This has been some spring in North East Texas. Lots and lots of rain, and some pretty good storms resulting in downed tree's. I love the water, that's for sure!
I've been wanting to haul off some of the downed tree's for some time, but the ground has been muddy for so long it's been impossible to get a truck to the tree's. Well yesterday morning, I decided that it was getting done, and getting done the old fashioned way. I have never actually done any logging with a horse before, but since I have the gear to do it (horse, harness with chain tugs, single tree, and chains for logs) I figured it would be a great first time experience for me.
I pulled out my "manly-man" chainsaw, and went to work cutting things into what I considered manageable sizes. I then grouped bunches of the limbs together so that I could easily get a chain around them. This effort was going to take a bit of planning to get done safe, due to the fact that it was me, and my 5 year old son doing the work. So once all the debris was ready to be hauled, it was time to go old school!
Lily (my belgian mare) was in her pen, looking at me with concern for what I had in mind. :) I just grinned, thinking of the gate she bent yesterday trying to go say hi to the neighbors stallion. She was gonna work off some of that energy in a useful way today!!
I got her harnessed up, ready to go, drug the chain and single-tree to the nearest pile, and then the boy and I had a pow-wow. I explained to him exactly what we were doing, and explained what his job would be. Since he is too small to wrap the chain around the branches/logs for me, his job was going to be "Horse Holder". Now I know many of you are thinking I'm insane and all that, but this is my horse, who I know very well, and she knows and loves my son very much. For this horse, this would be fine.
I walked Lily over to the first pile and backed her up to where I needed her. The chain was already wrapped. I called Riley over, and he grabbed the lead rope and pet her nose. I went to work hooking up the single tree and attaching the chain to the single tree. Once that was done, I walked back up, grabed the halter from him and let him get out of the way. Then I got the reigns in my hands and the worked began.
Things went really good. The first 2 times of hauling stuff was a bit rough. I had to constantly correct her in her direction of travel cuz she was trying to be a bit too bossy. Lily is very sensitive to the bit though, so she never got unruly or anything. She just kept trying to go in directions that I didn't want her to. I was walking behind her with the reigns (my new 30 foot biothane reigns to be exact). I need to say a big THANKS to my friend Roger at this point. He told me a while ago that when working behind horses, to tie the reigns in a knot, and then throw the reigns over my shoulders. The right reign over the right shoulder, the left over the left. The knot would then hold the reigns in place, keep the excess reigns behind you, AND, should something happen and the race should be on, the reigns would come over the top of your head and be less likely to cause an injury. This worked AWESOME! Thanks ROG!!!
Once I got the log in the burn pile, I did the same thing. I walked up to her, grabbed her by the lead rope, called my son in, and then he held her while I unhooked things. I found it easiest to just unhook the chain from the load, and then hook that end back to the single tree and just let her drag the chains back to the logpiles. I would then walk back up, take the lead rope from my son, let him get out of the way, and then go back behind her with the reigns. Then we were off back to the log piles.
One thing I noticed ... after 2/3 times making the trip, Lily quit fighting the direction of travel, and it seemed like she just began following the same path as the previous time. It was nice to be able to not really have to get on her about that. (I should point out that the path I was traveling was a giant S. I had to go through a gate to get to the burn pile, so I had to really make a wide sweeping turn to get the logs in at the right angle.)
This was a great excersice for me! One thing I learned ... doing things with a horse take a lot longer then with a truck. It took my all morning to haul 8/9 loads to the burn pile. I'm sure with a truck I could've been done within an hour. HOWEVER ... it was very satisfying to both Lily and me to have her do this. She worked very hard for me, and did everything I asked. I wish I knew who trained her so I could by them a drink. She has the greatest work disposition. She doesn't complain or get pissy, she just does what I ask. She has definitley spoiled me rotten and I hope the next horse I get can be close to being like her.
My boy ... I am so proud of that kid. He helped me all morning without complaining much. He did great at holding Lily. THere was one point where I was a bit awestruck. I was back hooking up a load and saying my occasional "Easy Lily"s. Well the dogs were playing and knocked something over. Lily flinched and probably would have started to run. My son was right in front of her with the lead rope. The minute she started to whip her head he yanked on the lead rope and said "EASY GIRL!" loudly. Lily instantly calmed down and there were no incidents. I'm so proud of that boy!
This experience did teach me one thing. As always, when working with a horse, anything can happen. I can see clearly that doing this kind of work leaves many windows for a horse to get spooked. Chains clanging around, branches snapping and logs rolling. My story may sound like it was cake, but I was always careful of anything that happened around Lily. Fortunately, nothing outside my control happened, besides the dogs playing and almost spooking her. I can see how someone could seriously get hurt if they were doing this kind of stuff without thinking of the bad stuff. I'm just lucky to have a sweat heart of a horse that is easy to work with. This stuff really should have 2 people doing it to stay completely safe.
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