December 2013 Update

It's been a while since I updated the blog, and there's a good reason for it ... ... ... I haven't been doing too much in my estimation.  But after a good prodding from my sweet mother, I figured I'd better keep people in the loop of my on-goings.

This year has been a busy one.  I've been working on a Masters degree in Systems Engineering.  That came to a head with my senior thesis that I had to write this year.  I started in June, and finished last month.  The wonderful news is that I am done, and next week I'll graduate.  HOORAY!  It's a great sense of accomplishment to have that done.  HOWEVER,  all that time working on school has to be taken from family, life, and horses.

I also had an issue with my elbow last month.  For some reason, it got all red and swollen.  I had to be put in the hospital for 5 days.  They treated it like a staff infection and it went away.  We still have no idea what it was (cultures came back with nothing), or what caused it (no indication of anything out of the ordinary).  I'll tell you, it sucks being stuck in a hospital when you don't feel sick.

I have done some horse stuff.  Through the past few months, I have ridden Buck a few times out on some trails.  Pictures below are the proof!  He does well with a group of horses, but he is not confident and has to follow other horses.  In a group setting he does fine as a follower, but he sure won't lead.  He's got a herd sense about him that I am unsure how to fix.

This is Buck on his first trail ride!  I stayed in the saddle the whole ride ... not bad.

Ride #2.  All went well.

A few weeks back I attempted to drive the horses to start getting ready for Christmas rides on Park Street in Greenville TX.  This is an event I have always done, and love to do.  Unfortunately, as I started driving the horses again, I realized that all the time away from them has not been good to them.  I have a spoiled group of horses that do not want to work at all.  Driving the girls was fine for the first 15 minutes, but after that Pam was being openly defiant at wanting to go back out to pasture.  It was sad to see.  It also reminded me of this past spring when I did a horse pull and they refused to pull for me.  After working them a second time with the same results, I had to make a call that I didn't want to make.  Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to do the Christmas rides this year.  It is a setting with lots of people, and I have to have well behaved horses so that we don't have any incidents.  It was a tough decision to make, and I hope Dennis Mathis will forgive me for having to bail and invite me back next year.  It will be sad to be home those weekends this year.

This picture is from last year.  It was on the front page of the paper today advertising for the wagon rides.  Very sad that I had to back out this year.

Another thing I did last week was to get our winter hay.  I am proud to be the father of a boy who is finally big enough to handle a bale of hay on his own.  My son Riley really pulled his own this year, and it was a big help to me.  I think he was kind of proud of our work.

My son being proud of the load he helped load.

Aside from all the other stuff going on in my life, I've been having personal struggles.  I'm a young pup (turned 37 this year), but for some reason, I sure don't feel like one.  I'm feeling old.  My body feels to be growing weaker, and my energy/stamina seems to be vanishing.  My whole life I've always felt invincible, like nothing could stop me, but I feel my mortality very much these days.  A year ago I was all gung ho about working the horses and did whatever it took to have them ready, but this year, I just don't seem to have the energy and drive to get the time in they need.  I've been struggling with this.  I've heard stories about metabolism changes in guys around the 40 year mark, and I'm wondering if that's what I'm dealing with.  Any way you slice it, it sucks.  It sucks to not have the energy to do the things you want.  It sucks to get winded after walking a single flight of stairs, or after running a short distance.  It sucks to work a defiant horse and have to quit before you should because you just don't have the energy to continue.  I'm kind of a natural kind of guy, so I'm typically against energy drinks and pills and the like.  I just want my body to keep working the way I'm used to.  As it stands, it seems like I'm sitting here watching myself deteriorate into a weak, sickly thing.  It's a horrible thing to watch.

The good news is that I'm trying to get to the bottom of things and return to my normal self.  I just gotta find a path that can get me there that isn't some kind of gimmick to make someone else some money.  Probably going to start walking/running on a treadmill or something.  We'll see how it goes.

I do plan on taking my family and some friends for a wagon ride up and down Park Street in Greenville on Christmas Eve.  I've done  this the past few years and it's a great tradition.  I can at least post some pictures of that when I do it.

Thanks for listening to my personal ramblings.  In short,  I haven't posted much here, because I haven't been doing much with the horses.  They just eat and look pretty.  Hopefully I can change that and get them earning their keep again.  

My friend Pat Chase: Haying with horses

I thought I'd do some bragging on my friend Pat.  Pat Chase recently acquired a second team of horses, and with them, he's really taken to hay with them.

Pat Chase's 4-up raking hay!

Pat uses his horses 4 abreast to pull 2 ground driven side delivery hay rakes.  It's a really sweet rig and it works great.  The horses are hooked to a forecart, and then off the back of the forecart is a big spreader bar with the 2 side delivery rakes on either side.  This rakes all the hay towards the center for one nice windrow.

