Greenville Christmas Parade 2010

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

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

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

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!!

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.

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!!

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

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

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

Rachael Gets Shoes

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

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!