The Green Teamster

2011 Christmas Wagon Rides

2012-01-17T00:41:00.001-06:00

Wow … I’ve been putting off this blog post for quite a while. Maybe I should have made a New Years Resolution to “not procrastinate”. At any rate, I’m getting it to you now, so that’s what matters.

For 2011 Christmas Season, I once again did wagon rides for the Park Street Historical Society in Greenville, TX. I did rides 4 nights (Friday and Saturday night for 2 weeks). I had a great time and once again, I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to get my horses out in Greenville and share them with other people. I love my horses immensely, and it’s just a great feeling to see others (especially children) in awe and amazement at how big, and how well mannered they are. I had my helper, Jacob, with me again this year and he was awesome company to have. Jacob is a real sharp young man, very sober and very solemn. I love having him help me with the horses, because its one of the few times I see him actually smiling.

This is Jacob. I can't believe I caught him smiling.

The first night of rides didn’t go so well. When I went to hitch up the horses, I noticed one of the wagon tires was flat. I thought that was odd, and we found an air compressor and filled it up. We loaded up the wagon, and down the road we went. After a block, I heard a rhythmic lug sound from the back of the wagon. I looked back, and the tire was pretty much flat. A block later, and the whole wagon was rocking as the tire became unseated. I apologized immensely and we turned around and went back. The people in my wagon hopped on another wagon, and away they went. Turns out, the valve stem completely blew out of the tire as we started to go down the road. I had no way to fix a tire without a valve stem, and knew that I needed professional help to get this done quickly.

Getting ready for the rides. Girls are hitched and waiting to go.

I was left with a predicament. 7:30ish on a Friday night … who could fix the tire? Well, it turns out that NTB is open till 9. I ran the tire to them quickly (thanks to my boy scout “Be Prepared” training I had all the tools needed to remove the tire from the wagon). They found the flat, fixed it, and used a cheater seater to seat the tire that had really gotten abused being pulled while it was flat. They were done in a short time, and didn’t charge me anything for the repair. THANK YOU NTB!!! I’ll be giving them my business next time I need tires.

My son enjoying a snack while we finish getting ready

Here's the wagon, ready to go.

I got back in time to do one more wagon ride for the night. It went well and the horses were all to happy to be done after a single full length ride.

The next 3 nights went perfectly. The horses were awesome, and the wagon rides were fun. I really need to try that trick I posted a few blogs back about a way to make it so your lines don’t get caught under the team pole. That would happen to me every time Pam would step out in front of Rachael. It’s very annoying, but I impressed Jacob with my skills at making Rachael step forward more than pam to get them unhooked without having to stop the wagon and walk up there. It was a minor annoyance though!

I should also mention that the bells were AWESOME! Just having bells jingling as we walked down the road made it so much better. I am a huge fan of bells and will be doing christmas with them from now on. It seemed to be the cherry on top of a wonderful experience.

Wagon rides are just getting underway. Here we are waiting for people to load up. Jacob is a great header.

For me, the best part of this Christmas season was to have my parents visit. I’ve only been doing hitch stuff for a short time, and my parents have never been around to see it. They are big fans of the blog, and love what they read and see through pictures, but they have never gotten to experience it in person. With my parents here, I took them on a special wagon ride to see the lights on Park Street in Greenville.

My mom got her camera out and documented me and my father getting us ready for the ride. I’ll have to post her pictures when she gets them. Her first comment was how amazed she was at the size of the horses. She said pictures didn’t do them justice or really show you just how big they are. She was then amazed that I could walk in and put halters on and that the horses didn’t kill me.  It was a lot of fun having them there with me, and my father (who has no horse experience) did great at leading the horses and helping me as needed. The wagon ride was awesome and my parents had a really good time. I also gave a wagon ride to the Whitlock family. They are basically my Texas family and have helped me out so much. Chuck Whitlock is a teamster, and my very first harness I used on Lily was borrowed from him. He sat up front with me and we had a fun time going down the road.

Whitlock Family Wagon Ride

Christmas was a success. A few bumps along the way, but a great season.

Christmas Parades were successful!

2011-12-05T18:48:00.000-06:00

The Parade was a success!! This past friday night was the Greenville Christmas parade. I pulled a hay wagon made up into a float by Turtle Creek Veterinary Medical Center. A big thanks to my pal Pat Chase for loaning me the hay wagon. Another big thanks to Jacob Riddle for helping me handle the horses. Pam was not in the mood to stand around at first, and it was great to have Jacob on hand. The float looked great and the horses pulled it great. I should mention that I had the bells this year and they really added to the Christmas feel. Here's some pictures of the Greenville Parade.

Putting final touches on the float

Attaching the lines to the horses.

Waiting for our turn to go.

My family! Merry Christmas!

My header, Jacob, helping Pam to chill out

Another shot of us waiting

A rear view of the float.

Side view of the float with all the lights on

The next day I did the Campbell Christmas parade. We used the same float (minus all the vet stuff), and my son's football team rode in it. It was a great time. I'll post pictures if I get any.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-11-25T18:30:00.001-06:00

Today was a great day. I got to spend some good time putting miles on the horses. It was 6 miles by the time it was all said and done. I had the bells on the horses and they did wonderful.

What prompted todays trek, was a need I had to deliver a hay wagon to a friend who lives 3 miles away. I will be pulling this wagon in the Greenville Christmas night parade, and it needs to be decorated how my riders want. I knew right away I could just drive it over, but then I needed to have a ride home. I came up with the idea to load my forecart onto the hay wagon. This would give me a ride home.

My pioneer forecart strapped down to a hay wagon. Quite the ride!!

I should probably back up a few days. On Wednesday I had the farrier out and he put shoes on the horses. (I got Rachael's shoes from Graber steel again. Love those people, and love the drilltek shoes!) Rachael got iron on all 4 feet without a problem. Pam was REALLY being a moody preggo mare. For the first time she kicked at me. I couldn't believe it. She stood for the farrier perfectly for the front feet, but when he went to work on the back, she swung her rear end towards him and kicked at him. I was baffled. This is definitely not my docile mare Pam. I don't know if it was the cold weather, the preggo, or something else, but that mare was a tad unruly. Since she's pregnant, the farrier didn't want to tie ropes around her. We discussed how much I'll be using the horses on the road, and he felt that I would be fine with only shoes on the front for Pam. This saved me some money, and saved us from fighting Pam a day before Thanksgiving. :)

Since the horses have iron, I had no problem running them down the road. It was a nice ride too. Both girls were stepping nicely and responding well to the lines. I had the bells on, and the girls didn't mind them at all. I actually enjoyed the ride sitting so high up. I had a birds eye view. I was sitting in the implement seat on the forecart. It worked well. I set out alone, but after half a mile, my white dog Saphra was following me, so she got pulled up on the wagon and came along.

A birds eye view. This must be what a nice hitch wagon is like.

Another shot while riding the hay wagon. Note the bells!!

After I dropped off the wagon, I hitched up the forecart, and headed home. The point of view was much different. Instead of looking down on everything, I was peering between the horses at the road. The pictures show this well. The girls did enjoy having a lighter ride home, and they trotted well for me. Driving with a dog between your legs on a forecart was the most difficult thing I encountered. :)

Forecart view on the way home. Compare with above. I prefer the high ride!!

My wife took this picture from behind me as I drove up the driveway.

My wife took a video of me as I was pulling into the driveway. It's listed below. You can really hear the bells cut through it. It was a fabulous afternoon!

Getting the girls used to bells

2011-11-22T11:57:00.000-06:00

I decided that for my parade and wagon rides this holiday season, I'd like to see about getting some sleigh bells. I began searching for bells, and I found that real brass bells are pricey! I was looking for the bands that go around the girth of the horses. They were upwards of 100 dollars a piece for the nice ones and $300 a pop for the REALLY nice ones.

I did more searching and found some made by Weaver. They are black leather, 72" long, and just nickel plated bells. Probably not as nice sounding as the others, but they were 22 dollars a piece. I decided that for that price I'd give them a try.

Last Saturday I got Rachael and Pam out. After I tied them to get them ready for harnesses, I walked over with one set of bells around my neck. Rachael was completely relaxed and didn't mind the bells. Pam had her head set very high, and her ears were tipped a little back. She was concerned. I talked sweet to her, and let her check them out while I brushed them out. I then put one strand around each horse and left them tied for a bit. Neither cared at that point.

I then harnessed them up and off we went to my pal Pat Chase's house. I needed to visit Pat for a variety of reasons: 1) it's been a while since I've hung out with my friend, 2) I needed to do some upgrading of hames at the Pat Chase Tack Shop, 3) I needed to borrow the hay wagon that I'm going to use in the Greenville Christmas Parade.

As always, it was great to be out at Pats. I was surprised to see him working his 2 year old gelding. It's been a while since I've seen him, but wow has he grown. It was awesome to see him harnessed and pulling a sled. Pat has done awesome work with him. He's nearly 17 hands tall and is going to be an amazing horse. This summer Pat learned some great training tricks from Cathy Zahm, and he explained them to me. Very cool!

For those who may not know, Pat keeps a bit of harness stuff at his place for sale/trade. He has collars, hames, and other things. For the past 6 months, my new harnesses have needed smaller hames. The harnesses were originally used on bigger horses, and the hames just didn't fit my 24 inch collars very well. Not only does Pat have the gear, he has the know how. He quickly measured, and told me I needed 26" hames to go with my 24" collars (2 inches bigger is the rule). In no time, I had new hames that fit my collars perfectly for a very reasonable price and trade-in.

We then worked horses for a bit, and went for a wagon ride. It was great to just relax and hang out with my friend. My horses did very well with the bells on their harnesses. I ground drove them all around Pat's place. Unfortunately we couldn't hook them up to Pat's other wagon, so we only took Pat's horses and wagon out on the ride.

After the wagon ride, I had to get home, so I loaded my horses and off I went, with a hay wagon being pulled behind the horse trailer. I had to keep it under 45, but I made it home just fine.

Looking forward to getting the girls shoe'd over this Thanksgiving break. Then I'll start hitting the roads a little more often and working those muscles back into shape. I don't want the girls to go from Summer Vacation to 3 hours of work a night all at once.

I hope everyone out there enjoys Thanksgiving and finds something to be thankful for. There's plenty of reasons for all of us if we look close enough.

Driving with my son

2011-11-14T22:35:00.001-06:00

My son with lines in hand

Today I decided to do some things just for me. I came home from work early, and decided that I'd work the horses. It's funny to me that whenever you think you can do something quickly with horses, life happens. My first delay was getting Whinnie (the little buckskin filly) back into my pasture. She managed to get in the neighbors field somehow, so I had to cut the fence, get her back on my side, and then fix the fence.

Delay #2 came from a preggo mare Pam acting like a total butt. She refused to let me halter her. This meant we spent 30 minutes of her running away from me while I slowly walked behind her (like a murderer in some slasher movie from the 1980s). After 30 minutes she finally tired herself out, and she stood. I chuckled when I saw how sweaty she had made herself. After that, she was a perfect mare. She had no more strength to act up.

My boy driving the sled across the pasture.

About that time, my son got home from school. To my surprise, he told me he wanted to come out and work the horses with me. We had an awesome day! He helped me halter Rachael, and also helped me groom them and harness them. We hooked the girls up to the sled, and I started driving them.

He actually did pretty good at keeping slack out of his lines

About that time, Riley asked if he could drive. I quickly agreed, and he took over. He did so good! I was very impressed with him. I took a few video's of him driving the horses. The first one below is of him starting the girls from a stop. It took him 3 tries to get them to respond to his voice, but he got them to listen. (turn the sound up and you can here him talking to the horses)

The next video is of Riley turning a 180 degree circle. He completely impressed me with his ability to command the horses. By the time we finished working the horses, Riley had driven much longer than I had.

There is something very fulfilling about sharing this stuff with my son. I love that he wants to be involved, and I love that he does so well with the horses. Had a fabulous day with my boy!!

Team Line Trick

2011-11-03T11:47:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I was calling around to different harness shops looking for pricing on Bells. For this Christmas season I was hoping to add some sleigh bells to the wagon/horses to really complete the Christmas theme.

I got referred to the Samson Harness Shop in MN. I called and they were so pleasant! I ended up talking with someone for hours (Bernie Samson maybe?). We talked about all kinds of different things.

One thing we discussed was using team lines. He asked me if I had any issues with lines getting hung up. I mentioned how I had the team line buckle pull through my spreader once. He asked if I also had times when the cross checks would get hung up under the team pole. My answer was a “Yes”. That seems to happen every now and then; never from actually working, but by standing still and them moving their heads around.

Bernie then laid out to me an old trick from the early 1900s. He described using 2 sets of spreader rings to solve the cross check problem, and using 3 extra rings on the cross check line to prevent the buckle from pulling through.

For the 3 ring thing, you just get 3 sizes of rings (6 total – 2 per size). They should be sequenced such that the smallest ring will not pull through the middle one, and the middle one will not pull through the biggest. The biggest needs to be big enough that it won’t pull through the spreader ring. You put these on each cross check, in sequential order, before you run it through the first spreader. These rings will then prevent the buckle from pulling through.

Drawing of team line setup using 2 sets of spreders

For the last part, I was having a hard time understanding verbally what he was describing, so I had him send me a fax with a drawing. I found this very interesting. I’ve never heard of this, but it looks pretty good. The extra set of spreaders will keep enough line on the tension that you don’t get that droop in the middle of the cross that can get hung up. I like it, and I think I’m going to have to get some spreaders to try it out.

This kind of rig seems ideal for a guy like me; someone who works the horses alone most times. when this kind of thing happens for me, I usually have to hope the horses stay still, and walk around myself to un-tangle it. This means that there is a time when my hands are not on the lines. If running an extra set of spreaders can fix this, then I’m all for it.

How to cure a diva!

2011-10-31T17:23:00.001-05:00

This summer was such a bad one, and my time has been so busy, that I haven't worked the horses in over 4 months. Yes, I know ... shame on me.

Two weeks ago, I had the farrier out. Well it turned out that Miss Pam has become quite a Diva! My horse who stood awesome for the farrier had been replaced by a raunchy, impatient mare who didn't want to stand at all, but only wanted to go back to the other horses. She resisted quite a bit. It was one of those moments where you find yourself telling the farrier "she's normally really good", which you know he must hear from everyone.

That cemented in my mind that Pam needed to be cured of her new Diva ways. I figured I knew the best way to cure that. WORK!!! It's amazing how a horses temperament changes when they have a job. So here's how it worked out.

First, I just got her out of the pasture and tied her up. I left her tied for 45 minutes. She spend the first 15 minutes pawing the ground and trying to turn herself all around to get free. The last 30 minutes she settled in, and just waited on me.

Pam the Diva ... standing tied.

Next, I took my time harnessing her. She was pretty good with this. No real issues at all. Once the blinders were on, she started turning her body a bit, but nothing too big.

Rachael, being the amazing hitch horse she is.

Next came the work. I ground drove the girls together at first, and the first few starts and stops were a tad rough on Pam's part. Rachael was a dream and acted like the pro she is. After the girls were stopping and starting well on command it was time for the sled. I should note, Pam was still not staying stopped very well. She would start to pace and paw to keep moving, however, she would stop on command. This was OK with me, because HARD WORK cures that impatient crap. :)

Up next came the heavy work sled. I got a new work sled this past spring. It's got metal runners, and it's pretty heavy. I hitched the girls up to it for the first time and away we went. I made them walk for a good 10 minutes, then we stopped for a rest. I watched Pam, and as soon as she started to Pace, off we went, for another 20 minutes. On the next break, she stood for a few minutes, then paced once, so off we went again. Another 15 minutes later, we stopped, and she stood perfectly. Success!!! I did this a few more times, till they were standing with no intention of moving. This is the team that I know and love. Even stood well enough for me to walk away from the sled and snap a picture. :)

What a good team! Enjoying a nice break after pulling the heavy metal training sled.

Working a horse hard enough to realize that a break is a good thing is a wonderful cure to the pacing/impatient horse. Once they realize that a break is something to fully take advantage of, it really sets them up well. The important thing to note in draft horses, is that it takes a lot of effort to work them hard enough to need a break. Even on that heavy sled, it was only after an hour of pulling it that they finally started sweating. Work work work! It brings out the best in these animals.

The result ... I got my sweet Pam back. For the rest of the day, she was the horse I used all spring and last christmas. It was great.

So ... how do you cure a Diva? Make her work ... and work HARD! :)

Update on Nellie

2011-10-30T16:25:00.000-05:00

A bit more happened with Nellie since the last blog posting. Nellie seemed to be fine the next morning after the vet came out. However, the next night, she was laying down again, and rolling worse. She had really scraped herself up on her hips, withers, and side of the head from rolling.

Vet said to bring her to him and we'd tube her again. We also needed to get her some more bantamine. We took her to the vet that night, While looking her over, the vet noticed a small string hanging out of her rear end. He pulled on it, and out came a 1 foot long piece of Hay wrap/netting. He tubed her again, and this time there was no reflux at all. Also, she wasn't passing much through her intestines. This led the vet to diagnose her with an obstruction instead of just colic. We figure that Nellie unknowingly ingested some amount of hay netting (the plastic wrap that is used on round bales now days).

A sick Nellie. Note the IV bag hung from the tree. This is country living!

This started a long 3 day long ordeal. I made a pen for Nellie in our front yard near the house. We had to keep an eye on her. She had a catheter put in, and needed to be on IV fluids. We also had to tube her twice a day and pump a gallon of mineral oil, and a 3-5 liters of water into her belly to try and flush out the hay netting/wrap that was stuck. Suddenly it seemed that our whole life was about Nellie, and making sure she made it. We were also advised to give her 4-5 small amounts of hay each day to keep the digestive track functioning.

It also began the awesome fun of dissecting poop. Everything that dropped out of her got dissected and analyzed. It seemed that each small pile had small pieces of hay netting with a few long pieces too. Slowly but surely, she was passing them. We kept hoping to finally see a big ball of the hay wrap come out, but instead we saw a string or two with each load.

There were storms coming through, so I moved the pen under my porch. IV bag hung from the rafters.

On the 3rd day of fluids, Nellie started acting like herself again. She had not tried laying down and rolling at all, and we were not giving her any meds. We were advised to keep her on the IV, but to begin giving her a flake of hay at a time. We did this, and it made for a very happy Nellie. She had no problems digesting it, which also made for very BIG piles or poop for me to dissect.

On the 4th day, we stopped the IV, and put her out in the pasture. She was glad to be out of her pen, and we kept a close watch on her. She did perfectly. No soreness, no laying down or rolling. She's still doing awesome. We think we got her to pull through it. What a relief!!

One of the silver linings about this ordeal, was that Nellie doesn't care about needles on her neck anymore. Last year when it was time for shots, it was a rodeo. We didn't get to draw blood for a coggins because she was so unruly. By the last day of her being in the stall and feeling normal, my wife was able to draw her blood all alone, without me holding her. This is a great thing.

Also, on a bit of a disappointing note ... we did a blood test on Nellie to see if she is truly pregnant (supposed to be having a March foal) and the test result came back negative. Looks like she didn't take. I'm a little dissapointed, but that's Okay. It means I can work her with Rachael when Pam get's too big for her harness. :)

New Hay!!! The good, the bad, and lessons learned

2011-10-20T13:35:00.000-05:00

Things here in NE Texas are not ideal for keeping a horse right now. Lack of rain and good temperatures have no grass growing at all. Hay is in short supply and is VERY expensive. I feel worse for people in other parts of Texas because they have it much worse, but still ... it's not a nice situation we're in.

Fortunately, thanks to my Aunt Karen, I was able to get in touch with a hay guy up in Little Rock, AR. After a month of plotting, planning, and co-ordinating, I was able to hire a truck to drive up to Little Rock, and bring 34 bales round bales of Bermuda grass (with some sage grass) home. There were 4 people who went in on this load, and it worked out great. The truck driver, Jaice, with Sheffield Trucking, sent me this picture of our hay before we hit the road heading our way.

Now that is a pretty sight! A load of fresh cut bermuda!!

As you can imagine, the horses were also VERY excited about the new hay. To stretch till the hay truck came, I had them on minimal hay rations and grain. In the past, I've never had to worry much with the Belgians on changing food and what not. The drafts seem to just handle that stuff very well. So, I put out a round bale, and the horses went to town on it. They were all very happy, and I was too. Things were great ... or so I thought.