Here is a video of Pat's horses in work:

http://youtu.be/Ot0r7IVbL6A


Pat generated some interest as people saw him raking his hay like this, and he ended up getting an article written on him.  Click on the link below to read all about it.  There's a lot of great pictures taken in this article:

Click here for the article

This weekend Pat is baling another 6 acres.  He'll be using the horses to rake it all.  It's an open event for anyone who may like to see this in action.

Great job Pat!  I'm completely proud of what you're doing.  Definitely glad to have you as a friend and a fellow teamster!

Riding Buck For The First Time

Saturday I found myself with some spare time, and I figured I should make good use of it and work with Buck a bit.  Buck is 4, and it's high time he quit being just a pasture ornament.  Since he's my smallest horse at 16 hands, I want to make him my riding horse.

Note:  Just a reminder that I may know a few things about driving, but I really don't know much about riding under saddle.  I'm kinda doing what I feel with some good advice from one of my favorite mentors, the wagon teamster, Bob Skelding.

It turns out Bob is doing some horse breaking of his own, and the timing of both of us doing this at the same time has been great.  You can read about Bob's efforts here:  Link Here

So I got Buck out of the pasture, and put him in the round pen.  Buck is easy to catch and is quite human savvy.  The first thing I did was pull out my trusty training stick and did some ground work with him.  Basic desensitization and then some flexing, body movement.  I ended by lunging him a bit.  His mind was on me (although always looking to make sure the mares were nearby in the paddock).

I saddled him up, and put on the bridle.  Buck did lots of tonguing on the bit, so I let him stand for a bit as he got used to it.  (I have had a bit in his mouth before, but it's not something he's grown used to yet)  With the saddle on him,  I did some practice mounts, and eventually did jump up in the saddle while he was tied.  Buck was laid back and relaxed, and didn't care about me climbing up on him, or the feel of the saddle.  Love that draft cold blood!

Buck with Saddle and Bridle on

The next thing I did, was new to me, but I got it from Bob Skelding.  Instead of just hoping on and riding, I did some ground driving.  I hooked my long lines up to the bit, and I drove buck around the round pen.  The purpose of this is to let him feel the bit in his mouth as I turn him.  Had Buck had a problem with this, I'd rather it happen with me on the ground behind him, than in the saddle on his back.  But, true to his nature, Buck didn't care at all.  He understood what the bit meant right away, and didn't balk at it or fuss.  Perfect reaction.

This led to me climbing up on his back again, ready for my first ride on him.  I was working alone, which probably isn't the safest thing to do, but I pressed on.  After I was on his back, I leaned down and unsnapped the lead rope.  We then proceeded to ride around the round pen.  It was awesome.  Buck was quite unsure at first, but he knew his queue's, and he followed them.  The reassurance he got from me let him know he was doing the right thing.  Within 10 minutes we were doing figure 8's in the round pen.  Buck also stopped and backed pretty well.  With behavior like that ... why not head out of the round pen, right?  So we did.

Buck has herd anxieties!!  I mounted and started riding perfectly outside the round pen.  But as I rode away from the girls, he reached about 75 yards away from them and got VERY hesitant.  He was trying not to walk forward any more.  I kept coaxing him, and turning him ever so slightly to keep him moving forward, which worked.  However, I knew once I turned him around to walk back the other direction, he was going to act up a bit.  As I turned him around, I choked up on my lines, and sure enough, that boy LEAPED a few giant bounds towards the girls.  Luckily, my saddle is an aussie, and those wings are GREAT!  on the 3rd giant leap I pulled his head to the side for a 1 reined stop, and he stopped perfectly.  We then walked back, turned around, and redid it all over again.  He got better and better.

Buck after his ride

After a good 45 minutes in the saddle, I decided that was enough for his first time.  He stood great for me to unmount.  I then tied him and he stood great as I took the bridle off.  HOWEVER ... at that time the mares decided to leave the paddock and go out to pasture.  Buck started to lose it because they were leaving him.  As I was trying to take his saddle off, he started side passing away and over me, which is bad.  So ... buck got tied off.  I tied buck up and let him stand in his saddle till he calmed down.  That horse came unglued.  He was rearing, pushing, pulling, slamming his side into the tree, doing anything he could think of to get free.  For 4 hours he acted like that.  I guess he really likes those mares.  :)  This kind of behavior is exactly why I use rope halters!  No way he was getting away ... he had to behave to get out of this one!

Finally, he calmed down, and stood great again.  Once I saw that, I'd go out and pet on him.  I took his saddle off, pet him some more, brushed him out, and just spent time with him.  I then let him stand for another 30 minutes.  He was great.  So finally, after about an hour of good standing, I did let him go back into the paddock.

