[Donn Hewes]

I think biting a donkey that is not used to it could be challenging. How is she about the head in general? The ears? Ideally she would be willing to let you scratch her jaw or her face or where ever. Sometimes the ears take a while.

Putting a bit in the mouth is an example of one of those things that I do a certain way. That is to say, I can do it slowly, and I can give an animal a lot of time to figure out what I am doing, but ultimately I will put a bit in their mouth. Ideally I want to put the bit on an unrestrained animal, but that might take a lot of work to convince them to stand while we go through all this. I start by standing at the left side of the head, with my right fore arm between the ears holding the bridle from the top. The bridle is in front of their face. Now my left hand is under the bit offering it to the teeth. The hand between the ears reinforces the idea that they can’t back out or pull away. If (or when) the teeth don’t open the left thumb immediately slips into the mouth behind the front teeth which causes them to open their mouth. Because the right hand is holding the bridle by the top it slides right in and doesn’t get spit out as long as the right hand holds it up. With the bit in the mouth I switch hands so the left is holding the bridle up while the right puts the ears in.

I know the this is a long description for something basic, but for an animal that is going to fight a little, the best thing is to have a good technique that will allow you to put it on with the least amount of difficulty. Then they can begin to get accustomed to it and it will get a little easier each time. With a donkey this all assumes they are already willing to be touched, haltered, etc!

[Donn Hewes]

Robert, Here is my two cents. Communication, safety, control; what’s the difference. Don’t try to over think this. Can a horse, mule or donkey be worked without a bit? Most definitely, lots of examples from history, ( think horse logging for one, circus animals for another!). For every one of those examples there are horse loggers probably in almost every state, Amish farmer’s by the thousands, plus all the rest of us, connected in in a continuous line to dray horses, farm horses, and fire horses ALL working with bits for more than a hundred years.

The beauty of a bit in my opinion is that it really isn’t limiting in terms of how you choose to communicate with your animals. After investing some time in learning and training the bit is a subtle, quite, low stress way of communicating with draft animals. It also provides some safety and control in unforeseen circumstances.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Ed, I have looked at your pictures several times today and thought about some comments. First the horses look calm and relaxed and you know how important I think that is. Nice Job. Second, while I usually find it pretty easy to throw my two cents in, it is a little harder here. I think there are still some small adjustments to make, but it will also take the horses a little time to relax and except this arraignment. Those adjustments will be hard to make from photos.

I certainly can’t comment on the “D” ring adjustments. If the tongue was longer you would have more room to make adjustments, but I can’t really tell if they are really needed.

Here are a few thoughts; not necessarily things I would change but things I would consider. If I am unsure of the lines / neck yoke / evener spacing I wouldn’t use a piece of baling string to try to hold the horses (black horse?) head out. How will I know if things are right? How will I keep from pulling the horse in two directions at once? Perhaps you want a 42″ evener instead of a 46″ neck yoke. I think they are already having a hard time being worked that far apart. Moving them closer together will make them more comfortable perhaps.

They look pretty even as far as height, but one picture made Oz look taller than the black. Is he taller; specifically is the hames ring higher on one horse than the other? If so that is one thing to fix. Drop down to the next ring on the harness and clip on a ring there to use as a hames ring. This lets the blacks head out.

The check reins don’t look tight in the pictures, but not very loose either. Some horses really work with a low head carriage and they won’t relax with out it.

I wouldn’t shorten the stub lines because they “look” too loose, until the heads are spaced the way we want. A 46″ evener would have stub lines 10″ longer than the lines! Picture # 6 shows the lines well extended but it is hard to tell how well spaced the horses are. A good picture to take sometimes is from the teamster’s view.

If you want to mess with them, switch sides, can’t really hurt. Don’t try that if you don’t feel comfortable with it.

Please Take ALL these comments with a good doze of salt. I think you are on the right track to work these two together. Keep them going and give them time to figure it out. As long as they are calm you have all the time in the world. Make any changes in small increments. I think it will be good for them and the teamsters.

I do make little deviations from those standard line adjustments, but it is a slow process that requires seeing them work, and slowly figuring out what is holding them back from being exactly were I want them. From a teamster’s point of view a fat necked horse or a short necked horse, or a horse that likes it’s head down, can all look like a lazy horse that won’t get up were it belongs no matter how much you ask it to. The difference is when you make the right adjustment for those horses they end up right were you want them, and the lazy horse is still back where he started.

[Donn Hewes]

I try to ignore their attitude and correct them when they are out of place. I have one horse out of five that is like that regularly (I have had others in the past). I try to make sure she is hooked up as frequently as I can, because I think it helps her to keep up that routine. When I am working with her I am interested in her and thinking about making her better. She is a highly responsive horse and all ways will get after anything I ask. Some of those horses quite the behavior as soon as they work a little. Others, like mine unfortunately, will continue until they wear them selves out. She is sweaty and breathing hard before everyone else, and in a long haymaking afternoon she gets wasted before anyone else. I have been driving her for two years waiting to see if she grows out of it.