Yesterday I came home to find Nellie laying down. I noted that half of the round bale was gone (in 1 day). I walked out into the pasture and she stayed laying down. She wasn't rolling or anything, just laying. While looking at her, Pam laid down next to her. This was odd to me. I took the picture below:

Nellie and Pam laying down, with upset stomachs

I got on the phone with some friends to brush up on my knowledge of colic. I was told to watch for rolling and thrashing, and to also watch for them to bite at, or kick at their bellies. The horses didn't seem to be in pain, so I went about my daily routine and just kept an eye on them. As the afternoon/evening passed on, I noticed Nellie was laying down more often than standing.

At 8:30PM I went out to check on the horses, and Nelle was not doing so well. She had abrasions on her whithers, hips, and the sides of her neck and head from rolling/thrashing on the ground. She was moaning with each exhale, and she kept bumping her belly with her nose. At this point, I knew things were not well, and I called the Vet.

I got a halter on Nellie, and was able to coax her into standing. I then led her out, and was walking around with her a bit while we waited for the Vet to arrive. The vet took a look at her, and noted that she had a raised pulse, and that her gut sounds were not well. He gave her a minor sedative, and then administered bantamine into her vein. Within minutes she was breathing easier, and calming down. She decided to lay down at this point, and laid flat on her side. The vet told me that the next step would be to tube her to check her stomach contents. He did that, and out came a gallon of gross smelling watery stuff. It also relieved a lot of gas. He told us that the gut sounds, plus the stomach contents led him to believe she was in the beginning stages of an impact colic, and that we're lucky to have caught it early. From what I understand, impact is where you get a total blockage and this requires surgery to fix.

Nellie was calm and easy to work with. I think it was 60% on board drugs, and 40% her desire to be made well that made her easy to work with. My horse that hates needles was just fine with all the injections that were being made. I was shocked.

The Vet added a gallon or so of water, and a gallon of mineral oil to her stomach. He then told me that my job was to keep her moving for the next 2 hours. He said I could do that by walking her, or by loading her in the trailer and driving around. Due to the price of fuel, I opted for the first. He also told us to pull the horses off the hay, and only let them eat it a few hours a day for the next week. He also instructed us to give grain daily with 1 cup of mineral oil added for all horses. He wasn't too concerned about Pam, and said that the mineral oil in the grain will help her, and if she did get worse, to call and we'd do the same thing we did with Nellie. We thanked the vet for coming out, and I went to work walking Nellie.

She walked very easily. She never fought me and kept her head right near me. Pam was still in the field laying down a bit, so I decided to keep them all walking. I opened the pasture gate, and walked out to pasture with Nellie. All the other horses followed. I then shut the gate, keeping them away from the hay. Then the 2 hours of walking started. I just did laps around the pasture. Over, and over, and over again. Nellie was awesome and followed my lead. She never complained or acted up at all. I think she must have made some kind of connection between me and the fact that she was no longer in pain. At one point I stopped to turn on the hose and fill up a bucket of water, and she stood perfectly still in the pasture, and waiting for me to return. She was calm and seemed to be on the rebound.

One interesting side note ... all the mares followed Nellie. I was essentially walking the herd. Nellie is alpha, and Pam and Whinnie followed behind her. Then there was Buck. He was the boy. Ever since a nice blog article by Bob Skelding (the wagonteamster), I pay attention to how the herd acts. Last night, the girls all fell in line, following Nellie. Then buck ran around the entire pasture, kicking and bucking, with his head down. It was interesting to watch. He'd be grazing somewhere, then suddenly I'd hear the thunder of hooves, and here he'd come, running at full speed bucking occasionally. At one point, he ran close to Nellie, and then he stopped about 10 feet on front of her. I then learned that a lead mare who isn't feeling good can still flip 180 degrees around me in an instant, and deliver a 2 footed cow kick to a gelding who is acting out. :) Buck was much less crazy after that. LOL.

At about 1:30 AM, Nellie had to stop for a potty break, and I noticed the oil working it's way out. YAY! That made me very happy about things. I was scared of a blockage. After the 2 hours was up, we gave her another dose of the mild sedative to help her through the rest of the night, and then I went to bed. By that point, I was walking like I was drunk. My legs were worn our, and I was a tired boy. Walking straight for 2 hours is not something I'm used to.

This morning all the horses were up and grazing on what grass they can find in the pasture. They all seem to be well. I'm very relieved. Hopefully we're done with it.

Lessons Learned: Even draft horses can colic from feed changes. The Vet said this was caused by them eating too much of a new feed too fast. When changing hays, you should not allow a horse to have free access to it. Work them into it for a week first so their body can get used to the changes in the grasses. I won't be making this mistake again. The old farmers tale that draft horses aren't suseptable to this is FALSE!

Horse Rescue/Extraction Seminar

2011-10-08T22:29:00.004-05:00

Today was an awesome day. Today the saddle club I belong to (Easy Rider Saddle Club) put on a Large Animal Rescue/Extraction Seminar. The loss of my horse Lily a year and a half ago was one of the reasons our saddle club decided to purchase the equipment needed to safely and efficiently extract a large animal from a sinkhole or quicksand. There was a newspaper article on it, and it featured Lily's story. (Click HERE to view the blog entry for this event).

This Ad was run in the Greenville Herald Banner on 9/30/2011

The clinic was taught by Brooke Vrany and David Beard of Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Lisbon, MD. They are part of one of the biggest and well run large animal emergency rescue organizations in the country (well, I don't know that for sure, but I know they are at least the biggest and well run in MD). :)

We had a classroom session, that basically covered 3 main topics; Large Animal Rescue Equipment, Horse Physiology and Behavior, and the Emergency Rope Halter and Lead Line. I sat like a sponge absorbing the information. It was very well done, and the kind of information that leaves a horseman feeling that they understand just a little bit more about their horses. I definitely learned some things that made me see ways to improve my own training and every day handling of horses.

The second half of the day was spent at Cedar Creek Run (Thank you Connie for letting us come over!!). We did a more "hands on" afternoon. My horse Buck (Lily's son) was used as our practice horse. I took Rachael as well, just in case they needed a horse that would not care at all where it was touched. I'm still learning Buck's personality, so I brought Rachael as a backup. However, Buck was amazing, and we didn't even use Rachael.

David Beard and Brooke Vrany, using Buck to explain some things about horse physiology

To start off, David took Buck to the side and sacked him out (worked him and made sure he was desensitized to ropes and was going to behave well for the demo). David is an AMAZING trainer. I'm sure Brooke was saying something important, but my eyes were focused on David and Buck. It's like watching a master carpenter work with wood, or an artist work magic with paint. I watched as Buck learned and reacted to David. It was soooo cool. In no time, Buck was responding to the simplest of pressure from David, and he wasn't spooking much at all. In what seemed like 15 minutes, David had buck moving his feet with no or very little pressure even on the halter. he would move his body and hands, and Buck would respond. I hope to be like that someday.

David and Brooke

Brooke showing us more about horse physiology

Brooke did some hands on stuff with Buck to show us more about horse physiology, and things that need to be considered when the need to move a downed horse should arise. Brooke is sharp and really has a great command at this subject.

Up next was one of the neatest things I've learned in a while. David and Brooke showed us how to use a single piece of rope to tie and emergency rope halter. I could not believe how simple it was. It worked so good. That went right into this old noggin of mine, and you can bet I'll pull that trick out when I can.

Brooke showing how to tie an emergency halter from a single piece of rope

After that, Brooke amazed us with showing us how to use a single rope and tie a rope sling on Buck. A rope sling can be done very easily, and is great for simple and short lifts. All you need is a long piece of rope. It was very cool. After that, we fit Buck with the new sling that the saddle club purchased. We got some pictures of it. Buck filled it out well. :)

Buck modeling our rescue sling


Anne Sides and Brooke putting the sling together on the ground. Me and Buck in the back ground.

One of the highlights for me was talking with David afterwards. I felt like I was trying to absorb as much information as I could. I asked him all about how he worked Buck, and some of his philosophies. I really really like his training style. I mentioned how I was struggling a little with Buck getting him in the trailer. He volunteered to show me how he does it after the clinic was over. All I can say is ... WOW! In 10 minutes, he had Buck self loading. David would walk to the back of the trailer, toss the lead rope over his back, and up and in Buck went. I was completely impressed!

We even got to eat dinner with David and Brooke tonight. It was so fun. I really like them and am so glad I got the chance to meet them. I plan on staying in touch with them both.

After I got home, I let the horses out, and decided to give them some feed before I let them back in with the herd. They definitely earned it. I let them just stand there with their lead ropes and enjoy a meal. I'm sure it was nice to not have Nellie or Rosie pushing them off the food.

Buck and Rachael after a long day

Buck

Rachael

Here's a funny shot I took during feedtime. Something has my horses acting very wierd lately. They are sharing feed. I happened to catch this picture to prove it happens.

Rita and Pam, sharing a feed bucket. Whinny cleaning up some scraps.

Also, here's a picture I took a few days ago. Is it possible to get 5 mares and a filly to share a bale of hay? Not usually ... but I guess when the stars line up just right, anything can happen. I managed to snap this picture to prove it happens. :)

5 mares and a little lady, all sharing the same bale of hay. I draw some funny images in my head when I think of what they might be talking about. You may notice that Buck is NOT welcome to eat with them. :)

Maybe this drought we are going through is making my horses be friends or something. I've never seen them so passive towards each other. It's almost as if the family is all getting along. Crazy! :)

#9 Mower Update

2011-09-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

Had to use penetrating oil to get the sickle bar to come down

Lifting assembly

Bottom part of sickle bar

Some of the parts I've removed.

tool box


Mower partly disassembled

Originally this part of the pitman was stuck on the pitman flywheel.

Lifting gear removed

I did some work last night. The next pictures show more of it's current state

I was able to get the pitman arm off

Mower with tongue

I currently have it back together. Pretty exciting.

After last night, I now have a tongue on it

So here's what it needs.

The wheels do not click when they roll backwards, instead, the entire axyl moves. This is not good. I need to pull the wheels and get the hubs un-stuck. When a mower rolls backwards, there are some pawls in the hub that allow the wheel to spin backwards freely. Only way to solve this is to pull the wheels.
I will need an entirely new pitman arm. The metal peices I have are pitted and worn so bad that I don't think I'll be able to salvage them. 10+ years of sitting in the dirt is not good to metal.
I will need a new sickle bar and teeth. The ones on it are worn out.
PAINT! I'm going to paint it back to it's original colors.

Not too shabby though. It's been fun to work on it. I'm going to enjoy using it.

Not much to tell, but an update none the less.

2011-09-25T19:40:00.000-05:00

Temps are finally cooling down! HOORAY!!!

Today I did some work on my mower. I was able to get more of it broken down, and was able to take a peak at the gears. I'm very excited. No shavings. The gears look good. I thought the clutch may be stuck engaged, but found out that it was the lowring mechanism that was holding the clutch in. Once I figured that out, I was able to check the gear action. Everything is tight, and turning nicely. This was great news!

I promise that tomorrow I will get some pictures. It was dark when I thought about it, so I didn't grab any. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of where I'm at and what I've done so far.

The herd is doing well. Buck is fitting in very nicely. The mares make him mind his manners, but are accepting him now. He, of course, helps this by staying out of their way. I have a happy herd, and that is a plus.

Right now I'm trying to find hay. It is scarce. I'm looking towards Arkansas and Mississippi to see if I can find it priced well enough to justify a road trip with a 40 foot trailer. If anyone reads this and knows of anything, let me know. I'd surely appreciate it (as will the horses). :)

I'm also looking for a yoder stock. It's times like these that I wish I lived up in Amish country. I think I may have to use my networking skills to get one. We'll see how it goes.

I'm confirmed to do Christmas wagon rides this Christmas again on Park Street in Greenville, TX. I'm very happy to be doing that. It's a lot of fun.

That's it for now. I'll post some pictures of the mower tomorrow.

An update ... at long last!

2011-09-05T21:19:00.002-05:00

If any of you have followed the weather here in Texas this year, you will know that we have experienced heat like we've never seen. The past 3 months has been over 100 degrees outside. I think they said 68 days of 100+ degree temps, with 45 days in a row at one point. Needless to say, we have basically been hibernating inside in the A/C. I haven't worked the horses at all, and have been making sure they had electrolytes in their water, and plenty of feed/water to get them through the hot temps.

I haven't done any blog updates, because I really haven't done anything with the horses. Now that I think on it though, I probably have a lot to say to get y'all up to date on things here. In the name of a shorter blog, I'm going to hit a few bullets and say stuff about them.

More Land
This summer my in-laws bought 12 acres of land adjacent to mine. As soon as it was purchased, I fenced it off, and my horses now have ~16 acres to graze on. This could not have come at a better time. The heat has stopped all my natural grasses from growing, and being able to open up 10 more acres of land to the horses was a God sent. This enabled me to not have to purchase hay for a bit longer, which is always a good thing. My in-laws will soon be moved up and will be my neighbors. We're looking forward to having family around and all the fun that entails

Hay/Feed
Hay prices have gone through the roof. I have never seen hay prices like they are now. Before I needed hay, I remember hearing horrid tales that out west of Ft. Worth people were paying $120 for round bales. I couldn't believe that. When it came time to check on hay for myself, I found it going for $75. It has continued to go up and up. Not a good time to have to be on full time hay. Luckily my best friend Bev and Mark and I have been working together to get hay for all our horses. Thus far, nobody has gone hungry yet. Hopefully we can keep that going.

Besides hay, the heat has hampered the soybean crop, and so feed has gone up as well. I normally buy a 12% protein pellet for around 7 bucks a bag. Last time I bought it, it was at 10. Suddenly my wallet is really feeling the horses we have! I am very fortunate for Mark and Bev though. Bev is an awesome woman with coupons galore and is finding great deals on feed. I have to say that without her help, my horses would be much skinnier than they are. I love you Bev!!!!

#9 Regular Gear Mower
That's right ... I found a mower. I was trying to hold out for a #9 high gear, but decided I might as well get what I could. Options aren't very good here in TX. A friend of mine found this mower at a salvage yard. Someone had brought it in. The owner of the place was hesitant on melting down an antique like this, so he sold it to my friend for the price of scrap. I got it and have begun working on it. I have some pictures, and now that I think on it more, I think I'll do a separate blog post on the mower. I'm real excited to get this thing going and be able to cut the grass in my own fields.

McCormick Deering/International Harvestor #9 Regular Gear

All parts are accounted for. Time to get it working.

Lily's Buckshot comes home
This one probably deserves it's own post as well. I'll summarize here. My beloved mare Lily, had a colt 3 1/2 years ago. Lily's buckshot was his name, and if you look back through the blog, you can find posts on him. I sold him at 5 months old to some awesome people. I've stayed in touch throughout the years. I received a call last week that times were rough, and their life had taken a turn for the worse. They needed to find Buck a new home, and I was given the chance to get him. I jumped at it, and got him home. He looks so much like Lily. As I brushed him and groomed him I felt a rare charge of emotion in the hole in my heart from the loss of Lily. Buck is not Lily, but having him has made me feel good again. Funny how the heart works like that. (Added a page for Buck HERE)

Lily's Buckshot. 3 1/2 year old Belgian gelding.

He seems sweet. We'll see how he works.

Today's work
Today the temps were down in the 80s. I could not have a day like this and not work outside. Needless to say, the first thing I did was pull each horse out of the pasture and groom them properly, including fly spray. All the drafts were great for me. I even had a friend help me catch Whinnie (my buckskin filly). This is the second time she's been worked with a lead rope, and it was a fabulous day. She got wormed, shots (including strangles), and brushed and groomed galore. She let me pick her feet all out, and then we even worked on trailer loading. After the 3rd approach, she was following me in the trailer without any hesitation. Whinnie is an amazing girl. She's completely docile and I just love her. I think she's going to make a great saddle horse for my wife and Riley when she's old enough. It was a great day, and wonderful to get my hands on the horses.

My poor Rachaels feet!

2011-07-05T21:45:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I got invited to go for a horseback ride with my riding club (Easy Riders Saddle Club). It's been a bit since I went horseback riding, and so I thought it would be a great idea. Of course, my trusty steed for such occasions is Rachael.

If y'all recall, I've been really fighting a good fight to keep Rachael's feet in good shape. She's been in shoes for the past 9 months, and she does wonderful on shoes. Well, a few weeks back, the farrier came out, and the walls of her hooves looked good and strong, so we decided to try and keep her barefoot. I prefer my horses to be barefoot, and my wallet also prefers it! :)

As I called her up out of the pasture she was walking fine. I got to the place, unloaded and saddled her up. Everything was looking good, then I cleaned her hooves. I was shocked. She is carrying all of her weight right on the sole of her hoof. The sole, with is supposed to angle upward towards the frog, was instead flat with the ground, and looking very worn. A friend from the saddle club took this picture for me. Here's what I'm dealing with. The orange area on the bottom of the foot in the picture is her sole. You can see the sidewall just beyond it, and it will not get long enough to hold any of the weight, it constantly chips up. The frog and sole are both flat with just two small gaps between them.

Front Left hoof. Toe at the bottom of the screen.

When I tried to ride her, I got 50 feet away from the trailer before I noticed that Rachael was limping on both the front and rear end. I felt so bad for her. I instantly stopped, dismounted, and walked her back to the trailer. Looks like I'm going to have to keep Rachael in shoes full time, or any time I want to use her. :(

The good news for the day was that my good friend Anne brought an extra horse, so I got to ride with the group on her mare Sugar. Sugar is a real fun ride. It felt weird to be on a small horse, but I really had a good time. I really enjoy riding with this club. Everyone is just fun to be around.

What a great group to ride with!

Another thing I did this weekend, was to visit my friend Bev. She had a new filly a few weeks back (last 4th of July her stallion taught her that he can clear a 5 foot pipe fence when the mood is right). As always, the baby is fabulous. The stallion is Vegas, and the mare is one of Bev's awesome bred Belgian mares. The result of these two can be seen in the pictures. Seeing this filly really made me excited about seeing how the Vegas foals I'm due to have next year turn out.

Sin - 2011 Double M Warhorse Ranch Filly

Another shot of Sin

Mark McGowan and Sin

Right now it's too hot to do much else. I did get out tonight and put my hands on Whinny (my yearling filly). She's such a docile horse. I can lift her hooves, and touch her anywhere but the nose. She's still a bit cautious with the nose, but we're working on it. She's an interesting girl. She'll stand a foot away from you with no worries, but when you reach out to touch her, she takes one step away. However, if you can pin her in a corner or something where she can't take a step away, then she'll let you do whatever you want without any care. I really like her and look forward to riding her in 2 years. :)

Tractor Pull

2011-06-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday was one of the most fun days I've had with my team all year. We had just barely gotten home from scout camp, so we were a bit worn out, but the events that unfolded that day are the kind of thing that just make a teamster smile.

The North Texas Antique Tractor and Engine Club was hosting a big event on Saturday and Sunday. Due to scout camp, I could not make it Saturday, but they wanted me to come down on Sunday. I got contacted by them thanks to my good friend Bev McGowan of the Double M Warhorse Ranch in Terrell, TX. The club was looking for a team of horses to do some pulling, and Bev referred them to me.

I was under the impression that I was going to be pulling some type of antique farm equipment, similar to what I did at the Paris TX Antique Tractor Show. Little did I know the fun that waited.

I arrived at 10:45. Tractor Supply had provided a round pen, and Bev was there with 2 of her Clydesdale mares. People were coming over and petting them and the kids especially were in heaven. I got Rachael and Pam unloaded, brushed and prettied up, and they soon had a stall up front. People started coming by, and I loved watching the reaction people had when they realized how gentle and kind these huge horses are. One older gentleman kept coming back and was really enjoying Rachael. I took pictures for him with him and Rachael nose to nose.

Rachael and Pam enjoyed a nice shady pen with hay and water.

The tractor club president came over, thanked me for coming, and said that I'd be pulling a sled at 1PM. I was thinking a sled like my training sled I use. I then found out that there were going to be quite a few people there to watch me. At the time I didn't understand why people would be lining up to watch me pull a sled, but I came here for the club, so I was going to do what they wanted.

Rachael and Pam, getting fly spray. Bev's Clydes are in the background.

At noon I started harnessing the girls up. They looked gorgeous. Soon after we started driving to where the sled was located. It was on the far side of the event, and I hadn't seen it yet. While driving the girls over there, I actually let my son take a turn at the lines. He ground drove the girls really well. I really enjoy sharing this hobby of mine with him. He seems to enjoy it too.

When I turned the corner, I couldn't believe my eyes. There in front of me, was someone hosing down a long dirt path. At the end of it, was a big tractor pull sled. I'd only ever seen them on TV. It was the kind with wheels on the back, and as the wheels turn, weight slides forward, putting more weight on the nose of the sled and thus making it a harder pull. THIS was the sled I was going to pull. I drove the girls over, and tied them, and began talking with the man in charge.