So anyway ... that's how my day went.  It was GREAT to be sitting in the saddle.  I'm very excited about the future with him!!  Next time I'll try to get a photographer to take a picture.  :)

New Hub installed on the #9 Sickle Mower

Over the weekend I got out and installed the new hub on my mower.  My friend Pat was up in Amish country and found a store that had all kinds of new mower parts.  I'll post the info later when I have it on hand.  Very glad to have it all back together.  In order to jack it up, I had to use some of my southern engineering.  Easy to jack up a mower with some wood and a knowledge of how the teter-totter works.  :)  Now I'm ready to finish cutting the field.  YAY!

EDIT:  Here's the information on the parts place where the new hub was purchased.

Mullet's Machinery & Parts LLC - Reconditioning Horse Drawn Manure Spreaders & Mowers
6870 S. State Route 5
Topeka, IN 46571

LeRoy, Leon, LaVern
Phone: 260-593-2960
Fax: 260-593-0551

There it is.  The new hub, with new key pin and axle pin.  You can see where the actual wheel broke in places when the hub broke.

Now here's how you jack up your mower using scrap wood from the back of the truck.  :)

4th of July Parade in Greenville Texas

This year I did got to participate in the 4th of July Parade in Greenville, TX.  Those of us that participate in the Christmas wagon rides on Park St. brought our horses and wagons to represent the Park St. Historical Society and plug the wagon rides.  It was a great day, and the horses were well behaved.  I had my trusty sidekick Jacob Riddle, and I think we all had a good time.  Enjoy the pictures!

This was at the end of the parade.  Patriotic ... yes ... horse friendly ... no.  :)

All loaded up and ready to go!

Here we come!

Happy riders waving to the crowd

A shot from the side.

 To do this parade, I put Rachael in her Easyboot Boa boots.  They work so great.  She couldn't do it without them.

The only thing I didn't like about this parade, was that it started and stopped every 10 feet for the entire length of the parade.  It's REALLY annoying when driving a horse wagon to start and stop every 10 minutes.

All in all it was a great day! 

The Taste of Defeat - My Horses Weren't Ready

It's been a week and a half now, and I've had time to recover and lick my wounds.  I'd appreciate any feedback anyone has on my experience.

So June 8th, I went down to Terrell for the Antique Tractor Show and Tractor Pull.  This is my 3rd year going down to this event, and not only is it a well run event, but it also gives me the chance to spend a day with some of my best friends, Mark and Bev McGowan of the Double M Warhorse Ranch.

My job was the same as years past.  Let the girls look pretty for people, then go down to the tractor pull and show the people how tough two draft horses can be (how far can they pull the tractor pull sled).  We've done alright in the past, and the folks at this event really look forward to it now.  I had worked the girls on the mower a week prior, and then done the 3 abreast stuff a few days after that.  I figured that would be enough to prime the girls back into pulling shape.  Boy was I wrong.

Everything started out great.  I arrived with no problems.  The girls looked amazing.  All shiny and clean.  Mark and Bev had brought their dapple shire mare Ruby, her foal Diva, and their Black clydesdale mare Pride.  We had lots of visitors swing by and pet on the horses.  It was a nice easy going morning.

Pam and Rachael in their stalls

This is Ruby, a dapple shire, and her foal Diva

I want to do a quick shout-out to the Tractor Supply in Terrell.  They donated enough panels for us to make 2 giant pens for the horses.  They also were there to make sure we were OK and see if we needed anything else.  They really went out of their way to make this event good for us.  Because of this, I hung a Tractor Supply bandana from my yoke, and I also sported a Tractor Supply hat for them.  :)

Harnessing up the girls

Another shot of me working between the girls

Thank you Tractor Supply!!

At 12:30 it was time for us to pull, so I pulled the girls out of their pen, harnessed them up, and headed down to the tractor pull.  On the way down, I let some kids who'd been loving on the girls actually try their hand with the lines as we walked.  They were so excited.  I really enjoy watching kids smile as they get to know draft horses.

Here is one of the kids I let drive

I turned into the tractor pull area, and the bandstand was full.  There was probably a few hundred people all sitting in the stands, waiting to watch the horses pull.  It was then that I realized I had forgot my evener.  Luckily, a fellow teamster had come over to say hi, and he happily held the horses for me while I ran back to get it.  Once I got back, it was our time to shine.

A fellow teamster who helped hold the girls while I ran back and got my evener

This is Mark McGowan and their black Clydesdale Pride.

Bev gave a grand introduction.  She is my friend, and I think she brags me up a little too much, but I smiled and waved.  I then moved the girls into position, and we hooked everything up.  The tractor was set on it's second gear, just like the past 2 years.  The horses were standing calm and at ease.  Things were looking great.  Then ... things changed.

