure on the tongue. I used a wide evener and neck yoke to keep the tongue from pushing on the left hand horse. They tend to steer out of the corners, by that I mean turn right and your rake swings a little to the left. You never want to hit a fence with one, not that you really want to hit the fence with anything. I never made extra loops. Like bob said that would just mess up the windrows you already have. There is no easy way to mow those triangles. Just get good at easing the bar up as you come out of the hay, and easing it down as you go in.

[Donn Hewes]

I am in agreement with much of what has been said, but I would add this. The nut on the lawn mower could have killed some one with out any horses around. There are risks in every day life. I would look at parades as an extra special challenge for my horses, only the best horses belong there. I would use the same standard I use for all my equipment and special situations. NOT, can this horse make it through this, but can he be calm and relaxed while doing a parade? It will still be true that the farther we get from the farm, the more unexpected things can be thrown at us (literally), but we know we have taken the best teams to town. I used to enjoy parades, but I got tired of the time spent waiting, now a days I don’t truck horses, but if a friend wanted me to ride along I might find it fun. I really want an old fire engine (steamer) that we can take the blinders off and get the steam up and let the horses run with. Come to think of it, I will just keep making hay!

[Author]

Posts