I can't say enough about that "hook the tugs together" trick. :) Thanks Pat!!!

Apparently the tractors had all pulled the day before, and on this day, they wanted to see what a team of draft horses could do. He asked me how much weight my girls could pull, and I told him that I honestly did not know. I'd never done anything to test them like this. I was grinning ear to ear. This was going to be a new adventure, and I was loving it. There were bleachers set up, and I estimate that around 100 people were there. We started working out how we were going to hook the horses up to the sled. Luckily I brought my double tree, and the tractor club had a clevis big enough to hook up to it. While the tree was getting attached, an announcer started talking, and he came over and had me talk about my team. I gave the crowd a brief run-down on their breed, age, weight, and how long I'd been working them. They were very curious and asked me lots of good questions. Soon though, the double tree was secure, and we were ready for the horses.

This is the sled we pulled. Very cool!

Setting up the double tree and figure out how to hook it up.

At this point the guys in charge came over and were discussing what gear to put the sled in. At first, they wanted to put it in first gear (the easiest) and then if we did that well, we'd move up to the 2nd gear. Another guy had an opinion that he just wanted to start in 2nd gear, and so that's what we ended up doing.

Talking with the guys in charge about how to do things.

This is where I brag on my horses. :) I grabbed the lines, and drove the girls up into position. They were stepping perfectly. I backed them up to the tree, and they were so light on their feet and easy. If I asked for one more step, they gave it and only the one step. They were calm, relaxed, and no excited at all. When I said to stand, they did, and it was awesome! When you have a team like that, it makes them look fabulous, and makes the teamster look pretty good too.

Walking up into position

Hitching up

Stepping forward to get the slack out of the cables

Once hooked up, I eased them a few steps forward to get the slack out of the cables hooking us to the tractor pull sled. Then I threw the lines over my shoulder, and asked the girls to step up. And step up they did. We were off! The girls were pulling real nice ... until!!! Remember how I said someone was hosing down the track? Well ... hosing a track down does not work well for horses. The girls hit that spot, and lost their footing. Since only the first inch or so of ground was wet, their feet were sliding all over. I stopped the girls, and they stood perfectly. Calm and quietly. Such good horses!

Here they are stepping out. A few steps more and they hit the mud.

Stopped after losing footing in the mud.

At this point the main tractor pull guy proposed a new idea to me. He said that he would move the sled 5 feet to the side, so that it was on the grass. This way the horses would have traction the entire length of the pull. So they pulled the sled back into position, and I drove the girls back around to hook up for our second attempt. Once again, as the pictures prove ... the girls were perfect!

Hitching up for our second attempt

Once again, we stepped off. This time we were in 1st gear, and the horses had no problems with 1st gear. They pulled the sled the entire length of the track, and we stopped. At this point, the coolest thing happened. I heard the roar of the crowd. They cheered loud. I've never heard that before and it was actually pretty cool. I turned and looked, and the crowd was smiling and clapping. It was great.

Stopped after pulling the full length of the track.

Since we aced the 1st gear, we reset, and attempted our third pull. This would be in the sled's 2nd gear. We got hitched up, and off we went. It was awesome to watch the girls pull for me. The load got heavier and heavier, and the girls were doing awesome at working together to bear it. They gave it their all, and they eventually slowed and slowed until they were done. Once done, they stood perfectly and waited for further instruction from me.

Hitching up for our 3rd and final attempt

The crowd cheered loud for them, and I get the feeling they kind of knew they'd impressed some people. The judge came up and told me that we pulled 104 feet. He then informed me that we out pulled a number of tractors from the previous day. I was grinning ear to ear. My team had out pulled some of the very tractors that were created to replace them. I was content and very satisfied.

After this, I let my son ground drive the girls back to the pens, and they stood wonderfully while snacking on some delicious alfalfa cubes. People started walking over again and telling the girls how good they did.

It was a wonderful day! I had a great time. It was a nice relaxing day with the horses. Much needed after the previous 3 days of pulling a wagon all day long.

I should also brag on my pal Bev. She made me some business cards. I was so flattered. They have the picture of me with her black and white Clydesdale. They call me "The Green Teamster - Training Hitch Horses" They had all my contact info and the address to this blog. It was kind of cool. They came in handy too, because people were asking how to get in touch with me, and it was very convenient to hand them a card. I wouldn't call myself a hitch horse trainer, but I am very flattered that Bev thinks so highly of me. Thanks BEV!!!!

Teaching the Boy Scouts

2011-06-14T19:15:00.001-05:00

I had an awesome opportunity last week. I went camping with Boy Scouts from wednesday till saturday. This was not just any scout camp, this was a "High Adventure" camp. What this means, is that it's only for boys age 14-18 and they get to do lots of really fun stuff that is more dangerous then just earning a merit badge. They had shotgun shooting, mountain biking, canoeing/kayaking, matchless firestarting, orienteering, and horses. Typically the horse group would just be horse riding, but not when my good friend Chuck Whitlock is in charge. The camp took place on an actual working ranch, and the horse area was located at the calf working area. We happily made use of the shade the big pole barn type enclosure gave, and all the traps around it came in handy for keeping the horses and the calves happy as can be.

Rachael and Pam hooked to my forecart.

Chuck is as good a man as they come. He has taught me a lot about being a teamster in the short time I've been doing it. He contacted me six months back, and asked if I would be willing to take part in this scout camp. He decided that he wanted to do things that these boys will probably never do again. What he came up with, was to have 2 mini-events. The first, was me, teaching the boys how to drive, and then using my horses and actually letting the boys drive horses. The second event was roping, with the finale of the fun being that the boys would get to try roping a real calf.

The roping area. Roping dummies, and a simulator too.

I decided that I was going to bring my 3 belgians down on the trip, and that I was going to use my wagon and just load up all the boys, and swap them out every so often once on the trail. I got some great insight into this from a great yahoo group I belong to. I was going to use Pam and Rachael for the boys to drive, and then use Nellie as a model of the Belgian breed.

Nellie tied in the round pen getting attention from a boy scout.

We were set up very nice. We had a nice round pen that I kept the horses tied in when they were on break from the wagon. The place had running water and power. We were very comfortable.

So here's how my agenda for each group went.

The Belgian Horse. I gave the boys the history of the horse and how the breed came to be. I also used Nellie as a model to point out the characteristics of a Belgian.
Harness. I used Pam or Rachael as a model for this part. I introduced the boys to all the major components in a harness, and explained what the various parts did. I applied the KISS (keep it simple stupid!) theory, and so mostly I just taught them about gas(collar/hame/tugs), brake(breast strap/quarter straps/breeching), and steering(bridle/lines).
Steering - bit pressure and line pressure. To introduce the boys to how a horse is driven and controlled, I played a game with them. I had extra bits, and rope tied to both sides. I made the boys pair up, and one boy held the bit in front of him in his hands, while the other was behind him, essentially driving him. I gave the boys with the bits strict instruction not to move if they didn't feel the proper communication throught he bit. It was cool to watch the boys figure out how steering a horse worked. I also taught them driving commands during this. The boys learned "Step Up, Woah, Back, Gee, and Haw".
Wagon Driving. The entire group loaded up on my wagon, and I drove them out to an empty pasture. I then let them take turns driving in the pasture. I gave them directions as to where I wanted them to go so that they really had to make the horses listen. The last boy would drive most the way back, then I would take over and bring us back in.

The boy in front holds the bit, the boy behind practices his line tension.

Rachael and Pam waiting for the next wagon ride.

We did 6 groups a day, for 3 days. I estimate the girls were under wagon about 40 minutes every hour and a half. They got worked well. It was hot as could be, so I was giving them electrolytes with their grain.

A beautiful open field for driving. One of the scouts is driving here.

A happy bunch of guys!

It went so well, and I got to see the seeds being planted in a few future teamsters. Most of the kids thought it was cool, and had a good time. But there were a handful that just got it. They caught the fire, and loved it. It also happened that the boys that got it, were the ones that did the best when driving the horses. They had the touch ... that instinct to communicate well with the horses through the lines. It was a great thing to be a part of.

Working Rosie: feeling a bit defeated

2011-06-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had the evening in front of me with plenty of daylight left. It was 95 degrees, but cooling down. Sounds perfect for another training session with Rosie. That is about the most upbeat I may sound about the night. I'm feeling a bit defeated.

She was easy to halter, and walked willingly out with me. Then we did some ground work. Disengage the rear end, check; flex the neck, no problem; lunge either way, you got it. She did everything with ease for me. I was getting pretty excited, thinking that we'd maybe come to an understanding.

I had her harnessed without a problem. Things were going great.


Looking good in the harness

The plan for tonight was simple. I was going to just ground drive her alone. If things progressed well, I figured I might try hooking up a single tree and dragging a tire, but overall, I wanted to see her ground drive and acknowledge my commands. I replaced her bit with one of my liverpool bits, and I put my lines in the furthest hole away from the bit. If she decided to do her own thing tonight, it was not going to be easy.

We started off okay. She stepped off just fine. But when she felt the bit tension in her mouth, she immediately started getting nervous. I told her woah, and she stopped really well. I was praising her and letting her know how well she was doing. Also, tonight I was pretty mild spoken with her. I was purposely talking with a firm but calm voice to try and help her succeed.

That first drive away from the house was the best driving she did. After that, she refused to do it again. She would not step forward, and instead kept trying to spin her butt around to look at me or the other horses. The liverpool bit did great at helping me keep her head where I wanted it, but she would still throw her body all the way around. I've never seen a horse do this. She nearly fell over 2 times from her twisting her body without moving her head. When she would stop, I would make sure to emphasize the woah command, and then praise her for standing still.

How I have taught to step forward for all 4 of my horses in the past was to give the command, and constantly put pressure on the butt, until they step forward, then I stop the pressure. Rosie would not learn this. I was smacking her on the but and instead of going forward away from it, she would twist and keep backing. There were a few times where she did step forward, just a step. I quickly let off the pressure, and praised her. She could not make the connection though. Sooo frustrating. She finally refused to move at all. I sat there tapping her butt constantly for 10 minutes and she refused to budge, even when I got harsher and harsher.

At this point, I decided that if she wasn't going to even try to drive for me, that she was getting a work out a different way. I wrapped the lines around the hame balls, and led her with the lead line. We did tight circles both left and right for 30+ minutes straight with no breaks. round and round and round we went. After 30 minutes she was almost walking drunk, so I decided it was break time. I tied her to the telephone pole at this point, and she was soaked.

A tired sweaty mess

At this point, I gave her a 15 minute break. I wasn't sure what to do. Either she is completely stubborn and masks it well (I did not get the vibe from her tonight that she was being head strong, I got the clueless vibe from her), or she is all beauty and no brains. I called a friend and rattled off the events to see what she thought. One idea she had was to give her a break, and then try again. Now that she'd really worked hard, give her the chance to do what I wanted. I decided that was a good idea. I first offered her some water, but she declined the offer.

I led her away from the other horses, facing away from them, and stood behind her. "Rosie, Step Up" I said, and followed it with clicks. She instantly tried to turn and face me. I held her head and tapped her butt, but she would not stop backing and turning. Round and round and round and down she went. I could not let her back, because my feed shed was nearby, so I tried to keep her head facing the way I wanted. She kept twisting her rear end around till she fell down. I was in awe. I have never ever seen this happen before. I have never had a horse that could not make the connection that when they step forward, the pressure stops and the praising starts. She then laid there, not moving. She looked defeated, and made me feel like I'm abusing her or something. I pulled out my phone and snapped this picture.

And down she went

At this point, I kind of gave up. The only thing I can think to help teach her how to step off, is to have me with the lines behind her, and someone else leading her at the same time. She leads perfect, she lunges perfect, yet she cannot make the connection that the same command I use in lunging and leading means to step off here. Like I said, either she is really dumb, or she is a stubborn horse that masks it well.

At this point I pulled on the lead line, and she stood up. I then did 5 minutes of easy leading and tied her. (wanted to end on some kind of a good note). I unhitched her, and spend a good 15 minutes brushing her, grooming her, and just loving on her. She stood perfectly, and seemed to enjoy the attention.

All done, and looking pretty

So here I am. I don't know what to do now. I'm feeling very defeated, and am scared that somehow, unbeknown to me, I'm ruining this horse. I talked to her owners last night, and 2 years ago she was at a TDHMA event and Bob Lewis was praising this horse and her sister as great hitch horses. 2 years later, and I'm seeing this. I'm really feeling like this horse needs more than I can offer. I'm really at a loss. I guess it's just time to talk to others I know and trust and see what more I can do. I really hate this feeling.

Working Rosie: My first run-away

2011-06-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

Last night I decided to work Rosie alone. I decided that I was going to do some ground work with her, and go from there.

I started with just some basic desensitizing stuff (whipping the end of the long lead line all over her lightly). She did perfect with this. Then I flexed her neck a bit and she gave to me very easily. I worked with her on disengaging her rear end, and she did well with that. Then I lunged her. She didn't know what I was doing, but she picked up quick on what I wanted. I should note that I don't have a round pen, so when I lunge, it's out in the open. I'm really REALLY going to appreciate a round pen when I get one. ;) But she did wonderful and I was impressed by how smart she was at figuring out what I wanted of her. She moved well and I had her trotting around me in no time. She also stopped very well for this too. I did this for about 30 minutes (seemed like forever), and she did so well I figured that we'd do some harness work.

When I started leading Rosie to the spot where I tie them, I could feel her resisting. She would stop, but give in to pressure on the lead line within a second. I tied her, then I went and got Rachael, my best trained mare and brought her up.

I harnessed the horses, and Rosie actually stood very well for it. I was impressed. She wasn't trying to get away or anything. Things were looking good. I hooked them together with a yoke, and hooked their butts together, and had the lines on them. All was going perfect.

We started ground driving next. Going forward was great. The first time I said whoa and stopped, Rosie threw it into reverse. Rachael stayed put, and so Rosie couldn't get far. It took me a good minute to get her to stand still though. Once I got her to stop, I sat there, praising her, making sure she knew what Woah meant. Then we stepped off again and she did perfectly. We stopped again 100 feet later, and the same thing, but this time she only tried to go backwards for a few seconds before she stopped. Progress!

We drove out 1/2 mile away from the house in the pasture, and by the time we got 1/2 mile away, she was stopping really well with Rachael. I was grinning, and all was well. This is what it's supposed to be like.

THEN ... we turned around to head back. Rosie knows the pasture, and when we turned around, she knew we were headed back. She decided that she wanted to trot. I kept the lines tight, and successfully got her to walk with Rachael. Then we tried to stop again. Nope, not happening. She would not stand still. It seemed that she had 2 gears, forward and reverse. When I said woah, reverse kicked in. This kept me busy on my feet keeping behind the horses who were turning circles because Rosie would not stop walking backwards. And I have to praise Rachael here for doing what I asked. She stood her ground as best she could.

I was in a vicious cycle, because I would smack her on the butt to stop her from going backwards, and then she'd start to trot forward. Then she'd feel the bit tighten up and I'd say woah, and she'd hit reverse again. I finally decided I just needed to walk them back to the house. Walk would have been what I wanted, but Rosie was too amped to get back to the house. She was trying her best to trot. I kept pressure on the lines, and Rachael was walking for me, but it was a struggle. Then we turned the corner and the other horses were in sight.

At this point, Rosie started prancing and pulling for all she was worth. I was hanging on tight and trying to get them to stop, but it was not going to happen. Even with my heels dug in the ground and pulling back for all I was worth, she started galloping, and would not listen to any of my commands. I could feel the lines slipping through my grip, and before I knew it, the end of the lines slipped through my gloves and they were off. They ran in a full gallop towards the other horses with the lines dragging behind them.

I have never felt so helpless in my life. I sat there watching and praying that they would not injure themselves. They ran a good 1/4 mile, right up to the corner of the fence and stopped, wedged in the corner of the pasture. Luckily they stayed right there (Thanks to Rita walking up and bumping noses with Rosie). I got to them, and unhooked Rosie from everything. I then led Rosie to a nearby telephone pole, and I tied her to it. She was a sweaty mess.

Then I went back to my Rachael. She was standing there, and didn't move a muscle. She honestly looked a little scared, and she perked right up when I grabbed the lines and drove her back to the house. I unhitched her and turned her back out. Meanwhile Rosie was having a fit. She was rearing back, and trying for all she was worth to get untied. So ... I kept her tied. I did walk out and take her bridle off, because I didn't want her snagging the bit and hurting herself.

At this point, I had a cold drink. I was sweating profusely, and my skin felt a little chilly. I recognized these as the signs that heat stroke was near. It was only 90 degrees out. ;) I guess getting drug behind a horse that doesn't want to walk for 1/4 mile has a way of really taking it out of you. I took a short break and caught my breath.

Rosie was a stressed out mess when I went back out to her. She was dripping with sweat. However, she wasn't fighting the lead rope anymore. She seemed happy to see me, and walked with no problem back to be tied and unharnessed.

So now, I'm trying to restrategize how I'm going to do this. I'm not sure I'll have these girls ready in a month. At this point, I'm not sure what to think. My experience thus far has been that drafts listen well, and try their best to follow instructions (as best they understand them). I've never had a horse flat out try and run away from me while in harness. It's a bit alarming to me. Now, I think if she was out away from home, she wouldn't do that due to her not knowing where home is. However, she shouldn't be doing that anyway. At this poing I'm feeling a little defeated. What she needs is someone who can work her every day, and break her of her bullheadedness. I can't put that kind of time into her. I also can't decide if she ran back because of being barn sour, or if it was separation anxieties from being away from her sister Rita.

Anyone have any advice? I am now reluctant to hitch her to Rachael again, because I do not want anything to happen to Rachael. Basically, I'm looking at a horse that lunges well, and does everything I ask in ground work, but then under harness, she doesn't listen and does what she wants. How do you handle a horse like that? How do you break that? Looks like I need to hit the books. As always ... feedback is welcome and appreciated. If you don't want to respond via the blog, feel free to email with thoughts. I'm really scratching my head on this one.

Working Rosie and Rita

2011-05-31T08:15:00.000-05:00

I decided to take on a job for my good friend Bev. Her mares Rosie and Rita are staying with me, and since they are already here, the decision was made for me to work them. Bev told me that they were hitch trained, and that they really liked to work. I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to brush them up. The Texas Draft Horse and Mule Association (TDHMA) is having a field day on June 25th and the goal is to have these 2 mares ready for it.

Catching Rita was easy. She's real lovable and walked right up to me. She did not like to lead though. It took me 10 minutes to get her to walk to my hitching post. She would take a few steps and then just stop. How I handle this is to just wrap the lead rope half way around my waist and lean on it. I keep constant pressure on until she takes a step, then I release the pressure, keep walking, and praise her. It works, but it can take a while when the horse is being stubborn. Rita stood pretty good though while tied. An occasional scrap of the ground with her front foot, but other than that, she was quiet and calm.

Catching Rosie was more like catching my mares when they don't want to be worked. We did 10 minutes of her trotting away from me, and me just always walking towards her. Once she stopped and let me halter her, she was easy to work with though. She leads fine, and really seems to tune into what I am asking of her. Standing tied though ... that was where she grew impatient. Thank God for good lead ropes and rope halters! :)

The girls were good for grooming, besides Rosie's occasional distaste at being tied. They were also very good for me when I harnessed them up. This took a bit of time because I was sizing their harnesses to them. Rosie let me bridle her very easily, and Rita fought me a bit on it. Once the bridles were on, they both sat there tonging their bits like they had no idea what it was. This had me curious on how well they were going to do.

Rosie. Looking really pretty in her harness.

Rosie and Rita. These are the biggest horses I've ever worked by myself.

Next I led them each individually with all the harness on. Always good to make sure that they are used to the noise the harness makes. Rosie did great. She would step off when I asked, and stop when I asked her to. Like I said before, she seemed to know the drill and would tune into me to see what I wanted. Rita, not so much. She would step off okay, but did not want to stop. She seemed more concerned with finding where Rosie was than on listening to me, so we did lots of circles. Woah is not one of her strong suites. And while dealing with her not wanting to listen, I could hear Rosie back at the trailer trying to become free. Lots of bangs and trailer noise and I was hoping that she wasn't hurting herself, or my trailer. When I got back, everything was in order. I then let the girls stand with the gear on for 15-30 minutes.

At this point, I was wondering what I should do next. They weren't showing me signs that they were completely hitch broke. They were also showing signs of pent up energy though. Part of my mind wondered if they just needed to get walking and that maybe they would relax and settle in and show me how good they could be. I decided to try and drive them together and see if they resembled the team Bev told me they were.