I asked the girls to step out, and they started moving their feet, but they did not pull.  They didn't pull the sled an inch.  They were moving their feet but just refusing to really dig down and pull.  I stopped them,  got things re-situated again, and once again, told them to step up.  Once again, they leaned forward, but refused to dig in and pull.  I began whipping their butts with the lines to try to persuade them to go, but they wouldn't.  I had never seen this from them before.  I was baffled, and couldn't understand what was happening.  I tried one more time, and it was the same.  At this point I turned to the sled operator guy, and asked him to put in on 1st gear, just to help coax the girls into pulling.  They wouldn't even pull that an inch.  Finally, after what seemed like forever (but was probably only 5-10 minutes), I admitted defeat.  I threw the lines up on Pam's hame, and Mark and I grabbed the lead ropes in front of the horses and we started to walk them.  At this point, they did dig in, and they pulled the sled all the way across the field.  We then unhooked, and I drove the girls out of the area.

I was so embarrassed.  It didn't help that while I was unhitching, one of the tractor guys got on the mic and said "Up next, we're gonna have tractors that you definitely don't have to get in front of and pull".  Oh how that was lemon juice in a wound.  So I did the walk of shame away from the pull with a team that refused to get into their collars and pull.

I wasn't happy with that performance, so we didn't go back to their lush accommodations.  We headed right into an open field, and I worked them.  I didn't have any weight to pull behind them, so we ran.  up and down we ran.  I kept them trotting constantly for a good 10 minutes.  At this point, my boot broke.  The sole on my right boot came un-stitched from heel to heel around the front, which made running behind horses almost impossible.  So I walked the girls back to the trailer, tied them, and fixed my boot with some tape.  After I was done with that, I took the girls back out to the field and we worked for another 30 minutes.  Running, stopping, starting, over and over and over.

Here they are later in the afternoon.  I kept their harnesses on because they were supposed to pull again later in the afternoon, but that ended up getting cancelled because they had too many tractors who wanted to pull the sled.

I was still scratching my head, trying to figure out what happened?  What went wrong?  As I was working the girls after, I noticed that when I said Step Up, Pam took a step right off, but Rachael did not.  She would lean forward as if feeling for a load, then step off.  This made me think that maybe Pam was just following Rachael's lead, and that Rachael was being unwilling.  This just lead to more questions:  Was Rachael getting too old?  Are her feet hurting her?  is she sore from the collar?

As I've thought about it for the past week and a half, the only conclusions I can draw are that 1) Rachael was sore in her collar from working the mower after a long break in working; or 2) the 3 months off required much more sled work to remind them to get into the pull, and I just didn't do it.

This is the first time I've felt this kind of defeat with my horses.  They have always spoiled me with their good behavior and willingness to do what I wanted.  This sure was an eye opener to me that I gotta keep them working during off times.  I'll update this with pictures later.  Any feedback is appreciated.

Training Koda for Throw Away Ponies - Session 2

Last night I went back out to the Throw Away Ponies rescue, and worked with Koda again.  This was our second session together.  Read all about the first one HERE.

So ... quick summary.  Last session, we ended with doing a little bit of driving with a person in front of her.  She really didn't like the bit though, and really acted out when she felt it.

I had been informed that they have been working with her more, and that she is slowly getting better.  A few night ago they tried to work her with the bit, and she blew up on them.  Definitely NOT like the draft horses I'm used to working with.  :)

I got there and re-introduced myself to Koda.  Since she blew up on them a few days ago, I re-introduced myself by doing some joining up.  I think this is one of the coolest things in horse training.  It's just amazing to watch the horse and see things click for them.  If you don't know what joining up is, you can read about it on Monty Roberts website, and the following video shows it very well.



Koda joined up nicely in about 10-15 minutes.  She's a smart little thing, and always trying to do what you want.

Since one of the problems I had last time was her wanting to turn and look at me when I talked to her from behind, I worked on that a little before I even harnessed her.  I'd tell her woah, as I pet down her side, slowly working towards her butt.  On her right side she was totally fine with it.  But on the left side, as soon as I got near her rear let, she'd spin to look at me.  BAD HABIT!  I just kept working it, and when I would get behind her without her spinning, I'd ask her to step up and kiss at her.  On the right side, she responded perfectly, by stepping forward.  On the left, she still wanted to spin and look at me.  We kept doing this until she had quit doing the spinning thing.

Then I harnessed her, and put the bridle on.  She did fine with this.  She can be a little jumpy with the chains when they first come out, but she's getting used to it more and more.

