Working horses

[talkingamoeba]

Anyone here do the work, that you can't do yourself, with horses? I am just looking for insights etc... thanks

[GingerN]

Originally Posted by talkingamoeba

Anyone here do the work, that you can't do yourself, with horses? I am just looking for insights etc... thanks

What kind of work are you talking about-breaking and training, or actually using the horses to do a job, say plowing, logging or cattle work?

[talkingamoeba]

Originally Posted by GingerN

What kind of work are you talking about-breaking and training, or actually using the horses to do a job, say plowing, logging or cattle work?

in my case both, I started 11 years ago with a mortgage and a team +1. I didn't know how to do the farm work with them as a lot of it was new to me and it was easier to use the tractor. Well, the mort. is done, the tractor is broken and the team +1 is now 1+7, yes 8 untrained horses. I have a 50 ft wood-pole round-pen that I should have finished today. I want to go from where I am, to plowing w/them by March. I only ever spread manure, skidded fire-wood, and plowed with the team before they died. Any advice is welcome.

[stranger]

I use them to haul logs-wood out, wish i had kept the mules, they're more sure footed on my steep hills.

[Old Vet]

To break the horses you need to start it soon. Just get their confidence up and not rodeo them at all.You can get them used to the harness by letting them smell it and then put a little on and let them get comfortable with it then add some more. IF they resist it you are going to fast. The first thing is to get them comfortable with it touching them in various places. You can do this by getting a small piece and touching them in the back and flanks. Then add a little more each time. Putting a color on them and letting them wear it for a couple of days.Then put some more on the collar and let them wear it for most of the day then add more until they are comfortable with it. Do not get mad and jerk them around. It takes a long time to get them used to obeying your commands. You will not break their spirit and they will do most anything to please you.

[Minelson]

I make my horse Spencer help with the chores...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8...D550/ry%3D400/

[Ralph in N.E.Oh]

You don't say where you are from, but I think, given your experience, you would be better off getting rid of your 8 horses and buying a well broke team of work horses. They will teach you ...

I farm with my horses and have for many years. There are quite a few resources out there, but finding a mentor who lives near you is the best option.

Good luck

[haypoint]

I've had work horses for 30 years, Percherons. I've used them in field work, such as pulling a disc harrow, planting with a grain drill and loading baled hay.
Most of the time I've worked them in the woods, skidding logs and hauling firewood. A few times, I've done hay rides and sleigh rides.
One horse will do all trhe work an average homesteader needs done. Most of the time I just use one horse in the woods. One horse can pull a large log or a big pile of firewood.
The current Winter issue of Draft Horse Journal has a long, detailed article about breaking horses.
For years I broke my own horses. Recently, I had a couple Amish boys board and break a horse for me.
Starting off with a quiet well broke horse is best, however, people sell horses that they no longer want and you may lack the wisdom to figure out why, until it is too late.
Pioneer in Ohio, make a variety of horse drawn farm implements and sleds and carts and wagons.
I would do just about any farm task with horses, EXCEPT plowing. The soil is clay and plows too hard for a team. To hitch 5 or 6 horses to do a couple acres a day isn't worth the effort. Keeping more than two horses on a small acreage is a waste.
After years of working horses in the woodss, I took my 4 wheel drive tractor with a loader to the woods, to get firewood. I was there four hours. In that time, I was stuck twice, tore up the trail and had to cut trees I didn'ty want to cut just to get turned around. From then on, when I went to the woods, the tractor stayed home.

[Tom in TN]

Talking,

I've never tried to work horses, but I've messed with them for many years. You probably know this, but for what it's worth, be careful. Animals are unpredictable at best. I've been bitten, kicked, stepped on, thrown off, run away with, and generally terrorized so many times from horses, I can't even remember most of them.

If I didn't love the danged critters so much, I'd never mess with another one.

Never forget that they are huge and strong compared to you.

Good luck,

Tom in TN

[jennigrey]

bI have an almost-team of Percheron mares - one that I bought green-broke and one that I trained myself. I say "almost-team" because I use them single almost exclusively, although I have hitched them as a team maybe a dozen times. They are still mostly "two horses" rather than a team.

I second the advice offered by Ralph in N.E.Oh.