I yoked them together, and then hitched their butts together using the new (and soooo awesome) trick that Pat showed me. I got the lines put on, and then untied them from the trailer. The minute I started giving commands, the trouble started. I asked them to Gee up by putting a little pressure on the right line. They both went into reverse and would not stop. I was smacking their butts and giving commands but they did not listen. after 10 feet or so, they backed into my wife's Dodge Durango. (Sorry honey). Once they couldn't back anymore, they actually listened and walked forward.

I had a good 100 feet of good driving. They were walking side by side, and doing well. Then I asked them to stop. Rosie stopped fine, but Rita would not. She kept moving. This then got Rosie very nervous. She wanted to stop because I asked, but then she didn't want to be drug by Rita. Not a good combination. Eventually I got her to stop. But Rita did not want to stand. I started off again, and did a lot of accordion work (one horse standing while the other takes too steps, then the horse in front stopping, while the horse behind started walking.

At this point, I decided that I should not be working these horses together, because neither has a clue what I was asking them to do. I was putting them in a position to fail. I tried to get them to turn to the left, but as soon as they felt pressure on the bit, Rita decided to go backwards. Even with me on her butt she stepped back and rosie soon followed. I could not get them to step up only when they backed into the treeline did they stop. At this point, I was feeling like I had no control over them, so I decided to lead them back and not drive them. This went well till we were about 10 feet away from the trailer, then Rita decided to stop and not walking anymore. Soooo Annoying!!! Rosie was trying to pull her and do as I asked, but Rita was determined to be a stubborn horse.

I finally got her to move by throwing the end of the lead rope back to whip her butt, while still staying in front and in control. Not as easy as it sounds. I would have just unhitched them from each other, but I was alone, and did not trust them to stand while I unhitched them. We finally got back and I tied them, and then I let them stand for 30 minutes more. At this point though, they both stood well and relaxed. Rosie was sweating pretty good from the stress of trying to move Rita.

SO ... that was our first day. Definitely not how I had hoped it would go. Lessons were learned though. These horses need to be worked individually with a horse who knows what is going on first. I also learned that when training a horse, I need to start from scratch and go through the normal routines I have figured out first. I cannot just trust what people tell me and try to go on that. Always start with the basics and work up to where you want to be.

My arms were beat after that. I'm going to start hitching them individually with Rachael and dragging a sled. They need work, and they need to figure out what I'm asking them to do. Rachael is a great horse to team them up with for that. Hopefully we see some success. I certainly have my work cut out for me if I'm going to meet our goal (field day on June 25th).

Paris, TX. Antique Tractor Show

2011-05-28T23:29:00.002-05:00

I had an amazing day last saturday. The Antique Tractor Club in Paris, TX held an event. They had all kinds of antique tractors there, and the also had some demonstrations. One of the new things they did this year, was get in touch with my good pal Roger Barnes to see about some horse drawn stuff. One of the tractor guys had a hay rake, a sickle mower, a cultivator, and a hay bale loader. Roger took on the task of getting some teamsters to show up with their teams to use the equipment. The teams were supposed to cut some wheat, and rake it as part of a demonstration. And then pretty much do anything we felt like trying. He had also planned on riding a wagon around for a bit and give free rides to any of the kids or adults that wanted them. Roger gave me a call, and I could not turn it down.


Roger driving Shelby's Clydesdales

Roger's 3 abreast. All horses are 18+ hands.

There were 4 teamsters there. Roger was there, with his 3 biggest horses. He worked them as a 3 up on his big hay wagon, and then worked a pair of them as needed. I met a teamster friend of Roger's named Shelby. He brought a team of clydesdales. They were 3 1/2 years old, and knew how to work. Good training on those horses! My good buddy Pat Chase was there, and due to AI scheduling, he was only able to bring one of his mares. He ended up bringing his mare Dolly, and his yearling gelding. Lastly, there was me. I brought my 3 belgians. I planned on working Rachael and Pam on the wagons, but if we got to do field work, I wanted to try and work Nellie in there, just for the experience. I also should mention that my teamster friend Jerry was there without any horses. He was there with his daughters and it was great to see him. He was always willing to be an extra set of hands and his presence was awesome.

Unfortunately, it rained really good the night before. We arrived and found that the wheat field was a swampy mess. Sadly, it meant that we would not be cutting any wheat. This really bummed me out at first, because I was REALLY looking forward to trying that sickle mower. A sickle mower is next on my list of things to acquire, so I was really wanting to give it a go.

I arrived a bit late, and started getting my horses ready. Pat was there, and I hurried to get Rachael ready for him. I let Pat borrow Rachael to team up with Dolly since he couldn't bring both his girls. They got hitched up to Rogers new logging forecart that he made, and they worked really well together. This was also a great experience for Ace, Pat's yearling gelding. Ace had to stand there. He complained and made a fuss at times, but it was a great experience for him to be there. Also, if I might add, he is going to be an AMAZING boy! he's probably close to 16 hands tall as a yearling. He looks fabulous and I look forward to seeing him become a hitch horse with Pat.

Pat had limited time to be there. He had another event he needed to get to, so by the time I had my other two horses ready, Pat had to go. Rachael and Dolly worked really well together. I wished him well, and he hit the road.

At that time, I hitched up to Roger's Wagonette. I then drove around with Rachael and Pam and we spent 2 hours giving wagon rides. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy giving wagon rides, especially to kids. The wagon rides came to an end around noon. Thats when all the antique tractors fired up and we did a small parade.

This is me and my wife giving wagon rides.

This is where draft horses just impress me. Here I am with my mares, old tractors firing and sputtering all around them, and they never even batted an eyelash. They were so laid back, and relaxed, that it made me really proud. Rachael and Pam are my dream team. They do so many things perfectly. I could not ask for a better team than I have. They are also healthy and gorgeous to boot. Can't beat that. We got to finish off the parade and listen to all the kids ooh and aahhh over the big "clydesdales" ;) (to non-horse people, every big horse is a clydesdale).

After that, it was time to give the girls a break. I pulled them up to the back of my trailer and tied them. They were happy to get a nice breather. My wife and I then walked around and checked out all the things that were going on.

We got to witness the thresher machine and hay baler run. I've never seen anything like it. Both of these machines were powered by an antique tractor, that sat 30-40 feet away. A 8 inch wide belt went from the machine to the tractor, and this was what powered the device. The thresher took a big wagon full of wheat, and turned it into a gunny sack half full of wheat kernels, and all the leftover was spit on the ground. The leftovers were then fed into the baler, and after an hour of baling, 3 1/2 bales of hay were produced. It really made me appreciate how nice we have it now. Just knowing that 1 hour of that work would only feed my horses for 1 day really made me appreciate technology and all it does for us today.

After that we went and got some homemade icecream, and while we ate that, we watched a sawmill demonstration. There was a big metal frame with a big ol' saw blade in it. This machine was powered by an antique tractor some 40 feet away. A log was placed on the machine, and then the machine would make passes down the saw blade, cutting planks off the tree. It was really neat to watch.

After this I went and looked at all the horse drawn equipment. There was a cultivator, and a john deer hay rake. Most of my attention was focused on the IH #9 Regular gear mower. It looked soo neat. This was the first time I'd been close enough to touch one, so I took my time looking it over and figuring out how it worked. About that time Roger came over and asked if I wanted him to see if we could try it out. The ground was really muddy and boggy, but I said I would love that. They owner said that we could feel free to use it, but that we could not cut any of the wheat that was there. We agreed and went to getting hooked up.

Here I am, hitched to a sickle mower.

We ran into a problem getting my double tree hooked up to the mower. The thru-bolt was just barely too short to accommodate my pioneer double tree. We tried and tried, and eventually just decided to see if we could make it work. That was when I went and got the horses and we hitched them up.

Fixing the evener ... again.

I have to take a moment and brag some more on my horses. On this day, every time I hitched them to something, they backed up perfectly to their position. This was new. Normally they don't like to back up to things, and I end up pulling the wagon up to them. Today was different, and it was awesome ... not to mention, you look a lot better in public when your horses do this without a problem. :) Also, when I said "Whoa", my horses stopped. They would then cock a foot and just stand still. I am sooo grateful to have horses that do this. I attribute it to working the horses on the farm. Making them actually work hard (not just pulling a wheeled wagon) makes them appreciate the breaks!

Rearview of the mower in work

I loved mowing. It was so much fun. I figured the mower out and how to work it. My horses didn't even flinch when I fired it up. It was very fun. The evener kept popping off though. This is where my horses standing so good was very much appreciated. I had to stop several times to fix the evener. I finally just chained it around the mower and we kept moving. At one point, I was standing there, with my head 6 inches from the rear feet of the horses, and I realized that I am so very lucky to have a good team. I was also very lucky to have a good friend in Jerry who was acting as my header.

The only downsides to the mower, were 1) We didn't get to really cut any tall grass. I did get to run through some patches that were a little long, so I did get to watch it work, but it would have been more of an experience to actually cut the wheat. Maybe next time! :) 2) The mower was set up for mules. This meant that the yoke was too close to the eveners. My girls were smacking the double tree with the backs of their legs as they walked. They didn't let it get to them, but it wasn't ideal. I stopped after 15 minutes when I noticed the red paint from the trees on their legs.

Running the mower

Another shot

Overall ... it was AWESOME! I gotta get me one of these. I am thinking I need the IH #9 High Gear mower though. I will mostly be cutting coastal bermuda, which is very thick. I think the high gear will handle this much better. Gotta keep my eyes peeled.

Roger with the rake, and me with the mower

A better shot of the rake set up

While I was mowing, Roger hooked his logging cart to the hay rake, and he and the owner of the items raked a bunch of wheat that had been cut the day before. It was really cool.

One great thing about this day, was that my wife came with me. The horses aren't her thing, but she was a trooper and came along. Because of this, I have some awesome video clips and pictures of us working the horses. Enjoy!

6 Horses and herd dynamics

2011-05-18T11:06:00.001-05:00

Not too much has been going on, but I figured I'd drop a line about a few things.

First off, this next Saturday I will be having FUN! The Antique Tractor Club in Paris, TX is hosting an event for old time farming. There will be antique tractor events, but also horse drawn stuff too. It will be all day, in Paris, TX at the Civic Center. There should be 4-6 teamsters there with teams of horses. There should be plows, disks, a mower, wagons, sleds, and other horse implements. It's basically going to be a day of teamsters having fun and trying things out. I'm really excited about it. I'll have my 3 Belgians there and am looking forward to trying the sickle mower out (since that is next on my list of things to purchase).

I honestly think Rachael and Pam want to get pulling something. The past few days, when I'm out in the pasture, they walk up to me, side by side, (on the correct sides) and put their heads in my belly. I think they are trying to tell me that they want those harnesses on them and to be heading down the road. :)

The only other thing going on right now is the fact that I am horse sitting. My good friend Bev asked me to take some horses for a week. Bev has done wonderful things for me, so I happily agreed. This added 2 big and beautiful Belgians to my pasture.

A little history: My mares Pam and Nellie spent a month and a half down in Bev's herd, so they are already familiar. Rachael was my only worry on how she gets along with them. This pair is Bev's Belgian team, and they are beautiful mares. Here's a picture to prove it.

Rosie and Rita

When they first got here, they ran right up with my Belgians and everyone was just fine. Bev's horses fell in love with the long grass and went to eating right away. I was quite surprised that they group got together so fast. I figured that there would be the usual sorting out of the pecking order, but it didn't seem like that happened right away.

All the horses together

Now ... just to refresh your minds ... the Alpha of my horses is Nellie. Rachael is a lead mare and those two fought it out with Nellie being the victor. Rosie and Rita are half sisters, and always side by side. At Bev's, they are the dominant mares. Rosie is the alpha, with Rita in her back pocket and sometimes doing her dirty work for her. At first here, Nellie ruled all. Rosie and Rita bowed to her and stayed clear.

Then 3 days passed. :) Now that Rosie and Rita are more comfortable, it's been awesome watching the herd dynamics transform. At feeding time yesterday, I got to witness Rosie take the alpha role from Nellie. Nellie was finishing off a bowl of food (left overs after Nellie ran off the horse the food was intended for). I watched as Rosie ran right in and she just had this aura about her that screamed "I am the boss". Nellie felt it too, she turned, squealed, and I thought she was going to give Rosie a big kick. Instead, Nellie did a small half kick and ran away. Rosie took the lead without even lifting a hoof. It was awesome to watch.

Well, now things have taken a different turn. Rachael (my mare, still angry at losing the alpha role to Nellie), decided she was going to put Rosie and Rita in line, and she did. They both bow to her.

So now ... feeding time is like a circus. It's hilarious to watch. Nellie will run off Pam or Whinny, then Rosie runs off Nellie, then Rachael runs off Rosie. A few minutes later, Nellie will come and run off Rachael. It's a giant circle. Needless to say, you hear lots of hoof stomping and squeals when it's dinner time. Things are great while all have their food, but the minute one of those 3 is done with theirs, they head off to take someone else's. It's pretty interesting to watch.

Here's a picture of feeding time this mornig. Rachael and nearest the camera. Nellie is off in the back ground, mad at the world, and Rosie/Rita and right there side by side eating the last of the remaining food. Oh yeah, and Whinny is in the mix too, just trying to stay out of the way of all these huge draft horses. ;)

Feeding time is ending.

Awesome Saturday Part 3: Into the ditch

2011-05-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

I finally had a mishap behind the lines. I've been extremely lucky, and a lot of that is because I try to do everything in my power to consider safety. Well, sometimes things just happen.

We were just walking down the road, and then it happened. In one horrible sweep, Rachael took away my ability to use my left line. As she was walking, she lowered her head as low as the check would allow, and then she raised it up quickly and swung her head to the right. Well, when she dropped her head, her cross-check line went under the end of the pole, and so when she raised her head and swung it out, it pulled hard on the cross-check line and pulled the cross-check buckle through the ring of the spreader.

I saw it instantly, and pulled on the left line to try and pull the buckle back through, but it would not come. It jammed in the ring, which basically kept me from being able to put any pressure on the left bit of either horse. BAD!

I started saying Woah and I pulled on both lines, hoping I could get a little pressure on that left side of the bit, but I couldn't. What ended up happening, was the girls turned right. They ended up stepping down into a ditch, but then stopped before going up the other side. I handed my son the lines and told him to to keep them tight and I jumped off and quickly grabbed lead lines. Whew. I then fixed the lines, and led Pam to the left, out of the ditch. Rachael followed perfectly, and only one wheel dipped into it as we straightened out.

So ... this leads to a question that I am pursuing now. How do you keep this from happening??? What trick is there to keep the buckle from sucking all the way through those spreading rings? I'll post anything I learn. This seems like it would be a common problem and that there would be a solution for it. If anyone knows, please feel free to post a comment here and let me know.

Awesome Saturday Part 2: Driving with my son

2011-05-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

I was really excited to work Pam and Rachael again. Pam has had 5 months off since I last drove her. She got really fat and lazy spending a month and a half down with Vegas (Belgian stallion standing at the double M warhorse ranch). She hitched up fine. This was her first time being fitted with her new biothane harness, so it took me about 15 minutes to adjust everything and make sure things were fitting correctly.

I love Pat's place. He has everything you need for training purposes, and also has extra wagons. I can just haul horses over to his place, and still haul a wagon down the road. It works really nice. Pat and his wife are as good as gold and I am very lucky to have them as friends. I always have a fun time when I'm over there.

We hitched up to a 16 or so foot long hay trailer. That went well, and they stepped off with no problems. When I asked them to stop, they showed their skills, and stood like ladies. I tell you, having a team that will stay put when you stop is such an awesome thing! Pat got hitched up, and we were off.


Rachael, Pam, and the boy, all ready to go

Pat backing his team away from the fence to get heading on the ride

I really love Pat's mare Dolly. She's so pretty!

The first 20 minutes of this ride were not so nice. Pam decided to show me how rusty she had gotten. Every little thing she spotted made her stop, and cautiously walk. Meanwhile Rachael is stepping out strong and ready to move that wagon down the road. On the road we started on, semi's were hauling crepe feed to some nearby dairies. One of the trucks was awesome and came to a complete standstill to let us pass. Pam was an idiot, and completely froze like a deer in headlights. It took a swift smack on the rear to snap her out of it. This was not the same horse that pulled for christmas wagon rides last year. ;)

At this same time, I had another problem. when going down a hill, the tree was right on the horses heels. Each step had them kicking the tree. This caused one of Rachaels tugs to come off completely. Luckily, I have a great team and I stopped and fixed it with no issues. This made me realize that the pole on this wagon needed to be about 6 inches longer than it was. I didn't want to continue the ride like this, so I stopped and fixed it. I pulled the yoke ring in front of the pole bolt that is supposed to keep it from slipping off the end of the pole. I then took the tie strap from Rachaels harness and used it to secure the yoke ring to that bolt on the pole. This gave me 4 more inches on the pole. This was acceptable.

After this, it was smooth sailing. Soon Pam had returned to her element and was acting like the girl I remembered.

Then ... an awesome thing happened. My son took interest. I could see him watching my hands, so I started talking to him about what I was doing, and asked if he wanted to try. He did ground drive a 3 up at my friend rogers house once a few months back, but this was on a wagon. He took over, and after a few tips, he was on his way. He ended up driving for 45 minutes. He did very well. I had to talk to the horses for him. They didn't respond well to his voice, but once they heard me, they did just like they should. Having him drive, let me actually stand up and take a bunch of pictures. It was nice!

I love driving down these county roads. Very peaceful

Pat and his awesome team

My son working on his line tension

Another shot of my son with the lines

We couldn't have asked for a better day

I had one issue arise, which I'll discuss in the Part 3 of the blog. We ended up getting back to Pats, and we all got to relax a bit. It was a great day, and I had a wonderful time.

The girls relaxing after a nice 3-4 hour drive

Awesome Saturday Part 1: Nellie drives!

2011-05-01T21:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had planned on spending the day over at my friend Pat's house. He has a few fields of wheat/oats/rye that he is going to cut. We're going to use the horses to rake it, and haul it. Due to the recent storm activity, he didn't get to cut last week. We decided to still have a day of horse fun though.

It's been a while since I really had a good work session with Nellie. This kind of eats at me. She's got a ton of potential, and is just needing me to spend some time working her. I decided that I was going to take all 3 horses over to Pat's. This way I could work Nellie first, then Pat and I planned on going for a wagon ride in the country where Pat lives.

Got all the horses loaded without any problems. I arrived at Pat's at around 9:30 or so. It took me a half hour or so to get all the horses harness up. Pam took the longest. She was wearing her new biothane harness for the first time, so I had to adjust everything to make sure it fit her right. I love these harnesses so much. So pretty, and so much lighter than the leather ones. They also don't make your hand completely dirty when you touch them. Biothane is the stuff!

Nellie in a nylon harness, ready to be worked with

If y'all recall, I've worked Nellie once under harness. That time she let me put the harness and bridle on with no problem. She chewed at the bit once it was in, but she was very laid back at the harnessing process. I ground drove her that time. It took me about 10 minutes or so to teach her to step off right. Eventually we did a few good loops though.

Once at Pats, we talked it over, and decided to hitch she and Rachael together. This was the same way I trained Pam, and it worked very well. Everything went well, and I learned a new trick complements of Pat. When ground driving a team for the first time, it's nice to hook their rear ends together. This keeps them from "Y"ing out. In the past, I have used a trailer tie between the inside breeching rings on each horse. This worked fine, but if they really tried to separate, it can pull hard and slide the spieder down and the breeching on the opposite sides up. Well, Pat showed me the coolest trick. I took a picture of it just to show it off. Basically, you take the outside tug on each horse, bring it up under the breeching strap, and then hook the horses tugs together. This is so simple, and so awesome. Using the tugs for this, eliminates the chance that the spieder is going to get drug into center. It was a cool little trick. Thanks Pat!

Rachael on the left, Nellie on the right, rear end hooked together with tugs! Awesome trick!

I was completely surprised and blown away by Nellie. It took us a few starts and stops to make sure she understood how to step off and stop, but she took to the bit pressure right away. I drove them around, starting and stopping in some giant figure 8s. I could not believe how well Nellie was doing.

Nellie and Rachael ground driving

Rachael and Nellie. This is what all teamster POV pictures look like. :)

That's me with the lines in hand.

After a bit of that, Pat and I discussed how well things went, and decided to hook them both up to the sled. Now ... normally, I always pull a tire behind a horse before hooking them up to anything. When that tug rubs on the rear leg it can give the horse quite a spook if they aren't used to it. Rachael and Nellie worked so well together, AND Nellie showed no signs of being scared of anything touching her (as demonstrated by letting us harness her with no complaints); so we decided it was doable.

