Paris, TX. Antique Tractor Show

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!