[Hoof Beet Farm]

The weather has been unseasonably warm here – 70s yesterday and today both. It’s got me antsy to get working. The harness is being made now, so hopefully I’ll have it here soon. In the meantime I started refreshing the pony. It’s been about 5 years since he’s been driven, but he’s a good quiet boy with an excellent memory, thankfully. I found a PNW Extension publication with a diagram for training poles that would work with the pleasure harness I have to at least start desensitizing him to the sensation of something dragging behind him on the ground, since he’s only used to pulling 2-wheeled pleasure carts.

I built one quickly, though I’m pretty sure I need to move the cross brace back on the poles a bit…they seem a little short in front…I don’t have a picture from the side though. He was great with the dragging sensation, didn’t miss a beat. I walked him with a halter and lead rope for a few rounds before putting the bridle on and driving with the lines. We drove like this for about 30 minutes before I gave him a handful of grain (a HUGE treat for a fat pony who’s been on a hay-only diet for years) and brushed him down.

I’ve learned in my time around the drafts at work that the time you spend on the ground brushing and building that comfortable relationship is time well spent and can’t be overlooked. What animal would want to work for a handler who only comes out to toss on a harness and send them to work for a bit (maybe a long bit) before tossing them back in the pen with hardly a thankyouverymuch. Even though I’ve had this pony for about 15 years (I got him as a barely-green-broke 2 1/2 year old), I feel like I need to reinforce that relationship even more now that I’m going to be asking him to work for me rather than just using him for pleasure.

-Kelly & Red

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Hoof Beet Farm.

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[Hoof Beet Farm]

Thanks for the feedback Tevis! I played with a Homesteader at Tiller’s last summer, and I was set on that (and buying a team) until I came across the All-in-One (which might fit the pony I’ve already got), I’ve also looked at the One Horse Toolbar, and I’m definitely weighing the options. I’ve got about a year to decide, and maybe something new will come out in that time…or maybe I’ll attempt to build something myself.

[Hoof Beet Farm]

I’m planning to do a full-tillage this spring on all my beds with the rototiller while I condition the pony on the sled. Then:
On the beds that will have early crops next year:
Fall plant tillage radish that will winterkill, don’t have to worry about rolling in the spring, ground hopefully won’t need much working in the spring.

On the beds that will have warm-season crops next year:
Overseed with oats toward the end of August, and let them grow while I finish out my harvests on those beds this year, then they’ll hopefully winterkill before going to seed, but if not I’ll mow them this fall so they don’t re-seed themselves. Next spring I’ll see what needs to be done…whether they need rolled down (I suspect they will) despite being dead, or if I can just run a disc through to break up the mulch a bit before ripping furrows.

You’ve been very helpful, indeed. Confirms a lot of what I’ve been planning to do, gives me some great new ideas. There’s a lot of garbage in the woods at my place that the people before me left behind, but there have been a handful of gems in there, too. I’ve got a part of a disc harrow that’s maybe 5-6′ wide, a spike-tooth harrow section about 4′ wide, and there’s actually a small, maybe 3-4′ wide, concrete roller out there, too. I’m hoping with some creativity and some of these bits and pieces, I’ll be able to put together a few tools scaled to the size I need. I really like the ripper setup you’ve got! Thanks for the pictures and ideas!

[Hoof Beet Farm]

The demonstration videos show both a pony about his size pulling it in an actual garden, and a pony even smaller “cultivating” in an arena, which is why I wondered. I’d love to see actual draft numbers for it to compare to what I can work him up to pulling on a sled. Sometimes the little guys are surprising in their pound-for-pound strength. But I also may end up springing for a second pony before I get the tool!

[Hoof Beet Farm]

Thanks guys! I was hoping to make it up to Waverley on the Friday of the sale for the crosses, light teams, and ponies, but other forces had their way instead. Maybe in the fall…I had lots of teams I wanted to see though. I’m not ready to upgrade for at least a couple of years, but I want to witness the shear scale and spectacle of it all…

And Carl, thanks for the forecart advice! That’s what I was hoping to hear 🙂

[Hoof Beet Farm]

I’ve been strongly considering the All-in-One with ripper for my quarter pony. I’m looking to move to no-till/min-till with a roller/crimper over a cover crop, then the ripper through to furrow for planting. Is a 750lb pony capable of this kind of draft? And I was wondering if the cover crop residue building up on the shank might be an issue. If so, could I get the jointer assembly for the Pioneer walking plow and clamp it on ahead of the ripper tooth to cut the residue for the shank to pass through? Or would it be better to mow the cover crop instead of rolling it for the ripper to work? I’m totally open to suggestions, including better methods and implements than the ones I think will work.

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