They were all hitched up, and I told them to step off, and they did. It was soooo awesome. Nellie acted like she'd been there and done it before. I was so happy for her. She and rachael pulled really evenly, and it was great. I drove them for quite a while on the sled. It was just so much fun to see Nellie, with all her hair, doing what she was bred to do. She looked fabulous in my nylon harness, and she moved so well.

Nellie and Rachael on the sled. My son rode along.

Stepping off.

Working well!

After I unhitched her, she got to continue her tying lessons. I tied her up to the side of my trailer fully harnessed. Normally I will take the bridles off, but for her I didn't. I want her to get used to a bit in her mouth, so I kept her bridle on while she stood. We then got the other horses and went for a wagon ride for about 3-4 hours. It was really good practice for her to stand while we left. I think I'm going to take her with me over there and do this same thing every time. It just worked out wonderfully.

This was the end of the day, after the wagon ride when I finally removed her bridle.

Walking among the horses

2011-04-26T10:28:00.003-05:00

We've had some really bad storms coming through for the past 5 days. The ground is saturated, and mud is everywhere. I prefer not to work the horses in this kind of weather. However, I decided that I should go out and walk with them last night. I make it a point to try and make contact with them at least once a day. Since I was gone for saturday/sunday, I figured they needed some time.

First I walked in with the big girls. I called them and they all came up. Pam always leads when coming to me, and she walks right up and burries her head into my stomach. I rubbed on her good, and the next thing I knew, Nellie had joined Pam. This was new to me. Nellie hasn't shown me much affection, but she walked right up in and wanted me rubbing on her. I gave her some nice scratches and she melted. I took a step away to pay Rachael some attention, and Nellie moved her head right back into my chest. How can you say no to that, especially when it's a horse that typically doesn't do that. I rubbed on her some more, and rubbed Pam a bit too since they were side by side. I turned 180 degrees to Rachael, who was on the other side of me. She was ready for her scratches and pets. It was really a nice time. There is something so soothing and calming about being with horses. I love it. We just walked around a bit, and I talked to them. I told them about how this weekend we may be raking hay in a field and for them to get ready for it. ;)

One safety note about doing this kind of thing. Even though my horses are dog gentle and loving with me, it is still extremely dangerous to be around that many big bodies. There were a few times where the girls tried to butt each other out for my attention. If you aren't paying attention, you can get knocked over. If you are in with your horses, I make it a point to always have my hand on the horse next to me. Also, NEVER let yourself get sandwiched between two horses. If something were to happen, and one of them were to move in on you, you have no escape route. Just walking among the horses is a really fun/rewarding thing for me, but my eyes are always on the horses, and my hand is always on the one closest. Just last night Rachael ran into Pam, causing Pam to site step on me. I had my hand on Pam, so I easily stepped back when she stepped. Had I not, I could have been knocked over and possibly stepped on. Always remember safety!

My 3 queens after I left them

After a while, I left the girls and went and spent some time with Whinny, the new girl. I turned back and saw the girls looking at me and snapped a picture. I love these horses. Also, I couldn't ask for a better matched set. :)

Whinny is teaching me a lot. I hope I'm rubbing off on her too. I can pet her through the fence. A little rub here and there on her face/neck, but she LOVES to have her back/butt scratched. She'll move back and forth and cock her head sideways just to show how much she loves it. It's funny. When I enter the pen though, she won't just let me touch her. Last night I tried and tried, but to no avail. However, she is totally submissive to me. If I walk to her, she makes sure she stays 3 feet away from me. But if I turn and walk away from her, she follows me and puts her head in my back pocket. I did this for quite some time last night, and I swear her nosed bumped my butt a few times. When I turn and try to rub her though, she quickly moves just out of my arms reach. It's progress though.

It was good to go out and spend time with my horses. Here's some pictures I took of Whinny and then a shot of all of them. enjoy.

Whinny following me

Whinny profile

All 4 of my girls

Getting hands on!

2011-04-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd give a little update on my progress with Whinny. I'm having success. Life has me busy as can be, but twice a day I walk out to the fence and talk with her for a few minutes. She is letting me rub her now. It was really neat to see the progress that the joining up technique gave me. She'll walk up to me now, and when I reach up, she will quickly side-pass her back to my hand so that I rub her back and her rump. She LOVES to be scratched on her back. :) Having some good success.

The other girls are happily eating nice green first growth grass. They don't know it, but this weekend the team will probably be working. My friend Pat might be cutting wheat this week, and if he does, we're going to rake it with horses. I'll bring my team and forecart to his place and we'll have two rakes going. Should be fun. I'm really looking forward to it. If these big spring thunderstorms would just stop. :)

A quick joining up attempt

2011-04-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

Nellie has been really showing affection towards Whinny the past few days. Nellie doesn't stray far from the fence. Who would have thought my big bad lead mare would be such a softie. I snapped this picture this morning as I left for work. Just a small difference between the two horses ... right? :)

Whinny and Nellie

Today after work, I had 30 minutes or so till I had to go to baseball practice with my boy. I went out and walked with Whinny (the yearling filly). I told myself that I wasn't going to start the "joining up" method I just learned about, cuz I didn't have a whole lot of time. Well ... I couldn't help myself. :)

I started just as the video says. I made her run away from me. The second she would slow to a trot, I would raise my arms and shoe her on. I did this for a minute or two (and when you're timing this stuff ... that is a LONG time!) :) I then worked her the other direction, for the same amount of time. After this, I slowed my walk down to very slow walk, and I walked directly towards her shoulder while I looked her in the eye. This gave her just enough pressure to keep her walking away. If she stopped, I raised my arms to keep her moving. I kept doing this till I saw some of the signs Marty talked about. after a few minutes, she started turning her inside ear towards me. A few seconds later, she did drop her head a few times as she walked. She was very relaxed. I then stopped walking like that at her.

I was about 10 feet away from her, and I turned my back to her. I kept her at a 45 degree angle behind me. She stood there, and took a step towards me. I was hoping for more (like in the video clip), but she just stood there. I waited and waited, but she wouldn't take another step. I didn't look in her eyes and I stuck my arm backwards toward her. She then lowered her head and began to sniff towards it. This ended with me touching her nose. She then did this again, and I was able to give the side of her head a small rub. I then took a step or two backwards. She didn't move, and I rubbed her neck. She stood there great. Next thing I knew, I was rubbing all over her face. It worked! I grabbed the halter on her, and then rubbed all over her face and neck. She stood there very nice for it. I was just excited that she was letting me rub on her!

I wasn't able to get her to follow me around, because I had to leave soon after that. It's a great starting point though. I'm very satisfied.

Introducing Whinny

2011-04-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

We have a new addition to the family. This time around, she's not a draft horse either. I'd like to introduce my new yearling filly, Whinny.

Whinny, my new yearling filly

I got Whinny from my neighbor. Her father is a papered Buckskin QH, and her mother was a papered paint. Both parents were around 16 hands tall. When Whinny was 3 months old, she lost her momma to colic. She's been raised in a 20x20 pen with very little human interaction. I've visited her a few times, and fell in love with her.

I decided that instead of trailering her to bring her to my house, I'd just walk her the 1/2 mile to her new pen at my place. My neighbor had gotten her in a 10x10 pen for me and she already had a bridle on. I was under the impression that she'd been worked with a bit, but I was told later that she had only been handled 2 times, and the second time was when the bridle got put on and left on. In a big pen, she would stay within 2 feet of you, but would not let you touch her.

I was shocked as can be when I led her out of her pen. She followed me perfectly. She was a little cautious as she experienced long grass for the first time, and saw normal pasture type stuff for the first time. I walked slow though, and reassured her. She was great. We had a small event when my 3 Belgians saw her. The came running over and wanted to establish the pecking order right away, but I didn't let it happen. I kept Whinny between me and the horses and got the Belgians to leave us alone. I was surprised it went as well as it did.

I have her in her own pen now, and she and Nellie (the lead Belgian mare) have bonded through the fence. She broke out today and was in with the Belgians. All was fine. I separated her tonight so that I can keep working with her.

I want to get her to where I can touch her. I really hate that she won't let me pet on her. Also, she does not know about food yet, (or that I am the bringer of good food) which means that if she gets out of her pen, I have to use pressure to move her around, instead of just persuading with a good meal. That can be a challenge.

I talked to my good friend Lynn today about her, and he told me that I needed to join up with her. I asked him what that meant, and he referred me to Monty Roberts. I've never heard of him, but I checked out a couple of youtube clips on him and I LOVED what I saw. This stuff is great, and a wonderful way to establish just who is the dominant one in the human/horse relationship. I have the links below that my friend sent me. One is a great overall view of joining up. The second is an actual clip of him using this technique on a yearling horse. Both are a great view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dx91mH2voo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC_15etNe7U

This also goes along with my thought process as of lately. I was reading Bob Skeldings blog (www.wagonteamster.com) and he posted an awesome blog about becoming a horseman. It's a great read about herd dynamics and how a good horseman should see the horses. I loved it. Check it out here (http://www.wagonteamster.com/html/the_making_of_a_horseman.html).

I love learning about this stuff. It's still very new to me, and I find myself absorbing it like a sponge. In Bob's blog, he gives a test you can use to see how your horses view you. The test is to walk out among your herd, and just stand among them. If you are the boss, each horse will come over to you and either put their nose into your armpit or do some other gesture of submission towards you (even if it's only grazing next to you). They don't do it at the same time, but they should each do this. I decided to test out myself with my Belgians and see how it goes.

My results were great. I walked out with them, and Pam walked right up to me. She pressed her nose right into my belly, and let me rub her all over her face. After a few minutes of that, I stepped a foot or so away from her. Nellie was close by, and she took a few steps towards me, and just stood next to me. I reached out, and she leaned into my hand for a rub. I then walked a few steps towards Rachael. She turned and walked right to me and buried her head into my armpit.

It was really cool to see this happen. I also don't think it's a coincidence that my team (the horses I worked hard all last fall and winter) both walked up and buried their noses into me. I think the 3 of us share a special bond from all our work. Nellie is still a bit new with us, so I'm sure we'll get there.

Anyway, that's enough ramblings for me. Looking forward to try "joining up" with my new filly. I'll post how it goes. I'm really excited to try it out.

Wagon rides for a "Prom" dance

2011-04-17T20:18:00.000-05:00

I've been a busy guy as of late, and I'm running a bit late on keeping the blog updated. I'll try to stay on top of things better.

Back on April 8th I got to do some wagon rides for my church. The 16 - 18 year old youth were having a fancy "prom" dance. My wife was involved in it, so I'm sure you can imagine who got invited to give fancy wagon rides to the kids.

I was able to borrow a nice white vis-a-vis from my good pal Roger Barnes (Old Time Transport). A big thank you to Rog for that! Due to me being extra busy, I wasn't able to work Rachael at all before the rides. It was okay though, because Rachael doesn't require it. She's the kind of horse that you can pull straight out of pasture after a few months off and she's good to go.

The rides were taking place in a quiet and quaint neighborhood. It was quiet and very nice. I got Rachael all brushed out, bridle path clipped, and even used some show shine on her. She was glistening and looked fabulous. I also got her hitched up in her new Biothane harness. I love those things!!! They look sooo good. The pic should show this nicely.

Here's Rachael before I hitched her up

The rides were uneventful and lots of fun. The kids were awestruck, and Rachael did fabulous. We had lots of people looking out windows and complimenting me on the rig.

Test Run. My boy Riley and another boy got to go.

2 couples going for their ride. My son accompanied me for all the rides.

At the end of the event the photographer, Cheryl Richard, wanted to use the carriage and horse as a back drop for a group picture. When you have a laid back and awesome horse like Rachael, that is not a problem. We pulled up where the photographer wanted us and sat for 10 minutes while pictures got taken. It was great.

Me, my boy, a lovely carriage, and the best hitch horse around.

This is me sitting while pictures were taken.

Now, to get us there, my wife pulled the vis-a-vis behind her vehicle and I pulled the horse trailer. My wife had to take the kids to the dance though, so I was on my own to get the stuff home. This is where my redneck super-rig comes in handy. I added a receiver hitch to the back of the stock trailer, so I just hauled the 16 foot flatbed trailer behind the stock trailer. My old blue diesel truck pulled it, but would only get to 55 MPH doing it (while I watched the gas tank drop). :)

The redneck "super-rig". :)

My first time working Clydesdales

2011-04-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

I have taken on a new task. My friend Bev, and the Double M Warhorse Ranch in Terrell, asked me to work with a pair of her Clydesdales. One, is a 17ish hand mare named Pride. She was raised working in cornfields and should be an old pro. The other is Caesar (CC) a 17ish hand Stallion. I was told that CC was saddle broke, but had never been worked under harness. CC is about 4 years old. Pride and CC have been in the same pasture for the past few months. Bev was trying to breed Pride, but CC just doesn't seem like he knows what his job is supposed to be. These two are close though, and they look really good together.

I arrived yesterday morning, and went to work pulling the horses out of the pasture. Pride was no problem at all. I tied her to the side of the trailer. Then I brought up CC. I should note that I have never worked a stallion before, and so I was extra cautious and paid extra attention to what he was doing. Right away I noticed that he was very vocal, especially when he would see a mare around. He wasn't unruly, but very vocal as I led him. Since we were going to be putting a harness on him for the first time, I tied him to Bev's stock. This is solid steel, and cemented into the ground. The horses behaved very well, and I have to say that I really like Clydesdales. They have such a sweet disposition. When leading Pride, anytime I would stop, she would start to groom me (barely lipping my shoulder, back, or the leg of my pants). It was kinda sweet. Once the horses were tied, I groomed them and talked with them about what we were going to be doing. The horseflies were pretty bad, so we doused them good with fly spray to help them focus on us and not the horrible biting horseflies.

I decided that the first thing I needed to do, was to see what Pride remembered. I got the first of the team harnesses that Bev had for me to use. They are leather, and are in perfect condition. You could tell by the way Pride stood for me while harnessing that she knew the drill. No complaints on anything I did, and just stood there like a lady. I got all the straps adjusted properly, and got the bridle on her. The bridle already had a snaffle bit on it, and so I decided that I'd just use that for this first time. I've found the snaffle to be a very non-invasive bit and great for first timer's. Pride was perfect.

After I got her all harnessed up, we did some ground driving. She was a tad rusty on her commands, but she eventually did what I asked. She stepped off well, and stopped well. You can tell she knows her stuff and a few good working sessions will have her remembering the queue's again. When we left, Caesar was calling for her. He likes being by her side. Pride did well, and so she we finished ground driving her and tied her to the trailer.

For this training, I had Mark helping me. Mark is Bev's husband and is an awesome guy. I really like him and have a good time with him. He helped me locate the harnesses, and get things situated. I was very glad to have Mark helping. Doing this stuff with 2 sets of hands is so much easier than just doing it by myself, like I usually do.

Up next ... time to harness CC. I have to say ... I LOVE draft horses! Oh how I love working with them. So easy. CC stood perfectly while I slide the collar around his neck. I determined that we were going to need a pad on him. Eventually his neck will be thicker than prides, but not yet. He's got some filling out to do. He stood perfectly while we slide the pad on and attached it to the collar. I was happy. Next I got the harness on my arm/shoulder, and just stood in front of him for a bit. He sniffed the harness all over, and acted like he didn't care about it. I rubbed the hame on him a bit and there was no reaction. Like I said ... so easy. I slid the harness up and on him, and he didn't care one bit. We then went to work fitting the harness to him. I had to add new holes to the quarter straps and breast strap. It took us a bit, but we got the harness fitted to him. I then let him stand for a few minutes with it on. He didn't care at all. I didn't have the bridle on yet. So I untied him and led him around. I was expecting some kind of reaction from all the noises the harness makes while walking, but he didn't. So we tied him to the trailer next to Pride, and I fitted his bridle. He really licked and bit at the bit. He didn't seem to familiar with it. I adjusted the bit properly, and let him stand for a few minutes while he got used to the bit. Once he stopped chomping at it so much, I led him around again. The blinders made such a great difference. He was focused on me, and not the other mares in neighboring fields. Very nice!

Caesar (CC) - Showing off his harness

Pride - standing like a pro. Like the heart on her right knee?

Things were progressing so well, that we decided to hook Pride and CC together, and lead them around. We hooked a yoke between the two, and hooked a trailer tie between the rear brichons of the two horses. Mark and I then led both horses around. Caesar really liked this. He was happy as a clam to have Pride by his side. They did great, and we had no problems at all. Well ... almost no problems. Caesar has a forelock that is thick and reaches down to his nose. When I slid the bridle on, I just wrapped it behind his ears and down the side of his neck. Bad idea. The poof in his forelock from the hair going backwards, helped the bridle to slip over his ears. At one point, I saw him really chomping on the bit, and I realized that it was in his teeth. I looked up and saw the top of the bridle at his eyes. Yikes! Mark held both horses great while I fixed it.

Mark leading Pride, and me with CC

These horses are awesome. Fun to work with, and so pretty

Leading them side by side. They did well. Next time we'll drive them

Things went awesome. I decided to keep things awesome and end the session. We tied the horses again, and left them standing for about 30 minutes with all the gear on. They were great (other than Caesar managing to get his bridle off again. That long hair is really pretty, but makes it hard to keep a bridle on. This is why all of my horses get their bridle paths trimmed.

CC - note the missing bridle

Pride - standing like a lady

Pride unharnessed, and working on CC

After letting them sit for a while, we unharnessed them, and put them back in the pasture. They did wonderful and I'm very proud of them.

Great day! I had a wonderful time and it was good to work the horses. Had a great time with Mark, Bev, and Sherrii (ranch manager of the ranch). I think the horses will be heading up here to my place soon so I can work them hard.

Penelope is gentle as a lap dog, and loves human interaction. Gorgeous Clydesdale filly.

I should also note that I LOVE a Clydesdale filly that Bev has. Penelope is less than 2 years old and is sooooo sweet. I love that filly.

Took two mares to Vegas!!

2011-03-05T22:53:00.000-06:00

That title is a bit deceptive. Vegas is the gorgeous Stallion owned by Mark and Bev McGowan of the DoubleM Warhorse Ranch in Terrell TX (www.doublemwarhorseranch.com). The girls were reluctant to come up to me out of the pasture. I guess they're loving all the rye that has sprung up. But I tell ya, a good scoop of food seems to call up even the most stubborn horse. I think I'm the same way too, but with blue bell ice cream.

Pam and Nellie are the two that I am taking to be bred. Nellie threw a Vegas foal last year, and that colt was incredible. Pam is such a gorgeous mare, that I'm really excited to see what she and Vegas put together. I got the girls out of the pasture and got them ready. The girls were cleaned all up, de-cockleburred, and had all their hooves cleaned out. Both Pam and Nellie did great with this.

I learned something today while cleaning hooves. Both Pam and Nellie do not like their rear feet messed with, and so I'm always a tad nervous inside. I don't let this show. To compensate, I have been very firm. When I grab that hoof, I hold it steady, and move it where I want it. When they start to fight, I cock the toe backwards, pinching the joint, till they stop struggling, then I release that pressure. This has always worked for me, but there are still sometimes, where Pam or Nellie just seem to let me have the hoof for 5 seconds, then they're fighting me for it.

So today, as I was holding Pam's hoof, she started to jerk it a little, and I did something different. I let go of all the pressure I had on that hoof. I didn't grip it as tight, and I just talked sweet to her. She then also released the pressure in her leg. It felt like maybe my firm grasp and doing just what I want, was causing her to tense up. I set her hoof on my knee, and cleaned the hoof all the way out with no problems. I went to her second rear hoof and it was the exact same. Nellie was also the same. This is probably just me getting better with horses, but it was kind of cool to see the direct correlation to me loosening up causing the horse to loosen up. You still gotta be firm and do what you need to do, but you can do it without being so firm! (does that make any sense?) Of course, when you have a horse like Rachael, you don't have to worry about this stuff at all because your horse lets you hold a hoof forever without complaining one bit. :)

Mark and Nellie

So ... the girls were loaded and we set off to the warhorse ranch. We arrived, and I got to meet a wonderful woman who I've been conversing with for years on the internet. Her name is Sherrii, and she is as good as gold. We said our hello's, and chit chatted a bit, then decided to get down to business. Nellie was the first unloaded, and Mark lent me a hand and took her. I then got Pam, and we walked over to the Belgian pasture.