Yesterday I was driving two other mares together to skid a few logs. They haven’t been hooked together much and the pregnant mare has not worked much this winter. What a quite and perfect team. What fun that is. To make a long story short the little Belgian mare is for sale. she is just started under saddle and will make some one a great little horse.

[Donn Hewes]

Very true about the pins, and the lead. There is an a-framed piece that pivots behind where the push bar screws into the cutter bar head. Not all of the five foot mowers came with two holes at the top of this a-frame needed for a longer bar, but some certainly did. A six foot mower will be very frustrating with out making this change and a seven will not lift at all. Anyone who wants details on which pin in which hole let me know. DH

[Donn Hewes]

Those are nice looking mules. Are your mules bare foot? I work my horses and mules bare foot all winter, but you do have to be extra careful to avoid any ice. a little work with a snow shovel and they will pull that right out of there. If you had some place you really wanted to go, a method I have used for seriously deep snow drifts is to drive the team back and forth through it before I hook them to the sled. That may get them through. One picture of them standing and walking makes their heads look close to together; is their spacing good? Pictures can be really deceptive.

Animals that stay calm in a pinch are worth a lot, but they also reflect a calm handler. Nice job.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Roberson, I hope you don’t mind if I ask what happened to driving and working the donkey? The reason I ask is because it might reflect on recommendations I would make regarding Halflingers. Unless you plan to go into commercial hardwood logging, (20″ butts and 20′ logs) Halflingers will do anything you want to do. Remembering of course that asking folks about breeds is a highly subjective question; some Halflingers are a little more “up” and can be a little harder to train and work with for a green teamster. Certainly not true of all of them, as I have seen some good ones.

I also prefer the Fiord to the Halflinger, but that is just my preference. In both breeds you can see a distinct difference between some individuals that are heavier boned and built in the chest and hind quarters, and others are slighter, and more built to ride. Remember the best way (only way?) to evaluate a “broke” horse is in harness. If you don’t know anything else to look for; look for calm and relaxed; people and horses. Good luck.

PS. I personally wouldn’t make a choice based on which I thought was easier to harness. The horses will live for thirty years. In two years which will be hard to harness?

[Donn Hewes]

I will guess that was Good Companion. Try sending him private message.

[Donn Hewes]

Most modern disc mowers that don’t have conditioners (rollers), have strippers that crack the stems much like a hay tedder, thus the drying time.

[Donn Hewes]

Joel, What side hill adjustments would you make?

Just last year I put a seven foot bar together. I have the luxury or a 5′, 6′, and 7′. The seven works fine in everything but the heaviest mowing. Covers a lot of ground. I believe most of the miles on these mower’s were with 1200# to 1400# horses. Todays 1600# to 1800# er’s can handle the 7′ bar. As is often repeated when dicussing mowers, that seven footer had a brand new knife and perfect guards and was running real smooth.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Ed, The line tension should be equal on both sides of the bit. Light! If your eveners are 42″, start with a stub line that is 8″ longer than the outisde line. That should space your horses about right. I used a spreader for years and recently quit. Don’t know why, I just took them off one day and started to adjust all my lines so they weren’t necessary.

[Donn Hewes]

Answer to question number 2. Yes, they can be changed to 6′. In a case were all the mower cutting parts were likely to be changed anyway, the addition of a six foot bar wouldn’t be a big change. For a mower were the knife and everything were ready to mow, adding parts and changing over is a good sized job with some expenses. In WY. you could also consider a seven foot bar if you have good sized horses. If you were taking the whole thing apart anyway.

I would guess they made #7 in high and reg. gear models.

[Donn Hewes]

I all ways thought of that as a logging tug. They would use a chain with a large ring in one end, and a smaller ring on the single tree. Slide the chain through the ring on the single tree and drop it on the end of the tug. That way you can go long (without the evener hitting the horses) back to the woods. When you are ready to skid, take the large ring and drop it on the tug hook, shortening you trace chains in half, ready to lift the log. With tall horses and logging tongs you could get a decent lift for most logs.

[Donn Hewes]

Man that 3/8″ sounds heavy and expensive to me. It some what depends on if you are talking about a flat plate or channel or square tubing. Each has different strength characteristics due to the shape. I am all for building something strong, but I suspect 1/4″ steel would be plenty. Welding skis to a rim would work great most probably. Jason suggested this to me about 20 times before he realized I just wanted to weld my own design.

[Donn Hewes]

Here are a few more pictures of the arch.

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