I did some quick leading with the harness on, followed by the thing I was doing before, where I'd walk behind her, and tell her to step up (without actually holding the lines.  She was queueing up nicely on that.  She did so well, that I asked for one of the volunteers there to help me.  I had her hop on the lines, and I stood at Koda's head, to help queue her into doing the right thing.  I've found that it takes two people who know what they are doing to really do this right.  Not only am I training Koda, but I'm also training the awesome folks at TAP on how to do this for themselves.  So I stood right at Koda's head, and I listened for command to "step up".  When I heard that, I took a step.  If Koda didn't, I would quickly grab the lead rope, and pull her with me.  Same thing with Woah.  If she didn't stop right away, I'd grab the lead rope and pop it down.  Koda did great with this.  This was also a time for Kelly (my help) to learn about line tension.  the feel of lines that are looped through a harness is different than just a pair of reins in your hands.  Kelly was getting the hang of this.

Soon Kelly peeled Koda away from me, and Koda walked around great on her own.  It was pretty cool to watch.  I thought we'd turned a corner and that she was done ... but I was wrong.

It wasn't long after that that Koda started throwing her head again, and just being a butt.  It's as if she just decides she's been with us long enough and is ready to be done.  She got very bad, and quickly resorted back into the "flip and face you" tactics I thought we'd gotten over.

So we went back to Kelly driving, and me at Koda's head for a few more minutes.  Then we ended things on a good note.

I do admit that working Koda is trying my patience.  After 2 days of training a draft horse, you are usually pulling a tire around the arena.  The fact that I still haven't even hooked up an evener is a little sad to me.  But ... we gotta take our time and go at her speed.  This is definitely a new experience for me, and I'm learning a lot.  They are going to keep working her, and I'll go back again in a week or so.  Little by little!  

3 Abreast on a Pioneer Forecart

Last night I knocked another thing off my bucket list.  I hitched up all 3 of my mares to the pioneer forecart.  This is something I've been meaning to do for some time.  A while back I even had my buddy Pat Chase get me a triple tree so I could do it, but it's been collecting dust ever since.  That is ... until last night.

I wanted to work the girls again last night, because we have that event this Saturday.  I had initially thought about just pulling the sled around with the girls, but I had this nagging thought about Nellie.  I've worked her, and even driven down the road with her, but I just don't use her that much.  Suddenly my mind formulated the idea that maybe instead of pulling the sled, I should hitch all 3 mares up to the pioneer cart.  There were a lot of particulars I had to work out in my mind though.

First, what order am I going to put the girls in.  Last time I ground drove them 3 up, I had Nellie in the middle (Link HERE).  That didn't work so good.  I use my team lines and 2 extra cross check lines to control the horses.  With Nellie in the middle, the cross checks for the inside bit of the other horses were hooked to her.  What would happen is that if I said to step out, and she didn't, Pam and Rachael would be turned to the center, and all 3 horses would come face to face.  Not an ideal solution.  This led me to decide to keep Pam and Rachael the same, and just have Pam be the inside horse.  Why Pam on the inside?  Cuz she's big and listens well.  When I say to step, she does.  This would keep the 3 way head butt I described earlier from happening.  Also, this configuration means I can keep the pole between Rachael and Pam ... and they are used to it.

Next, I had to figure out how to hook up the pioneer forecart.  This is where the pioneer cart really shines.  It is easily configurable to fit any scenario I wanted.  Option 1: leave the team pole in the center, and offset the hitch bolt to the left.  This basically means Rachael and Pam will be exactly the same as they normally are, and just adds Nellie to the outside on the left.  The horses won't be centered this way.  Option 2:  move the team pole to the right, and leave the hitch pin in the center.  This is the way to use the cart if you want it centered with the horses.  This way would have Pam directly center in front of the cart.  I went with option 1, mostly because I wouldn't have to get out a wrench to move the pole.

Here's an example of keeping the pole in the center, and moving the hitch pin to the side to accommodate the triple tree..

Next I had to figure out which way to hook the triple tree.  My triple tree is a pioneer brand one.  It has one big bar, with one horse hooked to one end, and a normal team evener hooked to the other.  I determined that since I was leaving Rachael and Pam the same on the cart, that I'd let them share the team evener.  This would then put Nellie on the outside evener alone.  This made sense in my head.  After using it, I think it would be better to put the team evener away from the pole.  Look at the picture above and you'll see why.  The double tree has a lot of interference with the team pole when done the way I did.  If I did it the other way (like the picture above) that won't happen.

This was my setup.  Next time I'll hook it up the other way.

I got home, plans fresh in my mind, and gathered and harnessed the horses.  Getting that one extra horse ready adds time!  Especially since Nellie's harness was last used on Buck, so I had to re-size it and fit it to her.  Soon, I had 3 pretty girls, who were ready to be hooked up to the cart.  Before I get to that, I used the lines the same way I did last time.  Team lines with the outside lines going to the outside 2 horses, and the cross-check lines both going to the center horse.  Then 2 separate cross check lines running from the center horses hame ring, to the inside bit of each outer horse.  (lots more on this HERE)

This is how I have my lines setup. 