Backing Pam out of the trailer

Me and Pam

This year most of the warhorse Belgian mares had the year off, so all mares are turned in with Vegas. It was pretty cool to see him with 4 mares. As soon as he saw Pam and Nellie he got all kinds of excited. Mark and I turned the girls loose in the Pen, and then we all sat and watched the herd dynamics take form. Nellie was just here recently, so she ran over and greeted the other mares. Pam was more interested in Vegas. She really didn't mind him at all. ;)

A herd of Belgians - 6 mares and 1 stallion

I found it really fun to watch how the herd worked. Here was 6 Belgian mares and a stallion, and Vegas would lower his head, and herd all the girls over to the round bale of hay. He wanted them all clustered together. I've never seen anything like this. It was pretty neat. Since Pam and the other mares were still working on the pecking order, Pam did not stay bunched up with the other mares, so Vegas kept running over, and turning her back towards them. Nellie would also run out with Pam, as if to check on her and make sure she was okay. I could have watched the herd mentality take place for hours. Very neat to watch.

Sparkles the appy, and Star and Baby the Clydesdales

After that we went over and saw the Clydesdales, and I got to meet Sherrii's pretty appy mare Sparkles. My son Riley really liked her. He was petting her and talking with her a bunch.

Riley and Sparkles

After that, it was more chit chat, and then I headed back towards home. It was a great trip and a fun visit. For those who don't know, Bev, Sherrii, and I are in the same yahoo draft horse group (nadrafthorse). This is how we all met. It was pretty cool to have all of us together. Good times!

Sherrii, me, and Bev

I'll be headed back down there in a month to pick up the girls. I may be going down sooner than that for another purpose. If I do that, I'll post all about it. :)

My wife and I. I love it when she comes on these trips with me.

My first ride in the new forecart!

2011-03-04T23:50:00.000-06:00

With new toys to play with, and new harnesses to try out, I couldn't let the week pass without trying out my new stuff.

Yesterday I got Rachael out and fitted her with her new biothane harness. These things are made for HUGE horses. I had to add new holes to the market straps and quarter straps. I have every other strap set at it's smallest hole. I may have to get new hames too. Rachael has a 24 inch collar. I have the hame straps adjusted so that only a buckle is between the hames, and it was pretty good. Smaller hames would be a good thing. Either that, or I size up my 24 inch collars and get collar pads.

Rachael was a dream, as usual. We got all hooked up, and went for a ride. It was great. I'm really liking this cart. Going to be fun!!

New Harness, Sled, and Pioneer Forecart

2011-03-04T11:51:00.014-06:00

I've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin' contest lately, but I'm going to try to keep things updated here.

Last weekend I took a trip and bought all kinds of horse hitch stuff. It was wonderful. So here's how it all began.

Last fall, a member of the TDHMA (Texas Draft Horse and Mule Association) posted that he was selling a set of draft harnesses and an old pioneer forecart. I've wanted one of those pioneer forecarts since I first started hitching up Lily, so I got in touch with him. Unfortunately, he lives 8 hours away from me, and I just couldn't come up with the money. A month ago, I sent an email, asking if the forecart was still available. He said it was, and so I started planning to put away money for it. Then 2 weeks ago, I got an email from him, stating that he needed to sell everything hitch related to clean out the barn and that he was dropping the price on everything. I could not believe the price tag he put on things. I talked with my wife, and we decided to take advantage of this great offer.

I planned to purchase the pioneer forecart (came with single shafts, team pole, and 2 implement seats), and a team set of new, 2 strap breeching, biothane harness (with new 25" collar, used 28" collar, bridles, lines, and collar pads). I got another email detailing other things that were also for sale. A nice meadowbrook cart, a sweet 4 wheeled marathon type buggy, wagon springs, and other harness/tack items. The price tag on these items were unreal. I sent an email to my teamster friends here, and soon found buyers for all this stuff. I would haul it all back for them.

So last weekend had me heading to meet up with Arnold Isom and his lovely wife at their ranch out in Moulton TX. The first stop on my trip though, was to purchase a draft sized saddle that I had found on craigslist. It was incredibly priced, and I really liked the idea of having 2 saddles that fit my drafts. So I had to stop and pick it up. Now, I was riding my motorcycle, so I had to strap the saddle to the back of it.. I'm sure it was quite a sight to see. I only had to ride like that for the rest of the 5 hour trip towards Houston. :) The picture shows it pretty well.

I spent the night at my in-laws in Houston, and then the next day I headed out to meet with the Isom's. I had borrowed a rig with a trailer to pick up all the goodies I was going to be getting from my in-laws. It was a beautiful drive, but that could've just been because I knew I would be getting 2 things that I have wanted for years. The weather was great, and the scenery was very pleasant. All in all, this was the beginning of what would be a fabulous day.

Arnold and his wife were so wonderful. They were friendly as can be, and I consider them to be very good people. We chatted a whole lot about horses, and Arnold then opened up his shop to me, to show me all his stuff. We looked things over, and I soon began making my list of things that I wanted to buy. Lucky for me, I followed Arnolds advice and brought some extra money. This was a shop full of a lifetime of acquired draft hitch items. I felt like a kid in a toy store with money! :) And boy did I spend the money. After it was all said and done, I had purchased the team harnesses, forecart, meadowbrook cart, 4 wheeled buggy, a work sled, a set of team hafflinger harnesses, a single set of hafflinger harness, an extra team pole, 3 sets of driving lines, 4 horse sized collars, 7 wagon springs, a half dozen drafts sized nylon halters, various quarter straps/pole straps, extra SS harness hardware, and some yokes/eveners. I really felt like I cleaned him out.

After we had added up the total cost of it all, we took a break, and he showed me his barn. I have never seen a barn that was so well planned out and built as this barn. I will be using the layout of this barn as a plan for when I eventually build mine. Perhaps I will draw up my plans and post them in the future so you can see how well this barn was thought out. Arnold and his wife were VERY pleasant to visit with. We never stopped talking.

After a nice break, we set at the task of loading all the gear I had purchased onto a 18 foot trailer. This was not going to be an easy task, and so we got out the tape measure, and set about deciding what the best way to go about this would be. One thing I have learned about myself though, is that when I am determined, I find a way to make things happen. Soon the trailer was loaded up and tied down properly. Saying goodbye to the Isom's was a little hard to do. In the half day I had spent with them, I truly felt like I had gained a set of grandparents. They were so fun, so nice, and so fun to talk to, that I sure didn't move fast to roll out of there. I hope to visit them again with my wife and son. There are just some people you cross paths with in this life that are worth hanging onto. The Isoms are that way for me.

I drove to my In-laws house near Houston, and had to unload all the gear. I had borrowed a trailer to get the gear, and my wife would be coming down the next day with our trailer. I got everything unloaded and then took some pictures of the treasures I had picked up. I was a happy boy.

When my wife arrived with our trailer, I realized this was going to be quite a task. My trailer was 2 feet shorter and 1 foot less wide than the first trailer I had loaded them onto. This would require a different scheme. My mother-in-law hovered around as I loaded everything. I think she didn't believe I would fit it all onto the trailer. I did though, and have the picture to prove it.

The drive home was nice. A few days later I met up with Roger and Bobby, my teamster friends who purchased all the other stuff I bought. I bet it was pretty funny to see 3 teamsters all bright eyed and bushy tailed at the new toys they'd just acquired. Bobby was very happy with the meadowbrook cart and his single hafflinger harness, and Roger was thrilled with his 4 wheeled buggy, team hafflinger harness, wagon springs, and horse collars.

So ... chalk 2 things off my want list. I now have a pioneer forecart, and I also have a team set of biothane harnesses. WOO HOO! I also ended up with some new matching halters, a nice metal runner sled, and all kinds of miscellaneous harness straps and hardware. I guess the thing at the top of my list now is a horse drawn sickle mower. Keep your eyes open for me. Looking for a IH #9 high gear. :)

Update on working with Nellie

2011-02-16T07:43:00.000-06:00

I figured I should give an update to last Saturday's work session with Nellie.

I kept her tied up, and she wasn't too happy about it, but she mellowed out, and soon seemed complacent about the situation. She knew she was there, and that she wasn't moving. I posted my blog, and talked to some people in my yahoo draft group about the situation. A friend there suggested that I do that tapping desensitization with the lead rope in my hand, instead of having her tied. I thought long and hard about it, and decided that maybe I should try that. I still had some daylight, so I figured I'd go for it.

Nellie was still being a little pushy with me, but not as bad. I rubbed her and showed her that I loved her. Then we started the training. I reached my hand out, and rested it on her neck, and then started tapping. She jumped back, and drug me back about 10 feet.

Now this is where different training philosophies come into play. I can see 2 ways to correct this behavior. 1) when they rear, keep constant pressure and do not let them get any relief from it till they step forward (HANG ON TO THE LEAD ROPE) or 2) give slack and then make the horse work hard afterwards (Give slack when they rear, followed by a nice 5-10 minutes of disengaging the rear end or backing routines). One way send the message "rearing gets you nothing", and the other sends the message "you can rear, but you're going to get worked hard if you do". This is how it makes sense in my mind right now. So ... since I am young, ignorant, and stupid, I went with option 1. I don't want this horse to think that they get anything by doing this. I will always be on the end of that line, and that will hopefully discourage it.

So I hung on, and kept extreme pressure on the lead line till she stopped moving and stepped back towards me. As soon as she was done pulling back, my hand went right back to her neck and tapped again. Once again she pulled back, but this time only pulled me 5 feet. I followed that by immediately tapping on her neck again. After that, she started to calm. I worked her for 15 minutes on this. By the end, she was standing calm and not flinching at all. I was pinching and poking all over the right side of her neck and she was fine. Surprisingly, on the left side of her neck (where he mane falls), she was not jumpy. She had no problem with me tapping that side.

I sat there, poking, pinching, and what not, and she was giving me a cocked hoof, and she was licking her lips. She was relaxed. I decided to call my wife, and see if we could possibly give the shots. My wife came out, and within 20 minutes we had the shots given. I held the line, and my wife just pinched, prodded, and what not. Nellie would circle, and circle, and my wife would stay right on her. Then she'd calm down a bit, and we'd praise her. then my wife would poke and pinch some more, and then insert the needle. Nellie would then circle another half circle away. and we'd keep at her, until she finally would relax and my wife could finish injecting the vaccine. We did a strangles vaccine, and that took some doing. This vaccine is applied with a 6 inch tube that you stick up the nose so that the vaccine can be absorbed by the mucus membranes. Nellie was not fond of this, but we did eventually get it done.

I have to take a second to brag on my wife here. The horses are my thing. My wife is sometimes intimidated by the size of them, and my horse Lily picked up on that and would give her hell. This REALLY made my wife intimidated. Well ... when she came out to do the shots, my wife was in Vet Tech mode. She did everything right. She was assertive, and confident. She applied pressure as part of desensitizing, and kept at it, even when Nellie would try to step forward on her. She would respond to those movements by popping Nellie in the nose and letting her know she was not to crowd her. She did great. My wife could be a wonderful horse trainer if she wanted. She is very good at communicating her will towards animals, and then helping the animal figure it out. I was very impressed with her.

So ... after the shots were done, I was very excited. However, Nellie was still a bit pushy, so I decided she was going back to being tied. I tied her up, and put a full hay bag in front of her with some water. And she forgot all about her cares as she went to munching on hay.

I checked on her multiple times through the night, and she was fine. Just standing there. The next morning I filled the hay bag again, and she was very grateful for that. I would also take the time to pet her and talk nice to her anytime I was within the vicinity.

That afternoon, I decided to have an official training session with her, to check her attitude. I grabbed my trusty carrot stick, and the training started. Nellie was a tad uneasy with the carrot stick at first, especially since this was the first time she had seen me with it. I rubbed her all over with it though, and she soon realized that it wasn't a scary thing, and that it was just an extension of me. We then went to work. The difference in attitude was amazing. I had 2 ears and both eyes the whole time. She never crowded me, or tried to rear back.I did some basic tossing of the carrot stick rope all over her for desensitizing, and she relaxed very quickly and was fine with it. I then led her, and backed her. She backed surprisingly well. I then decided to try and lunge her.

You can tell she had some time put on her at one point (the 60 days of training that I was told she had). I took the lead rope in my right hand, and pointed to the right with it, and clicked. She started walking right away, and did very nice circles around me, not pulling on the lead line, just doing as big of circles as I had lead line for. I was impressed. She remembered the queue for starting the lunge. She was VERY rusty on stopping though. I had to really get after her to stop. That's fine though, we can work with that. I then took the lead line in my left hand, and pointed left and clicked. She started walking to the left right away.

It was a great session. She did so well. She is a quick learner, and once you get her out of her lead mare/bitchy attitude, she's great. :) After this I went and tied her, and brushed her all over. I also worked with her feet. I lifted each one 3 times for short intervals. She was okay with all of them but her rear right foot, but by the 3rd try on that one, she was more at ease with it. I then applied the hoof pick to each of them and cleaned them out. She did just fine with this.

She had a wonderful afternoon. Her attitude was different, and it was fun working her. As a reward, she got turned back in with the other horses and the round bale. I think Rachael enjoyed having Nellie away from them. :) Those two just seem to hate each other.

So ... that's that. Good things are happening. Just gotta make sure I find the time to keep going.

Nellie in Time Out!

2011-02-12T14:50:00.002-06:00

Today was the first good day we've had in quite a while. Probably near 60 degrees outside, and despite a bit of mud, it's very pleasant. Today was the day for shots and coggins for all 3 horses, and for Rachael to get her shoes re-set. I figured things would go pretty good, and since Nellie is still new to me, I figured it might be interesting to see how she responds.

She haltered fine, and tied up good. Now, Nellie has a problem with being tied. She thinks that it is her right to side pass over the top of you while tied. She has no respect, and slowly I've gotten her to give heed to me. She also is used to being able to rear back and escape whatever is holding her. I saw this behavior when I was first trying to get her in the trailer, and so I only use a rope halter on her, and my lead rope has one of those "clinton anderson" latches with the twisty part. Nellie was awesome for me while I groomed her up. Cockleburrs in her ears, no problem. brushing her anywhere, go right ahead. Then came time for the shot. She lost it. She tried to side pass over my wife, and was met with my first. This led to a discovery. Rubbing on this horse, she is just fine. But if you tap your finger on her neck, she goes nuts. I literally watched her temperament get hotter and hotter as I just sat and did this to her.

This is difficult for me, because as I've been taught, I need to just keep doing that till she relaxes and realizes that it's no problem. It's a part of basic desensitizing. Well ... Nellie got hotter, and hotter and hotter! I was barely tapping on her neck. She was trying to run me over, and then reached the point where she was full on rearing back and trying desperately to escape. I kept going and going, and she got worse and worse. At this point, I nearly got pawed when she reared back one time, so I turned the taps into half tap half rubs and got her to stand still. I started tapping again, and she got all worked up again. (Note: by tap, I mean, barley touching her neck with your finger over and over and over.)

So ... I left her tied, and decided that we were not going to be able to do anything with her today. She's way too worked up, and I don't want to make "getting shots" a tramatic experience. I decided I'd leave her tied and let her get used to being tied up.

We turned our attention to Pam, and I tell ya ... the occasional spookiness Pam shows, is made up by how sweet and mellow she is when are brushing her. She relaxed completely, and didn't even flinch for her shots. Our Vet recommended we vaccinate for strangles this spring, and so we even did that for the first time. This is applied through a long tube in the nose. I thought for sure we'd get some bad behavior, but nope. Pam stood there and was a dream. Love that horse.

All the time this was going on, Rachael was getting her new shoes on. Now, my farrier found out that in his haste this morning, he grabbed size 6 nails, instead of 8's from his dark shed. This meant he ran out of nails. Rather than have him drive 45 minutes home, I drove over to a friends a few miles away and borrowed some from him.

Well ... while I was gone, I got a call from the wife. Nellie just broke the rope on her lead, and is running wild. "Ok ... I'll be back quick. Shut the gate and I'll take care of it in a minute". 2 minutes later ... RING. "Nellie ran up and down the pen, and got Pam all worked up and excited, and Pam ran right through the fence. Now they are both running around like crazy." Anyone who has horses may understand why the next words out of my mouth were cuss words. In my mind, there is nothing worse than HAVING to fix a fence. Yes, it's easy, but I have other stuff to do instead of worrying about that.

I got home, and Amanda and my farrier had gotten things ok. Pam was back in her stall, and my farrier had caught Nellie. Come to find out, she didn't break the rope ... her "clinton anderson approved" latch had just popped open when she reared back on it. Just my luck. Maybe I should just stick with bull snaps. Anyway ... I walked over to Nellie, and she was already pissy at being tied up. And like a good parent, the punishment came swift. "That's it young lady ... you are in time out!"

The farrier finisehd up Rachael, and Rachael got her shots. The entire time we just hear the sounds of Nellie pawing the trailer, and moving side to side over and over. We payed no attention to her. After that, I fixed the fence, and cleaned everything up. I walked over to Nellie with a brush, and brushed on her some. Then she tried to side pass over me again. So ... She got hit, and I decided that this horse is in an indefinite time out. I took a water container over and put it near her head where she can reach it. Tonight I'll hang a hay bag for her. She can stay there till she drops this attitude and realizes that I am the boss!

Don't you hate when you have to be the mean parent?!? That's my day today. Nellie is going to make a very sweet and fun horse to work. I really like her. We just need to reinforce in her mind that when it comes to human interaction, she is NOT the lead mare. I AM!

Oh ... and one more thing ... Oliver Jetton is the best draft farrier in North Texas!! (as far as I'm concerned). He's 60 years old and watching him do the work is awesome! The horse stays calm and relaxed the entire time. I'm so glad he's my farrier!

Great ride today!

2011-01-28T22:55:00.001-06:00

It's January and 60+ degrees in Texas. Gotta love it. I had to take the opportunity to get out and ride.

Rachael was happy for the attention. I had to re-clinch some of the nails in her front feet. I heard a clicking sound as she walked, and figured that wasn't good. I tightened up the nails as best I could, and hoped for the best. I think it's time to have the farrier back out to re-set the shoes. I sure wish I had the mastery of that skill to do it for myself (and the toned muscles to be able to do the job without being plain tuckered out).

The ride was good. Beautiful scenery, and nothing eventful happening. I really had a good time. I rode with 2 friends from my saddle club right here in Campbell.

After the ride, I got to help my friend Ann with her new horse. She rescued a horse about 6 months ago. It was in a field and just all ribs, so one day she saw someone in the field and she stopped and asked if she could have the poor starving horse. They agreed and so Ann has spent the last 6 months putting groceries in her belly. She's fattened up nicely. She's over 25 years old, and Ann is trying to see what exactly she can do. Ann is really good at working her horses, and she had lunged this horse without any problem. Well, today Ann wanted to try and actually ride her in a round pen. I could tell that both she and our friend Linda (who is also an AWESOME horse woman) were a little hesitant at the thought of hopping on this horses back for the first time. So I volunteered, cuz I'm young, stupid, and ignorant. ;)

She lunged great. When I stopped her from lunging in one direction, she immediately faced me, and then went the other direction. We all cracked a smile, cuz that behavior meant that this horse has been worked in a round pen quite a bit in her life. We slowly worked up and eventually I was in the saddle, and riding. She did really well. She had a funny gate that I sure wasn't use to. I was real proud of her. The only scary moment for me was once when I asked her to move and she busted out into a full lope. It wasn't her fault though. I tell my girls to step off by kissing at them. I've become aware that many trainers use the kiss noise to move a horse from a walk to a lope. So ... I figure this was the case. I had to make sure I clicked (which was hard for me).

Sure was a good day. Always is a good day when it's over 60, sun shining, and playing with horses.

Ground Driving Nellie

2011-01-11T12:24:00.001-06:00

It's pretty safe to say that if you give me a day with nothing scheduled, and the sun shining, I'll find a way to fit horses into it. This happened to me this past Saturday. I could've just gone on a wagon ride with the team, but decided instead to work Nellie, the new girl.

My goals were pretty simple. I wanted to attempt to get the harness on her. When it comes to my training, I try to make a goal that I feel fairly comfortable with, but I always leave it up to the horse. I want my training session to challenge them and make them learn something.

First things first ... I groomed her all up and made her all pretty. While doing this, I enforced our ground rules, and made sure she knew not to move in on me, or move while I'm working on her. She did this very well. On her feet, I've been lifting and quickly putting them back down. I'm still working up some trust with her on that, and am taking baby steps towards her just letting me have her feet completely.

Once all clean and ready, I brought over a collar. I put it in front of her face and let her smell it. Nellie didn't act scared of it at all. She mildly sniffed it, just cuz it was in front of her nose, but really didn't seem to care one way or the other that it was there. I rubbed it against her shoulder a bit, and she just sat there, rear foot cocked, totally relaxed. I unbuckled the collar, and put it on her without any problems. She didn't care at all.