Get rid of the 8 unbroke horses and get yourself a broke team. Find someone local to mentor you in evaluating teams for sale. It's nice to have someone around to help you when you hit a snag with your agricultural work. Horses are pretty dang cheap right now. Buyer's market. Bad news for you when you have 8 head to sell off but good news when you're shopping for your team.

I recommend that you get Lynn Miller's "Work Horse Handbook" and also "Training Workhorses/Training Teamsters"

http://www.smallfarmersjournal.com/.docs/pg/books.html

Another option is to find someone to evaluate your 8 head and see if they are good enough to maybe send three of them off to a trainer.

If you're dead-set on training your own team, well... good luck to you. It isn't a job for the faint of heart or the impatient. The Lynn Miller books are a great resource for starting your own team. Having the "plowing by March" deadline can get you rushing and overlooking warning signs. Pay attention to your animals and be realistic about your abilities. They may not be ready by March - be open to that possibility and don't hitch them to anything before they're ready or you could ruin the horses, equipment, fences, etc.

A good team takes time to make but just an instant to ruin. Don't let your deadline undo all your hard work.

[talkingamoeba]

I am well aware of the dangers, as I took a full front foot blow to the chest about 7 weeks ago. 2 more inches toward center and it would have done me in. After 3 weeks of no work and a couple more of getting back in the swing and I decided the horses would either earn their keep or would go
"down the road." So then I built the round-pen, 7 afternoons worth of cutting poles and building and as of last night I have a 50 foot round-pen. I have all the equipment I need and it is in working order. I have around 180 acres tillable, 100 pasture and the rest is woods. I figure when it's planting time 8 head would be about right if they are trained. I am convinced they are the solution farming -wise to the oil problem (oil being unsustainable) thanks everyone for your input

[SFM in KY]

We did most of the ranch work with one team of horses when I was growing up. One team could do everything ... were using a small Ford tractor for some things ... to pull up the overshot stacker and plowing/cultivating ... but prior to the tractor, one team did everything, plus a single horse for the stacker.

I've driven horses and done basic "green training" for driving (buggy not draft) but when I decided to get a work horse for the farm here in KY I found a fully trained Haflinger mare with several years of driving experience. I've trained a lot of saddle horses and a couple of buggy horses ... but didn't feel qualified ... or safe ... with a green draft pony.

The team we had on the ranch harrowed and then pulled the drill to plant grain in the
spring ... did the mowing and raking and were on the buckrake for haying season all summer. In the winter they pulled the bobsled/ hayrack to feed 80 to 100 head of cattle all winter.

We don't do any farming here now but the Haflinger mare (14 hands 800 lbs) pulls a "mud toboggan" all winter to feed the horses out in the pastures and hauls the logs out of the uphill "wood lot" down to the house where they are cut up for firewood. We've used her for harrowing the pastures and I'm planning to rig a packsaddle arrangement so she can carry the weed sprayers while I spray fencelines. Almost everything here is on a sidehill, with trees backing up a lot of it and you can't get through with a tractor.

Unless you have actually had a lot of experience with actual driving horses I would second the advice Ralph gave ... sell what you've got ... maybe keep one to "practice" on and eventually keep as a backup ... and buy a good, reliable, well trained team. For one thing, by far the best and easiest way to teach a horse to be a useful working part of a team is to have a well trained horse to hitch the green horse to ... they will learn more from an experienced work horse partner than a trainer can ever teach.

[haypoint]

If you had 6 or 8 well broke horses, you could do some plowing. Plowing with horses is more difficult than plowing with a tractor. I would recommend you plow with a tractor and learn the basics that way, before starting out on a sulky plow. Straight rows is an art. Without skill you'll just be tearing up sod in a random patern.
Maintaining 8 horses for a tillage job that only lasts a few weeks is wasteful. Better to market the hay that many horses would eat and hire a neighbor to do the plowing.
I'm not against the idea of a horse or team to do some work around the farm.
To me, plowing with horses is just too inefficient and maintaining 8 horses is a waste of effort.
If nothing else, it'll teach patience.

[SFM in KY]

You might be interested in taking a look at the blog I've got up with some experiences I remember about work horses on the ranch plus pictures and what I'm doing with what I consider to be my "ideal" small draft horse for a small farm.

http://kaleidoscopefarm.blogspot.com