Hitching up the cart was much easier than I expected.  This is where I'll brag on the Belgian horse a bit.  I LOVE that I can pull these big girls out, and they are just laid back and easy going.  Adding Nellie to the trailer next to Pam was new, but no one seemed to care.  Even as I was hitching up the tugs and adjusting everything, they just were not excitable at all.  I LOVE the Belgian horse!  They are so easy to work.

3 mares hitched up, ready to go.

Here's a better shot of the rig. 

I was a little bit nervous.  This was the first time to try this, and I was working alone.  I didn't know how Nellie would respond when I asked her to back up so we could swing left and head off.  This is where my love of Belgians continues.  I untied them, hopped on the forecart, and asked the girls to back.  All 3 girls backed up perfectly, and soon we were on our way!

I was on cloud 9.  We got into the pasture and I could see the girls kind of feeling out this new thing.  Nellie (the new girl) was a little ansty, and was walking out fast.  This kept causing her to turn inward into Pam due to the cross check line.  The more steps she took, the more she calmed down.  Soon she was walking even with all the others, and we really had a nice uneventful drive.

The teamsters view has changed!  3 butts instead of 2!!  :)

What I learned most from this is the importance of line tension when driving multiple horses.  With a team it's easy to get a little relaxed and have loose lines.  When you have a good team, they'll do the right thing for you and keep their spacing pretty good.  For 3 up, I found that they did best, when I kept tension on those lines.  I had to keep just enough tension on those outside lines to keep Rachael and Nellie from turning in on Pam.  Once I figured that out, they all walked perfectly straight.

Taking a break. 

Of course, working them with just the cart caused the horses not to work at all.  So I figured out a cure for that.  After a break, I locked the brakes on the cart down pretty good.  Not enough to lock the wheels, but enough to give lots of resistance.  I then had the girls step off.  This worked great, and gave the girls some resistance.  I'm not sure Nellie has ever actually pulled a load, so this was good for her.  She got to feel the pressure on her collar and understand how to push into it.

Great night!  I'm so happy to have this configuration in my arsenal now.  Now I can use 3 horses instead of 2 for big jobs.  :)

Cutting the field for the first time with my IH #9 Mower!

I need to get the horses ready for the event in Terrell this next Saturday; my field is long; I have an IH #9 mower that I restored and still haven't used; and I had some spare time on Sunday afternoon.  Combine those together and you get a good time!!!  It's high time I do something with these lazy horses, and try out my mower.  Yesterday it was a cool 80 degrees with a nice breeze.  Couldn't ask for much more.

I pulled the horses out of the pasture, and got them all prettied up.  Then I hitched up the sickle mower for the first time.  As usual, I was working alone, so it took me a little time to adjust the breast straps and hitch to fit properly.

Getting all hooked up.

A nice shiny mower behind some nice clean horses.  We're about to change that.

Just to ensure I had hitched up right, I started driving while walking behind the mower.  I figured it would be safer that way just in case there was a problem.  I got into the field, and decided to try it out.  This is when I learned a few lessons:

1. When draft horses walk slow, it doesn't take much to jam a sickle blade.  5 feet after turning the blades on I got my first jam.  I instantly saw why the #9 high gear would be a desirable thing to have.  As long as I kept the girls walking at a more brisk pace, we were usually fine and could push through thick grass without the bar getting stuck.
2. Driving a straight line is harder than you think.  With a mower leaving an actual trail of cut grass, it's very obvious how straight (or crooked) you're driving is.  I found that the first cut down the edge was the hardest to do straight, but after that, it was much easier due to being able to follow the cut line.
3. Sickle jams are easy to fix when your horses are awesome!  As I started getting snags, I learned I had to lift the blade up, and get off of the seat and walk behind the bar to clean out the teeth.  Most of the time there was really long grass that had been pulled between the top of the sickle blade and the top of the sickle guide.  I'd rip as much of that out as I could then start again.  While ripping out the clogged up grass, the horses were perfect.  They stood perfectly still, and never moved a muscle.  Makes a teamster beam with pride to have horses like that.
4. Restarting after a jam is tricky.  I found that after a jam if I just dropped the blade and started forward again that it would bind up instantly.  It takes a good few steps before the horses have the mower moving at a good speed. I tried stepping back a few steps, then starting again, but doing that, you have to get the bar underneath all the grass that you just cut.  That led to some instant jams too.  What I eventually resorted to, was pulling a circle, and dropping the blade a ways back and slowly cutting back into the original position.  That seemed to work OK.
5. If you're gonna cut hay with a #9 mower ... you need to have a fence row mower for parts!  As we were finishing parts of the pasture with a few more rows to go, I suddenly hit a BIG snag.  The girls were really pulling well, and it ended up pulling the mower 2 feet with the wheels locked.  When I backed the mower up a bit, I saw something by Rachael's rear foot.  When I looked closer, I found my right hub, cracked in half.  That last snag was so harsh that it broke the hub in half where the hairline fracture was when I installed it (Link Here).  It also broke some pieces off of the wheel itself.  I couldn't believe it broke like that.  So that instantly put a stop to the mowing.  I'm stuck now till I find a replacement part.