Next I grabbed my nylon harness. I did the same thing with it and let her smell it. Once again she didn't care, and to my surprise, she had no issues with me throwing it over her back. She just stood there and showed me what cold blood really means. :)

It took me about 15 minutes to adjust the harness to fit her. Once it was on, I let her stand for a few minutes and just watched her. She was calm, and very relaxed. I then untied her and led her around a bit. The noise of the harness, and the jingling and clanking of the metal parts did not even phase her. I was very happy about this. I still hadn't challenged Nellie yet, so I decided to keep going forward.

Up next, I put the bridle on. She didn't object to this, and even after it was attached, she just stood there, chewing on the bit. I talked calmly to her since this was probably her first time with blinders on. She was pretty relaxed still, so I led her around with everything hooked up. She was perfect, and did exactly what I wanted.

Well ... the next step it so actually ground drive her. So I grabbed my single lines, and started hooking them up. Got it all on, and unhooked the lead rope. She stood perfectly. Then came the fun.

Nellie has never been worked on the ground before. This means that she had no idea what the cues meant. When I told her to step up, her ears cocked back and she knew I wanted something. We then began a battle to keep her from turning around. She wanted to face me, and so I had to really work the lines to keep her head facing away from me. It was during this, that I realized how valuable a crupper is on a harness! :) After she realized that she could not turn around and face me, she started just backing up fast. I kept telling her woah, but she wouldn't stop. I had to start smacking her in the butt hard with my lines to start letting her know that was not what I wanted from her. Finally she stopped and I let her sit for a minute. I then started telling her to step up and clicking and kissing at her, and she started backing up again. We did this for another five minutes, till she finally took a few steps forward. As soon as she did this, I let go of all tension on the lines, and told her what a good girl she was. She felt the looseness of the lines and immediately stopped. We went through this a few more times, and she finally got it. She started walking forward and I praised her and praised her.

She is really good on bit pressure, and turns her head at the slightest pressure. She also stops very good. One woah and some tension on both lines and she stops perfectly. If I was facing away from the other horses, she would step off very good. But when the other horses were in her sight, she was a bit of a butt. I worked her for about 30-45 minutes just ground driving. Lots of it was nice and she did really good. Occasionally she would forget what step up meant, and we'd wrestle to keep her facing away from me and going forward. I finally ended on a really good note where she went for an entire figure 8 on my property with no problems. Always gotta stop on a good point. At this point, I took the following picture.

After that, I praised her a ton, and pet her really good. I then left her tied, and went in the house to get myself a drink. It was good for her to stand with all the equipment on after a break. She stood well, and didn't get too impatient.

After that I took off the harness without any problems, groomed her again, and turned her out.

She did very well. I'm really excited about working her. She's smart, and she figures out what I want pretty well. I'm also happy about her response to pressure. We'll need a few more lessons, but I'm very happy with her. She was very stressed during Saturdays lessons, and the amount of sweat she had worked up showed that to me. After a few more of these sessions, she should be ready to pull something. I'm real happy with her!

Introducing Nellie

2011-01-03T13:07:00.001-06:00

A week and a half ago, I brought home a new horse. My family is getting concerned that I'm addicted to Belgians. This new horse is a 9 year old Belgian mare named Nellie. Nellie came to me from the Bev at the Double M Warhorse Ranch in Terrell, TX (www.doublemwarhorseranch.com). So as far as I can tell, here's her story.

Nellie used to be owned by a spur maker. The spur maker decided that he was going to make Nellie his riding horse. He paid someone to put 60 days on her, then started riding. Apparently on one ride, Nellie decided that she was not going to go through a gate. You can imagine what a spur maker might have on his heels, and he made use of them on Nellie. 2 days later he woke up in the hospital. After that, he wanted nothing to do with Nellie. Bev at the Double M Warhorse Ranch was contacted and took the horse in.

She's really pretty, and has some nice action in her trot. Her papers are pretty good too. Bev kept her for over a year as a brood mare, but right now with all the clydesdales she is bringing in, she needed the room. And that's how she ended up with me.

She's a gorgeous horse! I really love her. Her hair is really thick. She's a smaller build than my other horses, but is just as tall. She's got a whole lot of spunk to her too. Working with her reminds me a lot of working with Lily. It's been kind of nice.

I just got in from our first real work session. Ground manners and grooming were the topics. Ground manners are something we're going to really have to work into her. While tied, she moves around a lot and does not care if you are there or not. Today she responded well with me just popping her in the side when she would try to move in on me. She's really sweet, but makes you work for her love, and she's very responsive to pressure. I had a good time working with her.

My goals with her are to get her into hitch working shape. This would mean I could do 3 abreast for all my farm work, and I'd love to try and learn to drive a unicorn hitch with the 3 of them. I'm really excited about the future of this horse.

Nellie has also taken the lead mare spot here. She and Rachael can't seem to get along. They still get in fights occasionally. Rachael has let Nellie have the lead mare spot, but is not going along with it willingly. Pam on the other hand, is Nellie's new best friend. She is by her side constantly and with how submissive she is, Nellie has no problems with her.

More fun to come!

One Last Wagon Ride for 2010

2011-01-01T21:13:00.001-06:00

I've been off work this whole past week. I had planned to do a lot of horse stuff, and really start working Nellie, the new Mare I am working with. Sometimes, the weather can sure change plans in a hurry. This past week has just been nasty. Really cold temps and rain. The ground has been soup here, so there wasn't much that could be done outside. Friday Pat and I decided that only a hard rain would stop us from a wagon ride though.

The idea was for me to bring my horses over to his place, and then we'd hit the road. The nice thing about this, is that Pat has an extra wagon (the hay wagon I borrowed for the Greenville parade this past year), so I can do a wagon ride at Pats, without having to haul my wagon. Very nice! Pat was going to hitch his horses up as well, and then we'd hit the road. The long route we were planning was 7 1/2 miles, but we could scale it back if needed.

The first thing I did was call the girls out of the pasture. This was a bit of an ordeal. Due to having Nellie, the herd dynamics have changed. Nellie has established herself as the lead mare, and Rachael is not happy about it. Pam is a follower, and is now always side by side with Nellie.

Rachael was very easy to get. She walked right up to me almost asking to be taken away from Nellie. Pam was a bit different. She was fairly easy to get haltered, but once we started heading to the gate, ol' Nellie realized that we were going to go out of it. Suddenly she came trotting over, as if to make sure she wasn't going to be excluded. This lead to a bit of a struggle at the gate. Since I am working alone, I have to open the gate, walk through it with Pam, and then close the gate. This means that I can't have Nellie close by or else she could possibly squeeze out the gate as Pam is walking though on the lead rope. Eventually, I was able to get her to back away far enough that I got Pam out and closed the gate before Nellie could make a run on the gate.

It's been 2 weeks since I last put my hands on the girls due to Christmas and the crappy weather. The picture above shows them right out of the pasture (they look much better in the picture than up close though). Their coats were covered with mud and the rain had matted them up a bit. The show sheen I had put in their manes and tails for christmas has done wonderful at keeping the cockleburs out. It took me around 30 minutes to clean the girls up and get them harnessed (without bridles). Cleaning their feet was a task with all the mud we have right now.

This leads me to one of my ways of thinking when harnessing a horse. When it comes to bridles, I think of it as an extension of my arms in directing the way I want them to move. The blinders on them are telling the horse to trust me and not worry about the things I'm not allowing them to see. This means to me, that it is my job as a teamster, to make sure that nothing happens to scare the horses while those blinders are on. This can lead to a breach of trust, and I don't want that. So, because of all this, I only put on the bridles, if I'm actually about to drive them. Once I am done driving them, I take the bridles off immediately. I think of the bridle as a tool, not tack. I only use the tool when it is needed.

While I'm waxing on about things I do, I might add what I did next. Next I loaded the horses. Yes, I loaded them with harnesses on. Now I've heard all kinds of people say that you should never do this. I've heard all kinds of stories of things getting tangled up, caught, pinched, and on and on. For me, I have no problem doing this for a short trip. If I'm hauling somewhere that is 30 minutes or less, I have no problems harnessing them and trailering them. I have an open stock trailer, and the girls, due to their cold blood and laid back nature, just don't move that much when we're on the road. It's so much easier on my back to haul harness from the tackroom, to the horse, than from the tack room, to the truck; from the truck to the horse. The harnesses don't get tangled this way either.

So ... anyway, off to Pats house my son and I went. When I got there, Pat was hitched up and ready to go. I unloaded the horses, and tied them, and then we made sure the wagon I was going to use was ready to go. Once it was, I put the bridles on, and I ground drove the girls over into position on the wagon. Once they were hitched up, I drove them up to the truck and we threw some bales of hay on the wagon for me to sit on. The pictures below show this.

It was time to hit the road after that. We grabbed drinks, and used the restroom and we were off. My son had eyed Pat's wagon, and determined that the nice looking bucket seats up front looked more appealing than the hay I was going to sit on, so I got to ride alone while Pat got to enjoy the chitter chatter from my son.

The ride was awesome. I started off trailing Pat since he knew the way. Rachael and Pam were great. They were calm and cool while getting ready to go, and were pulling great on the road. Working them hard this past fall has given me a really nice team. I really enjoy driving them.

One part of the drive had us cross a very busy highway. Pat had some lucky timing and didn't have to stop. I was not so fortunate. Did I mention that this stop is on a hill? Rachael and Pam were leaning forward for all they were worth to keep us still at the stop sign and keep the wagon from rolling backward down the hill. I was very VERY pleased with them. Occasionally they would have to get new footings on their rear feet but they didn't move. After a few minutes, I had a window, and the girls were happy to get moving and get the wagon off that hill.

Not too long after that, Pat asked me if I would take the lead. Pat hasn't been working his horses too long as teammates, and they are still getting used to how things are supposed to work. One of the things Pat has had problems with in the past, is them wanting to run the entire time they are hitched to finish things up faster. Working from home can be difficult with this. The horses know that when you come back, they are done, and this can lead to some barn sour. Pat was hoping that with my girls taking the lead, that his girls would settle down and walk nicely. This was a great idea on Pats part, and it worked great. They even stood still when we stopped and acted like they enjoyed the break. The next two pictures are of one of these stops.

Have I mentioned how pretty Pat's horses are? Dolly is an AWESOME specimen of what a belgian horse should look like. She knows it too, and is a DIVA! :)

The rest of the ride was awesome. It was so much fun to just be out on the road, seeing the sights, and enjoying life at 2 miles per hour. As I was enjoying myself on this adventure, I think I really came to see what Bob Skelding see's in horse travel. For those of you who don't know, Bob Skelding is the wagon teamster and he's been traveling across the country by horse team and wagon. I met him as he came through Texas, and I've conversed with him enough since then to consider him a friend. (his website is www.wagonteamster.com) As I sat there driving the team, I really came to appreciate all the life you get to see when you travel this slow. Small little details in life that are normally missed when traveling by car. It's a beautiful thing, to have the chance to enjoy life at 2 MPH.

My last ride of 2010 was an awesome one. I'm thinking I need to do more of it. I wonder if I could talk my wife into a weeklong wagon ride someplace for our summer vacation instead of a plane ride and a hotel. On second thought, I think I already know the answer to that one. :)

Happy New Year everyone! Best wishes for 2011!

Sad Morning

2010-12-23T12:03:00.001-06:00

Today we lost Duncan. Duncan is my son's horse. He was a 35 year old quarter horse. He was fat and happy, and I cant' find anything un-natural that could've caused his death. I'm thinking it was just his time to go. It's been a somber morning.

Thank you Duncan, for taking such good care of my son. You showed him the joys of horse ownership, and gave him a love of horseback riding. We love you and will miss you greatly. Thank you for being the best first horse any kid could ask for. Wait for Riley on the other side ... he'll be anxious to ride you again.

Hauling a wagon and horses with one truck

2010-12-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Tonight was my last night for wagon rides. It was great. We were super busy, and the girls definitely earned their oats tonight. We did 6 trips tonight, which means the girls did over 7 miles of riding, with at least 10 people in the wagon per ride. They did awesome and I am so proud of them. Lots of people were loving on them!

So, tonight I didn't have my normal helpers with me. Jacob went out of town today, and my wife was busy. I was a one man show. I'm used to doing things on my own, because at home it's how I have to do everything. This time things were a bit different though. I had to get my wagon home from the rides, as well as the horses, and I'd prefer to do it in one trip. Good thing I had a hitch added to my trailer.

This first picture is of my setup. Good ol' blue up front, running as well as ever; the 16 foot gooseneck horse trailer next; followed by a 16 foot flat bed trailer to haul the wagon home. I was actually able to go 60 MPH with this rig and it was really stable. I'm sure I burned up a whole lot of diesel though.

This second picture is of everything loaded up and heading home for the night. Note that I even have lights on the 2nd trailer. I centered the wagon weight over the axles on the 2nd trailer, and it would start to move around a bit at 45MPH, so I just took the service roads and kept it at a low speed.

SUCCESS! I was able to haul both the horses and the wagon by myself, without inconveniencing anyone else. I'm feeling pretty proud!

First weekend of wagon rides

2010-12-12T20:57:00.001-06:00

Had an amazing weekend. In Greenville, TX, there is a historic street called Park Street. Every year almost all on the street decorates their houses up for the holidays, and they offer wagon rides. I did this last year one night with Lily. It's a really sweet gig for me. They are insured for all the events, and they take the money for the rides, and load/unload the wagon. I get to do the fun part, and just drive.

This year I was invited to give rides both nights, both weekends (fri/sat last weekend, and this next fri/sat). I have been very excited about this, and after the girls did so well in the parade, I was even more excited about it. I was asked to haul as many people as possible, so I had decided to use the hay wagon that I hauled for the parade. I figured I could get 12-14 people each load on that.

Friday night rolled around and we got hitched up and ready to go. I had my helper, Jacob, with me, and I was also babysitting my son and his cousin. Things got off without a problem. I had two happy kiddo's happily bundled in the hay behind me, Jacob sitting beside me watching the horses, and me behind the lines. The girls were stepping well, and not scared of any of the lights/carols/blow up displays/music. They really didn't care about anything. It was great. They were easy to drive, and even broke into a trot occasionally. I tell you, there is no prettier sight (my wife excluded), than a pair of Belgians trotting in step. Simply gorgeous!! The ride is about 1.25 miles long in all, and it takes about 30 minutes to get through it.

On the 4th lap, I started noticing Rachael. She was wearing out. When walking, Pam has a tendency to let Rachael step out and take the weight of the wagon. When trotting, Pam takes the lead and pulls most of it. I now have chains on the tree, so that once they reach the end of the chain, the single horse is pulling the entire wagon. I could see Rachael perspiring pretty good, and by the end of the 4th lap, she was breathing heavy. I gave them a 15 minute break when I got back, and it looked like I had one more ride to go to finish off the night.

That last ride was Rachael's last. She still gave me all she could (like any good horse), but during the second half, her back feet began to occasionally slip, and she started to wander just a tad from side to side. We finished that ride, and then got the girls home quickly to an extra large portion of feed (1 big scoop sweet feed, 1 big scoop whole oats, 1 handful of horse minerals, and 1/4 bale of hay per horse).

The next day, I thought and thought. Rachael went about 1 ride too many, and I intended not to let that happen again. Instead of the 14 people I thought I would be hauling on the hay wagon, it was more like 10 due to how the hay was configured. My red wagon easily hauls 8 people, and so I determined that it would be better on the horses, to haul my red wagon, rather than the big ol' hay wagon. This meant a lot of stress on saturday. I had to get my wagon there, move the garlands/lights/other Christmas decorations from the hay wagon to my red wagon, and be ready to haul people. Jacob and I made it happen, and the result was wonderful. The girls did another 5 rides and neither were wore out at the end. It was much easier on the horses, and we didn't experience a surge in people waiting from the decision. I was very happy about this. Once again, the girls were a dream to ride, and we got to enchant many a young person with the beauty and majesty a draft horse gives.

I have no pictures, but hopefully I'll get some soon. It's hard getting a good picture at night.

So ... as always, if you don't learn anything from your experiences, you're not doing it right. Here's my lessons from this weekend:

1) As a teamster, I am responsible for the welfare of my horses. Other people will want more and more and more from you, but it is up to you, to lay down the line as to what your horses can, and cannot do. Sometimes it means telling people no, or going against their wishes, but you can't sway from the well being of your horses!

2) Rachael is 16 years old. Friday night really showed me that Rachael is older than Pam. Rachael still has MANY good years ahead of her, but that night did remind me that she is getting up there, and that I need to particularly pay attention to her. She's the kind of horse that would follow me till she collapsed, so it is up to me to make sure I stop her when she needs it.

3) Different types of wagons serve different purposes. A big heavy hay wagon, is great for a parade, or a single hay ride with a big load of people. It is not good for a full night of ride after ride after ride. This basically equates to 3 hours of straight walking, pulling the wagon. For this, you want as light a wagon as possible, so that the horses are pulling people weight, not wagon weight. (If that makes sense).

Not a bad weekend. The girls ended up pulling the wagon for 6.25 miles in a 3 hour span of time each night. I can't ask for more.

Also ... I'm VERY glad that they both have shoes! I could not do this without each horse having iron on their feet.

This next friday and saturday I'll be doing the same thing. Looking forward to it. So much fun!!

Pam has shoes!

2010-12-07T09:32:00.001-06:00

So yesterday I had two good things happen. 1) I found a farrier that will shoe drafts, and 2) I found a farrier that was able to shoe Pam without stocks!!

When I got Pam, she would not let anyone lift her feet. I’ve been working with her for the past year on this, and I am at the point now, where I can clean out each hoof for as long as I need. She’s not a real witch about it, but after a few minutes, she does tire of it and her true mare self comes out.

The farrier is Oliver Jetton. Oliver is amazing at his job. He’s 60 years old, but he can still shoe a draft with no problems. He brought a young apprentice with him and between the two of them, they did 4 shoes on a draft in 2 hours. Pretty good!

Rachel went first. She was pretty decent, and the most noteworthy event from her trimmings was when Oliver asked me if she was walking bad a month or two ago. I said yes, and explained that she was walking really delicately on hard surfaces. He showed me on her sole where bruises were. He said it takes 2 months for a bruised sole to come to the surface where you can see it on the sole of a hoof. So, it was kinda cool to see the areas where Rachael was sore. He said it looked like the bruising was from walking on rocks. Rachael’s hooves are growing out nicely, and she had a lot more sidewall to nail the shoes to this time around.

Next came Pam. This was where I got worried. I just told him I really wanted the fronts done and that I didn’t know how cooperative she would be for the rears. Oliver had brought shoes with him that were already set up with Borium. Oliver took over and trimmed up the first front hoof. Pam was great for the trim, and then when they were notching the front of the hoof for the toe clip, she started to get a little intolerant. This is where Oliver’s experience came in. Before she got too antsy and we got too agitated with her, he stopped everything and got out a 2 foot long piece of small nylon rope that was hooked to a lead rope. He then said that we were going to calm Pam down with it. The young apprentice told me that I was going to be impressed by this trick.

Each end of the small rope had loops in it. Oliver looped one rope around the halter on the right side, then he ran the other side through the halter on the other side. Then with a sweeping motion of his hand, he pulled on the rope, and slid the rope so that it was running up between Pam’s upper gum and her upper lip. He then stood there and pulled gently on the lead rope with that rope on it. He then explained to me that up on the top of the gum between the lip and gum, are some endorphin glands, and that putting pressure on them causes endorphins to release into the horse, basically, tranquilizing the horse naturally. I had never heard of this, and was a little skeptical. I was soon corrected.

Five minutes later, Pam’s head began to droop and her eye lids began getting heavy. Oliver and Dakota (the apprentice) got back to work and the next thing I knew, Pam was shoed. I was very impressed and thought this was a very neat trick. I took some pictures of it so that I could show y’all. Look at Pam’s head and eyes in the pictures to see how relaxed she was feeling.

I was very impressed with Oliver. He really knows his stuff, and his natural horsemanship ways are great. He does not get mean with a horse, even when they are acting out. He’s a true master of his trade and I’m very glad I found him as a farrier. Oliver works out of Winsboro, which is the Sulphur Springs area. I would recommend him to anyone.

Greenville Christmas Parade 2010

2010-12-05T22:25:00.002-06:00

Friday night was the G-ville Christmas parade, and boy was it awesome. I'm still in awe at how well it went. I've found in life that it seems like very few things actually happen like you plan them. When they do, it's definitely a time for celebration. All my work this year, getting the girls ready, paid off big time on Friday night.

I arrived at the parade route right as the sun was setting. I was one of the first there, and it was nice to get the trailer backed in before the sun went down. I then unloaded the girls, and tied them to the trailer. Then the beautification started. I had a few hours to kill before we needed to get going, so I took my time and brushed each horse very thoroughly. I also put a little show sheen in their manes and tails to really make all that flaxen hair look pretty.

