[near horse]

I agree with John about giving the horses a little “primer” on the mower before going at it for real. I hooked my team up with the mower bar up and disengaged (obviously) – drive around a bit – then run it with bar down but knife disengaged for a bit – finally, run with bar down and knife engaged but not cutting anything (just for the noise). Engage and disengage a number of times as you travel around until the “new clatter” from the knife ceases to effect the horses. Then you can try and cut some grass – there’s enough to watch/pay attention to when mowing that you don’t want to worry about your team being uptight.

That said, I think mowing and plowing are my favorite activities. HAVE FUN.

[near horse]

Is there a way to utilize the hydrostatic drive off of an old swather in a system we’re talking about? I’m thinking in sort of using the ground drive (however you set it up) to run a hydrostatic pump (off a swather) which in turn could run the hydraulics or motors (off the swather wheels). I am probably missing something obvious as to why this can’t work – it just seems that some of these parts might fit the bill – and I’ve got this old swather staring at me each day …..

[near horse]

Does anyone out there use AI to breed their mares, particularly if they’re looking for traits that are difficult to find – like “old style” Percherons? That could be a good way of keeping some bloodlines around that some folks desire but most don’t have access to or enough need to keep a stallion on hand. If I recall, horses are more challenging to breed that way than cattle but maybe I’m wrong.

BTW – if you’re interested in horse/mule reproduction information, advice or assistance etc – try contacting Dirk Vanderwall at Penn State. He’s a friend of mine that used to work at the University of Idaho (cloned the first mule – but don’t hold that against him) – a great guy, helpful and incredibly knowledgable about equine reproduction.

That said – I posted pictures of some chunk Perchs from the plowing events last spring but I don’t know if they’ve got a stallion – I don’t think so but I’ll ask.

[near horse]

Congrats Mike. I have a couple of those tall Belgians as well but mine seem to be a lot muddier looking right now! Make him give you his head when you go to put the bridle on – it’s a long way up to reach with those 17+H horses.

Glad you’ve been able to join the community.

[near horse]

Hi Kevin,

It sounds like the standard new 7 yr old team behavior – a little antsy about a new “boss” and surroundings, haven’t been worked much lately, and they’ve still got some youth in them. Keep it up – as many have said – repetition, repetition, repetition …..

[near horse]

Hey Kevin,

Great! Congratulations on your new girls and Best of luck with them!!! Do you have other horses as well?

Where abouts are you – you know 400 miles is a hop, skip and a jump out here (especially in MT!)?

[near horse]

Robert – Did you see some of that equipment they showed on RH last night (from SDAD)? There was some walk behind stuff – singles etc – some that I’d not seen before.

Also, for some fabricating ideas for donks take a look at that site I posted a couple of lines up. There’re some pdf files with plans for carts (materials lists …..)etc specifically for donkeys (and oxen) – meant for developing countries so not super complicated.

I noticed when googling univecus, one site mentioned FENDT equipment – not sure maybe univecus toolbar setup could handle FENDT attachments?

[near horse]

Man- I thought I had searched every corner of the internet for draft equipment but obviously not! Does anyone know if the univecus unit takes any type of equipment that can attach to a tool bar or is it specifically for their own attachments?

That’s something to consider for Pioneer – It can become really cost prohibitive when you have to buy all the new attachments even though you might already own the same thing of a “different” brand.

Also, ran into this site with some basic designs
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/research/civil/dtu/pubs/animals/

[near horse]

I’m with you grey – how about flames and the name “Tractor Eater”?

[near horse]

Hey Old Kat –
Funny you should mention taking digital photos of dismantling equipment. A local mechanic of ours told me that’s what they need to do when dismantling the dash of most cars – like when replacing a heater core. He said it’s almost impossible to remember all the little steps, in reverse. Nice use of new technology for us Luddites!

[near horse]

Josh – My deepest sympathy for you and your dad. I think we all dread the day we lose a beloved member of our team but it will happen to us all, eventually. As Carl says, grieve his loss, celebrate his memory and rejoice in the things that made Randy a special horse. Look to the future and store his memory close to your heart.

Take care.

[near horse]

A thought on helping keep parts/stuff organized when dismantling equipment – the stationary stores sell those magnet vinyl message boards (maybe 2ft x 3ft). Take one of these, add a little edge and use it as a flat surface to place small parts on. The magnetics hold most metal parts AND you can write what it is on the board next to the parts. When you’re finished, wipe it off and you’ve got a clean slate (so to speak).

[near horse]

Hey John,

Do you use a program to draw your “plans”? If so, which one and how difficult is it to get up to speed on using it?

[near horse]

Hey – you folks in N.E. don’t have the market cornered on odd shaped pieces of ground! I also have some pretty irregular borders. 🙂

[near horse]

Another way to work the bitting process (at first) is to have the bit attached to the right side if the halter or bridle as normal but attach a snap to the bit ring on the left side bit ring. You can bridle or halter first – then work on getting her to take the bit w/o having worry about the bridle/halter thing. You can then use on hand to bring the bit to her mouth and the other hand (thumb) on her the bar of her jaw to get her to open her mouth a little. I’m not saying force her mouth open or the bit in at all. Just slow and easy. This worked pretty well with one of my horses.

[Author]

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