All in all it was a pretty good time.  I got much better at driving the girls while mowing the more I did it.  They were being a little lazy which meant I had to be pretty vocal to keep them walking.  They did great though.  I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.  If anyone has any tips on mowing, or knows a place to get mower parts besides Macknairs, I'm all ears.  :)

Just cleaned out the sickle bar  while the girls stood perfectly.

The teamster's view

Stopping for a Jam.  See all that grass on the blade?

Front view.

What a jam!  LOTS of grass stuck on that one.

A look behind.  3 or 4 rows done.

DISASTER!  Broken Hub!  You can even see where it broke part of the wheel.  BOO!

Two halves of the hub, with springs and pawls in the toolbox.

The stopping point.  Lots of the mowing was done, just a strip down the center to go.

North End of the pasture was done

Another view of the North end of the pasture.  You can see a few spots I missed.  I'm definitely a work in progress.

And here's how it was accomplished.  Pam, happy to have her bridle off after a long day of work.

A tired Rachael, ready for some hay and oats.

Training Koda for Throw Away Ponies - Session 1

Back on February 23rd, I participated in Equifest.  I mentioned it in passing, and apparently was a slacker and never typed up a blog on it.  Whoops!  Equifest was an all day event for all styles of horses.  It was a place where you could go and see all types of horses, and they had demonstrations in an indoor arena on what the horses can do.  I went with my friends Mark and Bev of the Double M Warhorse Ranch.  They brought their Belgian Stallion, and a big dapple gray shire they have.  I brought my team, and I did a demo in the arena.  (also, while I'm on the subject ... I got to see a Sugarbush stallion!  I'd read and heard about them, and over in the drafty side of the compound, was a big ol' boy with those unmistakeable sugarbush markings.  Turns out, there is a sugarbush stallion in Dallas.  It was awesome to see one in person.  very pretty and impressive.  Nearly as impressive as the Friesians that were there)

One of the things that happened at Equifest, was for me to be introduced to Kelly from Throw Away Ponies (www.throwawayponies.org).  Throw Away Ponies is a rescue group out of Rockwall, TX who does awesome work in helping to save and rehab good horses.  Kelly and her daughter were very interested in the driving stuff, and asked lots of great questions.  After talking a bit, she told me about Koda, and asked if I would be willing to help them out with her.

This is Koda.

Koda is a 14.2 hand paint/arabian mare, around 6 years old.  When she was younger, she kicked at something and ended up kicking a barbed wire fence.  Her left rear foot was cut to the bone.  The Vet told the rescue that due to this injury, Koda should not be ridden, but that she could be used to pull a cart.  Throw Away Ponies has trainers for saddle, but they lacked experience in driving.  That's where I come in (with a big thanks to Kelly for keeping in touch to keep me on point).  The idea is that since Koda cannot be ridden, she is unlikely to be adopted out.  However, because of how sweet and smart she is, we can train her to drive, thus giving her functionality, and that may help entice someone to provide her a good home.

Wednesday night I went out for my first session with Koda.  This was my first time ever going to the Throw Away Ponies place, and I have to say that it was the nicest rescue I've ever seen.  it was clean, stalls mucked, horses were all in pretty good shape.  Very impressive!

They had a small covered arena, and inside it stood Koda.  She's a pretty little thing.  She was pretty sweet and didn't mind a tough ol' teamster walking up and petting her.  No time for pleasantries though ... daylight was burning ... so we proceeded with some training.  I'm going to write up the things I did in list form to kind of help define all the different stages we worked through.

1. Basic ground work.  We started off with just a halter, lead rope, and a carrot stick.  I basically just got her feet moving.  The goal here is to make sure she leads well.  I also use this time to start enforcing the verbal queu's.  Anytime I step off, I say "Koda, Step up" and off we go.  Anytime we stop, I say "Koda, whoa", and stop.  While leading, I would do sharp 90 degree turns, and use "Gee" and "Haw" appropriately to dictate a turn.

Koda is a smart little thing.  When lunging, she just takes off.  Now, I'll be honest.  I don't lunge my horses.  For my belgians, I've just never had them bad enough that I needed to really reinforce that I'm the boss.  When my belgians act up, a few circles disengaging their rear ends and their ready to submit.