Following that, on went the harnesses. It was after dark, and I had forgotten my flashlight, so it was kind of interesting doing it by light of the lights inside the trailer. It's a good thing I am very familiar with each setting on the harnesses. I had no problem getting things set where they needed to be.

In hitching, with regards to bridles, I make it a point to only put on bridles when I have to. I know lots of people just always put them on and leave them on the entire time the horse is hitched. I guess I view it as an extension of my arm and hands. For me, it is used for input to the horse, to tell it what I want done. While a horse is tied, with nothing to do, I leave them off since I obviously don't want them to do anything. I know the horses feel more comfortable with this, and due to horses being predatory animals, they are a little more at ease being able to see all around. Just my 2 pennies on that.

I also put out the hay bags and the horses sat there, all pretty, happily munching on hay.

My wife showed up with the wagon, and I helped get that all set up with the team pole and everything. At this point, I saw what turned out to be the only other wagon in the parade. A guy had a great looking set of sorrell mules that were matched well. These mules were pulling a small, 4 rubber wheeled wagon. This wagon was then hitched to a grain cart that had been modified as a people mover with benches on the inside. It was a real long hitch, and the mules definitely had their work cut out for them.

Within the hour, the staff of Turtle Creek Veterinary Medical Center had showed up. We had lots of happy kids all dressed up, and employee's with their dogs. The wagon was definitely bustling with activity at this point.

The wagon full of Turtle Creek Veterinary Medical Center staff, family, and dogs

My gorgeous wife and our Great Pyrenees.

I got the bridles on the girls, and did a few laps ground driving with them and then tried to back the girls up to the wagon. Due to the hustle and bustle on the wagon (kids and lights everywhere), the girls refused to back up. Instead, they would each turn in, and kick their rear ends out away from each other. They flat out refused to back up even after the 3rd try. This meant we had to pull the wagon up to the horses, which wasn't a problem.

Rachael and Pam, with me on the lines

After that, we walked the horses to our waiting spot ... and waited. One thing you do a lot of in parades, is waiting. I had my header, Jacob with me at this point, and I had planned on him standing holding Pam's lead rope. I had anticipated that Pam might need a little help behaving while standing. He stood next to me, and we sat there, just waiting. I was in awe at how relaxed the horses were. They didn't seem to care about any of the stuff around them. They were calm, and not antsy to get moving or anything. This really surprised me. Especially when this "laid back" attitude continued after the parade started getting under way. The flashing lights of police and emergency vehicles, the loud christmas songs playing, the loud cars, 4-wheelers, and tractors all did nothing to alarm the horses. I was truly surprised by this. (AND VERY PROUD!!)

Waiting to get the okay to go.

Rachael on my right, Pam on my left. So proud of them!!

Once all the motorized floats had gone, it was time for the horses. We made our way down the road and it was smooth sailing. The girls didn't step a single foot out of place. It was easy driving, and I was grinning ear to ear. This was fun driving. The stress levels were as low as could be for this kind of situation, and it truly was a delight driving them. I love watching the kids, gaze at these horses and just smile. On a side note ... I only heard 2 people yell how nice my "clydesdales" are. LOL. When I hear this now, I just smile and appreciate their well meant compliments. :) I did hear one guy yell how nice my Belgians were. I definitely gave him a "Thank You" and a wave.

Me and Jacob

After the parade, we unhitched, loaded up, and got on down the road without any problems. Once again, this was truly an amazing night. No problems at all, and lots of good/fun times. This is what it's all about. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it's so awesome to see your plans work out. For the past 6 months, all the work I've been doing, was to solidify my team into a safe team that I could use for public use. The girls showed me in this parade that they can be trusted to listen to me in adverse situations.

The next two weekends I will be giving wagon rides at Park Street in Greenville Texas on Friday and Saturday nights. If anyone is in the area and would like a nice hay ride, come on by. We'll glady haul you down the road and I'll probably talk your ear off while we do. :)

Parade Practice

2010-12-02T22:09:00.001-06:00

Tonight I took the girls to down town Greenville, and we practiced for the parade tomorrow night. I haven't driven the girls at night, or in the middle of town, so I figured I'd better be safe then sorry. I've also only pulled the big hay wagon one time with them, so some more miles in front of that would be nice too.

I LOVE draft horses! These girls didn't even bat an eye at anything. They stepped around a few manhole covers, and Pam did a tiny side step away from a Christmas tree that was close to her, but that was it. They were calm and fun to drive! I got some pictures. They're a bit blurry, sorry. Tomorrow night will be the parade. I'm excited to do this with a team for the first time.

Getting ready for the Christmas season

2010-11-27T19:06:00.000-06:00

Well ... it's been a while, so I figured I would give an update on how things are going at my place.

The biggest thing of note, would be Pam's feet. I have learned that 10 miles on a horse with good barefoot hooves is too much. For a few days after my last 10 mile trip, Pam acted really sore on her front feet. I think by the end of that trip, I had bruised her frogs on the front. She was very very tender for a week after the ride, and at one point, she was walking with noticeable pain in every step. Add to that, that my water line decided to leak near their pen, so they are walking in mud frequently. I have had to be vigilent with keeping feet clean to keep thrush from happening.

I had a farrier come out 2 days ago for a trim on Pam and my 30+ year old Quarter Horse. Ummmm ... yeah. It's pretty apparent when someone has no clue how to work with draft horses. He did an A+ job on the quarter horse, but when he turned his attention to Pam, he acted shy and timid. Pam picked up this right away and gave him hell. I ended up having to help him hold her rear feet up with the use of a rope. He almost left without finishing the job. I don't think I'll have him back out. Finding a farrier who is willing to do drafts is turning out to be quite a task.

Rachel's feet are doing awesome. The shoes are doing exactly what I wanted. They have stayed on very good, and her hooves are looking great. She's had them for 6 weeks now, and soon I'll need to get her re-shod. Guess I better start searching for a farrier to do that too. ;)

Christmas season is on me, and that means I've been really busy getting ready for the Greenville Christmas parade. I am very happy with my team, and think they are going to do very well. The wagon I am pulling in the parade is a big 7' by 16' hay wagon. My friend Pat is letting me borrow this wagon. I brought it home yesterday, and went to work tigthtening up all nuts/bolts/screws/nails. This wagon has been sitting in a field for a bit, so I snugged everything up nice. The team pole that came with it was 8 1/2 feet long. I knew just from looking at it at home, that it was too short to work with a draft.

Today was my day to try the team with the wagon. I hitched them up, and saw that my fears were true. The team pole was too short. What this means, is that when the horses were walking forward, the yoke was pulling back on the front of them, and when I was stopping, the tree's were right up on their legs. Pam did not like this too much, and got a little prancy with her feet.

Now I had a job to do. I needed a longer team pole. I thought of what I could do, and decided to see if my team pole from my wagon might by chance happen to fit. By looking at it, it looked like it would put the horses 3 foot further in front of the wagon then I wanted, but it seemed like it was my only option. I started to hook it up, and to my surprise, my entire team pole slid right inside the square tubing on the wagon. Awesome! I just drilled a hole in it, so that I could secure it properly, and hitched up the girls. Away we went, on a short mile ride just to make sure they were fine with the noises and weight of this new hay wagon. It went great. I was on the freeway service road for 100 or so feet, and someone pulled over and was taking pictures of me and my son with a really nice (big) camera. We smiled and waved and felt like celebrities. :)

It looks like we're ready to go. Next friday night will be the Greenville night parade, and the two weekends after that, I will be doing wagon rides on Park Street in Greenville.

After seeing what the road did to Pams feet, I have decided to order some boots for her. I am going to get some just for the front feet. I am actively searching right now. Pam's front feet measure ~8" x 8". I'm having trouble finding a boot that will even fit. Wish me luck.

Horse Hay raking

2010-11-18T08:38:00.000-06:00

So my good friend Pat had his daughter take some video of him raking his hay field with the horses. She just posted it to youtube, so I thought I would share the link. They did a great job. Next time Pat and I are going to try running 3 or 4 abreast and dragging two of those hay rakes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QVbd7cZ3Mo

A great day of driving!!

2010-11-06T20:51:00.001-05:00

This has been a very busy week. I have been working frantically to get a few last minute touches done on the wagon. After a week of detective work, I finally found seals for the hubs on the wagon, and this morning at 6AM, I got up and went to work repacking the bearings, putting in new seals, and putting the wheels back on the wagon. I also got a pioneer wooden double tree and yoke that I put on the wagon too. They look great and I'm very happy with them.

So today I had one objective. Go and visit my friend Jodi with the horses. Jodi is a fellow teamster and our boys play together. Jodi lives 5.2 miles away from me. The plan was: Drive to Jodi's, let the boy have some fun with his friend, then drive home. I figured it would take me almost 2 hours to travel the 5 miles. Today I also had a friend coming along. A 15 year old young man I go to church with is going to start riding with me and be my header for the parades and wagon rides I have coming this holiday season. His name is Jacob, and he has a real love of horses. Today was to be his first day going out with me.

Hitching was easy and went well. Pam is really getting good at it. I can now hold her feet up and clean them for as long as I want. It's awesome to think that this is the same horse who just 6 months ago wouldn't let me lift her feet at all. She also is letting me put the collar over her head much easier now. It's nice! Rachel was the pro that she always is.

We hitched up, and hit the road. Heading out to Jodi's, I let the horses walk most the way. I was concerned about wearing the horses out and still needing them for the return trip. I ended up trotting them over ditch overpasses and around corners. I wanted to make sure I stayed out of the way of cars. The road I was on has a speed limit of 65MPH, so I did my best to keep there from being any confrontations with cars. Mission accomplished!

I got to Jodi's in just under 2 hours. I unhitched the girls, and tied them. Jodi's husband Paul is awesome! He helped me to put some welds on the brake skids so that it gives better braking. He also educated me on farm stuff. He told me that my wagon is made on a Case running gear. Also ... the wheels that I've had a hard time finding rims for, happen to be farm implement rims, not automotive rims. Paul gave me an extra he had. Paul and Jodi are very good people! I am very blessed to have them as friends. I really have a good time shooting the bull with Paul.

At 4PM, I decided I needed to hit the road. I wanted to make sure I was off the road by nightfall. So off we went. I tell ya ... when you know you don't need to save the horses for a return trip, things go much quicker. The horses seemed very willing to move, and we trotted a lot. We got home in an hour. Not too shabby! Got the girls unhitched and out of their harnesses and gave them a very hearty meal with an extra flake of hay each for a job well done.

Things were great. The horses were very well behaved. The only thing that made Pam nervous was other horses. Any time horses in neighboring fields would run up, she would get all prancy and light footed. It was great though and I get more and more confidence in the team the more we do. When I got home, I let Jacob drive the last half mile. He did pretty good, and learned right away how important proper line tension is. :) (the picture attached is Me and Jacob in the wagon)

So ... what did I learn today? Well ... I learned how important having chains from each side of your evener to the wagon are. Due to Rachael stepping out more than Pam, My new pole got a little bent and twisted. Pam would hand back, and Rachael would get a foot in front, and the yoke would put tension on the pole. If you have chains attached from each side of the evener, it keeps the horses from getting too far out in front of the other horse. I need to get some of those! :)

Gotta love days like today. Sunshine, cool breeze, wide open spaces, and the sound of horse hooves on the road. It was a great day!

Using the team on the road, and pictures from the past.

2010-11-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

I had such a great weekend!! Last Friday night, I went up to Roger's place and picked up my wagon. Roger made some modifications to the wagon for me. When I saw his work in person, I was in awe. Roger has such a talent at creating things with metal. The way he engineered my brakes was perfect. I'm so happy with his work.

I bet you can guess what I did Saturday. :) I went out on the road with the girls. Roger spaced the team pole perfectly. It was easy to hook up the girls and then I hit the road. I ended up driving 5 miles, which took 1 1/2 hours. Anyone Traveling east on I-30 past Campbell probably saw me. It was a great day and I'm sure you could see my grin from miles around.

I will probably use both the girls in the Greenville Christmas parade. To make sure I do this without a problem, I'm going to see about getting a header to ride with me. His job will basically be to be ready to jump out of the wagon, and grab Pam's lead rope, if required. Rachael is bomb proof, but I'm cautious with Pam. I had a hard time predicting her behavior in stuff and am going to make sure that I do everything I can to ensure safety.

A friend sent me some pictures this weekend. This past summer, I went on a pioneer handcart trek re-creation with my church. I was a horse wrangler and helped take care of all the horses being used. They also used me as an Indian chief in one of the skits they did.

One evening, a bunch of us horse people went swimming with the horses. This was the first time for me and Rachael, but she did great. Enjoy the pics!

My wagon has been updated!!

2010-10-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

I’m so excited that I had to share. A few weeks back, I took my wagon to my friend Rogers for some work. I needed some brakes fabricated for it, and a team pole made so that I could have both my girls pull the wagon. I got the call and some pictures last night letting me know that it’s done. Roger took it out with a team of hafflingers to test it out and it is working great. I am so excited! I can’t wait to go pick it up. Hopefully I’ll do that this weekend. Enjoy!

My first Wedding, Driving A Horse

2010-10-19T12:45:00.002-05:00

So this past Saturday was a huge day. I provided a horse and carriage for my friends wedding. I'd never done this, so I really got exposed to all that goes into this kind of event. I had my wife and son along as help, and it was greatly appreciated. Also, my wife decided that she was going to let my son be the photographer, so most of the shots are from him.

Saturday morning was spent making Rachael pretty. She got a nice bath, and I even applied a nice coat of show shine to her. Her hair was flowing magnificently! :) I used clippers to trim her beard and nose hairs/whiskers. I also trimmed her bridle path short. She was looking really nice. Want proof? Queue the first picture:

Riley picking some small leaves off Rachael

I unloaded Rachael and tied her to the trailer. Riley then started brushing her, and getting her ready for me to harness. While he did that, I unloaded the carriage from the trailer.

Attaching the shafts to the carriage

Once the carriage was ready to go, I turned my attention back to Rachel. Time to get her harness on. This went fast, and in no time, she was ready to go.

Harnessing the horse, with the help of my son

Putting the bridle on Rachael, with a view of the carriage

Rachael, ready to get some pictures taken of her

The carriage. Loaned to me by my good friend Roger. It's very nice!

Once Rachael was ready, the bride came over, and they took pictures with Rachael. The bride even got brave, and wanted to sit on Rachael. Rachael did not object to this. A normal horse may spook to a woman wearing a dress puffed up the size of a small car, but not a draft horse. :) Rachael did very good. She was very laid back today, which I was very grateful for. (the night before at the practice, she was pretty antsy, so I was happy she was being easy).

Once the bride had all the pictures she wanted, it was time for me to work the wiggles out of Rachael. I hooked her up, and off we went. We drove about 15 minutes down the road, and I had her in a nice trot. She comes to work so easy, that it makes me very grateful for her. We turned around, and then headed back. The way back was a gentle rise the whole way, which put a nice load on Rachael. When we got back to the wedding, she was more than willing to stand.

I'd like to take a moment to say how AWESOME Rachael did with shoes. She was a different horse. She wasn't timid on the road, or cautious. She stepped out real nice, just like she does in the field. I'm very grateful to my friend Cody for taking on the job, and helping me out. Also, I noticed that shoes with drilltech applied to them do not make a clip clop sound on the road. You can actually hear that drilltech grinding into the road. No chance of slippage on these things!

After a nice ride down the road, its time to begin the process of waiting

One back to the wedding, I tied her to a tree, and I changed into my wedding duds. This was a country wedding, so I dressed for the occasion; white shirt, and black wranglers.

Me and Rachael, in my wedding clothes.

Once I was changed, then came the next part. WAITING. We stood in that one spot and waited, for 30 minutes. I wasn't really excited about this, but, I figure you gotta roll with the punches on this kind of stuff. Wedding was supposed to start at 4PM, I was supposed to be there to pick up the bride at 3:55PM. I actually picked up the bride at 4:30PM. Good thing Rachael didn't mind standing.

Still waiting. :)

After the wait, we finally got the wedding on the go. The bride came out, and she, her father, and her son hopped in the carriage. Then we headed off to the wedding. It was a nice peaceful drive there.

This wedding was set up in the middle of a 5 acre field. In the center of the field, was a single, HUGE, pecan tree. The hitching post, and all chairs were set up in the shade of the tree. It was beautiful. We drove out to the place, and it was so pretty.

Waiting during the ceremony

I dropped the bride off, and then, once she had exited the carriage, I hopped down, and held Rachael's lead rope.

I should take a minute to brag on Rachael. I was very nervous to see what her reaction would be to the crowd. I figured when they all stood for the bride, she may spook a little. To my surprise, this didn't bother her at all. She really didn't care one bit. She stood like a lady, and was very well behaved (besides relieving her bladder during the ring ceremony) LOL. The only time she got a little cautious, was when the applause came right after the wedding. She wasn't too sure about that. I had to keep reassuring her that it was okay. She didn't spook enough to move the carriage though. Her head was as high as it can get, and she was looking at the crowd as they cheered.

We loaded up the happy couple, and we went for a loop around the pasture. It was awesome. I then brought them back to the crowd. Instead of having a reception where they stand in a line to greet everyone, they dismissed the audience by row, greeting each person who came. I thought this was kind of a cool idea, and saved the couple from standing in a boring line during the reception.

The next thing on my list, was to load up the happy couple, and take them up and give them a grand entrance to the reception. They neglected to tell me there would be 45 minutes of picture taking between that time though. I passed the time by talking with people who came to admire the horse. Lots of kids came over, and loved all over Rachael. One of my favorite parts about doing this kind of stuff is letting kids pet the horse. They are so excited, and just have this look of awe. I love it.

After the pictures were done, I loaded up the happy couple, and away we went. I dropped them off at the reception, to some more applause, and then I headed to my trailer.

In no time at all, everything was unhitched, and loaded back onto/into the trailers.

This was a very cool experience. I really had a good time. All the preparations I took paid off big time. Rachael is awesome in shoes, and she performed perfectly. I wouldn't mind doing more of these! I'll try to post some actual pictures of us driving if I get some from the bride and groom. As you can tell, my 7 year old photographer kind of crapped out on me. Guess I should've given him a bag of skittles or something. :)

Speaking of my camera man, something funny happened at the wedding. At the reception, a friend noted the margarita machine, and tells my son that they are serving "slushies". So my son gets all excited and he seriously started burning the sugar from it before it even entered his body. We then, had to be the mean parents, and try to explain to him that he couldn't have one of those adult "slushies". The following picture is the aftermath. LOL

Wedding Practice

2010-10-15T23:04:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture taken tonight at the wedding rehearsal. Tomorrow should be fun!

Rachael Gets Shoes

2010-10-12T21:14:00.002-05:00

The blog today is going to be a bit different. Instead of a formal write up, I'm just going to do a picture story. Enjoy!

Here is the front left hoof, before anything was done.

Starting off, trimming the feet. See how bad the sidewalls are?

Cody, shaping the first shoe

Both feet after the trip, before the shoes.

Cody burned on the shoes. This is him fitting the front right after this was done.

Nailing the first shoe on.

Cody had to really do some work because of all the sidewall that was missing.

Fitting the front left shoe.

Once the shoes were nailed on, he fletched the nails (bent the ends downward)

Front feet finished

Cody shaping the rear shoes

A great shot of burning the shoe on. That smoke stinks!

Fitting the rear left shoe

Rear left with the shoe on

Fitting the rear right

Final step of filing down the hoof and nails.

Got my drilltech shoes for Rachael

2010-10-05T17:45:00.001-05:00

I got my new shoes for Rachael in the mail today. I chatted with Bob Skelding (the wagonteamster) about the shoes he uses. He recommended drilltech shoes, and referred me to Graber Steel & Fab. THey are in Oden, IN and took my credit card over the phone and shipped UPS. I'm very happy with them. Now I just need to get these shoes nailed onto Rachael.

Here's a pic of the size 7 fronts. The Drilltech is the stuff that is welded onto the toe and heel. Very good traction, and very long life!

More pics from last saturday

2010-09-27T20:39:00.001-05:00

Roger sent me some great pics from last saturday, so I figured I'd share them. Thanks Roger!

Also ... does anyone know a good farrier that shoes drafts in NE Texas? Looking for someone who's good and knows their way with a draft hoof, not just someone who can tack on a shoe. All help is appreciated.

Do you think this boy is having a good time?

He had to take some pretty big steps to keep up.

Me and my team.

Driving 3 up

Jerry driving 3 up.

Jerry kept them pretty straight.