I figured Koda new to lunge, and boy did she, but I found that lunging has a bad effect for driving.  The end of each running session in a lunge, is follwed up with squaring them up with you.  This trend continued in everything we did, all night.  Koda was constantly trying to square up with me, which is not what I wanted.  This kind of reinforced to me that when hitch training, I'll only lunge if I need to run a horse to really make a point.  when driving a horse from behind, the last thing you want is an unsure horse trying to spin and square up with you.

2. Sacking out.  This is where I really make use of the carrot stick.  This is kind of part of step 1, but I figured I'd give it extra emphasis.  This is where I give her a good "whoa", and then some "easy"s as I begin tossing rope all over her.  I use the rope attached to the carrot stick to basically wrap all over her and get her used to the feel and touch of ropes being all over her.  I toss it over her back, and slowly pull it off.  Then over her butt, around her legs, under her belly, over and under her neck, up next to her tail, between her legs, basically ... everywhere.

Koda did pretty good with this.  Kelly has been working her like this, and it really showed.  A few minor flinches at first, but nothing that I would consider abnormal or spooky.

3. Putting on the harness.  Once I feel she's moving good, and she's OK with ropes being tossed all over her, it's time to harness her up.  I start by taking the collar to her, and letting her smell it all over.  If she's acting a little put off by it, I'll rub her neck with it, and use the collar to pet her.  Just basically, introduce this part as a friend.  Then I put the collar on  (first time, I'll unlatch it and put it around her neck if possible.  Later we'll work on sliding the entire collar over her head).  I do the same thing with the harness.  Once the harness is on ... make adjustments!  This is a great time to sack out a horse and adjust.  While adjusting, I really move the harness on her.  I'll slap the chains, and make sure she's relaxed with this new foreign thing resting on her.

Once again,  Koda did great with this.  Kelly's work desensitizing her to chains and ropes payed off big time for me.  Harness was on with no problems and soon it was all adjusted.

For her harness, I borrowed the same old logging harness from my friend Chuck Whitlock that I borrowed to work my first mare Lily.  It's an old harness that has seen better days, but it works great at introducing a harness to a horse.  It has a 20 inch collar.  Lily barely squeezed into it.  I used a collar pad and it fit Koda just fine.  I adjusted all the straps to their smallest settings, and it worked great.

Koda with a collar.

Koda sporting an old logging harness.  This thing has seen better days, but I'm glad to have it.

4. Moving with the harness on.  Once the harness is on (without the bridle), I lead the horse around to make sure she's OK with all the new feels and sounds that this harness is going to create.  I do this without the bridle so she can kind of see that nothing scary is happening.

This is where Koda showed she is not a draft horse.  My big girls have never even batted an eye at this type of stuff.  Koda cared!  She took a first step, felt the change, and tried to bolt.  I just stepped to the side, out of her way, and let her run a few circles around me till she calmed down, telling her "whoa" and "easy" in a calm voice the whole time.  Once she stopped, I rubbed her forehead, assuring her that she was OK, and then re-positioned the harness back on her  (a few wild running circles had nearly pulled it off to the outside.  Made me wish I had a crupper for this harness).  After she had calmed down, I faced her, told her to "step up", and had her take a single step.  I then praised and re-assured.  We did this over and over, getting more and more steps, till she was confident and leading with no problems while wearing the harness.

Trying to keep her calm with all this new stuff on her.

Rewarding her for a great job walking with the harness on.

Once she got over her spookiness with the harness, she led like a pro.  I even got to the point where I was giving her 10 foot of lead line and giving commands as I walked with her, and she was sticking right with me.  This was a great thing to see, and helped build her confidence.

5. Ground Driving.  At this point, I put the bridle on, adjust it and the bit, and attach the driving lines.  I then start with a helper walking next to the horse, responding to my commands.  This is the first time the horse hears my commands from behind her, so it's going to be a new thing.  Having a person up at her head, responding to my commands does wonders in helping remind her that she knows what to do.  (when I do this at home with drafts, this is where I hitch them up as a team and let the other horse help them with the queues.)

Ground driving with a helper on the lead rope.

 At this point in the training,  it had been a few hours.  We did a few laps and she was unsure.  Then I watched her kind of hit a mental wall.  She started shaking her head a lot, and being a little un-ruly towards my helper who was walking with the lead line.  After a little of this, I decided to end the session.  To make sure we ended on a good note, I grabbed the lead rope (with bridle still on), and we went back to the leading we did in step 4.  She did great with it.  After 5-10 minutes of this, we called it a day.  She got brushed good, praised, and got hay.

A great way to finish off the day ... on something she did great with.

So that was it for session #1.  Next time I go out, I'll start over at the beginning again, but this time it should go faster.  Little by little!