Disking done, ready for seed

Work in progress

Today I woke up at 6AM.  It was still dark outside, and my body sure didn't feel like getting up.  I fought my bodies desire for a few more hours of sleep, and thew on some clothes and wiped the sleepers out of my eyes.  This must be what it was like to live on a real farm.  My goal today was 2 parts:  Pasture cleanup and disking.

First things first though.  First thing to do was to call the horses up and give them a big scoop of oats.  The girls loved this part of their morning.  With the girls up eating, and the gate closed to keep them in my small "paddock" type area, it was time to clean the pasture up a bit.

I had a few areas on the fenceline where tree's had fallen.  I made a full sweep of the fencline of my 3 acre pasture with my truck and flatbed trailer.  As I went along, I took the time to cut out a few small mesquite tree's that were starting to grow near the fencline.  Most my time was spent cutting down some limbs off a HUGE bodark tree.  I really hate these trees.  They're hard as rocks, and so it takes some serious effort with a sharp saw to remove them.  My chainsaw died, so I was left working with a hand saw and pruning shears.  This tree is in my neighbors field.  It used to be about 3-4 feet in diameter, but last year, after a severe wind storm, it split in 2.  One part, came over the fence and was probably hanging 20 feet into my pasture.  Luckily, it didn't take out the fence.  I expected the tree to die and slowly fall to pieces, but instead this tree showed it's hardy nature, and is thriving.  I trimmed it back so that I could get access to more of my pasture with the disk.  I didn't think I had much to clean up, but I ended up with a full trailer.

When I got back from cleanup, it was about 7:30.  I took a quick breather, and then it was time to get the horses ready.  I figured they were going to be difficult to catch today.  2 days ago, I worked them harder than I ever have, and so I figured they would be leery of me.  Boy was I surprised.  I walked in the pasture, and called them, and they both just looked at me with "what the crap are those halter's for" looks.  I stuck out my empty hand and made a few kisses and Rachel walked right over.  I was quite surprised.  Once she was haltered, I turned to Pam, and she had retreated to the far corner of the paddock.  I took a few steps towards here, with my hand out and she came right to me.  Wow ... things were off to a great start!

Sometimes, when working horses, you have a small victory that means a lot to you.  I love these.  Just small things that only you know about, but that mean a ton to you.  I have been working with Pam for a long time on just letting me push the collar over her head.  Rachel lets me do this and it's just so much easier then messing with the dang buckle.  I've been taking Pam's collar off this way, but putting it on by unlatching the strap, and putting it on that way.  Well this morning, after I slid Rachel's collar over her head, I looked at Pam and she was watching us.  So I asked her if she wanted to try that, and I pushed the collar up over her nose.  I then positioned myself right in front of her nose, so that she could see me through the collar.  I then slowly pushed it up, talking sweet to her the whole time.  I was prepared for her to jerk her head back, like usual, but she didn't today.  She kept her head still, and as it covered her eyes, I was fully prepared for her to jerk back, but she didn't.  So I used my hands to stretch the collar so it would squeeze less and she actually let me slide it up and over her head.  WOW!  I love little victories like this.  Things were definitely off to a good start!

Harnessing the girls went with no problems.  While harnessing Rachel, I noticed that she had an area right on her rump where the speider had rubbed off some of her fur.  I was almost proud of her.  She's showing harness wear!  She's a work horse for sure now!!!  :)

To hitch the girls, I did something different today.  Keep in mind, that I do all this stuff my by myself.  I had parked the disk at an angle against a fence and so I was going to just tie the girls to the fence in the same place and hitch them up from there.  Usually, I actually put their bridles on, and then drive the girls over and then work them into position.  For some reason, I didn't feel like doing that today.  Instead, I threw the bridles over their hames, threw the lines over Rachel's hames as well, and then I led them both over.  I had a horse in each hand, holding the lead line right at the connector.  I walked them in just like I drive them in, and asked Rachel to step over the pole.  She did this great.  Then I tied them, put their bridles on, put the lines on, and then hitched them up.  This went great, and I had no problems.

After they were hitched and ready to go, I ran back inside for a minute to get myself ready.  I had my straw hat on, I got my bandana wet with cold water and tied it around my neck, and then I put on my camelback.  I had filled the camelback with ice water.  I was getting ready for a long disking session.

A Teamster's view:  this was my view while disking

Then we were off.  Things went awesome.  I started off doing clockwise circles around the pasture.  This went so well.  Rachel is a pro and she does turns like any teamsters dream.  Since she is on the right, going clockwise basically has her pulling pam around the corners by the pole strap.  It was so easy to drive them doing this.  I also found that I was a bit better at keeping my tension good.  Also, Pam was actually stepping out and matching Rachel.  It was awesome.  Stepping out and Geeing was nearly perfect.  But what about those Haws?

I decided that it would be good to change directions and let Pam work on her coming around skills.  I swapped directions and started going counter-clockwise.  Ummmm ... yeah ... Pam was not happy about this new direction.  She does a gentle left turn wonderful, but the minute she needs to start side stepping, she get's a little clumsy.  Rachel, who was all about working today, ended up just pushing pam around with the pole.  It was pretty neat to watch.  It was great experience for Pam, and a few more good sessions and I expect her to really get the hang of it.

SUCCESS!  3 hours after we started, I was unhitching the girls.  They were very happy to head back towards the house.  I think they were even more relieved that the disks were straight and so it was easier for them to pull the disk.  :)  The rest of the event went without a hitch.

So now my fields are disked.  Tomorrow I hope to get my seed and fertilizer mixed at the co-op, and then I'll use one of their buggy's to spread the seed.  After the seed is spread, then I just need to disk things one more time to really disk the seeds into the ground and cover them a bit.  If I didn't know better, I'd think I sounded like a full blown farmer.  :)

I think I have an official team now.  If the rest of the disking goes without a problem, I may have to invest in a nice set of team harnesses for them to look pretty in.

Using a horse drawn disk

Well, Today I did it.  I made use of a horse drawn disk that my friend Pat had.  I had mowed the field short, and then, miraculously, it rained.  We got 2 good days of rain, which this dry black clay ground needed desperately.  So ... it was time to get the disk working!  :)

An empty, short, field, ready to be disked!

This morning started by giving the girls a big scoop of oats.  I knew that I was going to have them working hard, so I made sure they had some fuel in their tanks.  After I gave them their oats, I finished attaching the pole to the disk.  I then moved it out to the field where we would be working.  About that time, my friend Pat showed up.  So we got the horses, harnessed them up, and then figured out how to hitch them to the harrow.  I ended up having to add 6 inch tug extensions to each tug in order to make things work.  Everything was secure, and it was time for the initial pull.  For the first pull, I didn't angle the disk, I kept it straight to make it as easy as possible for them.  They had no problems stepping out, and since they seemed to be feeling their oats, I adjusted the angle quickly and watched the disk do it's job.

After doing a complete loop, I stopped, and let Pat have a turn while I ran inside to get the camera.  Here are a few shots of Pat on the disk.

Here they come!

The girls did real good for Pat.  I admire Pat's skills at communicating with the team!

I'm ready to get going.  I don't think the girls were quite as happy about it.  :)

After 2 laps, Pat let me take over.  The girls were having a little bit of trouble stepping off for me.  I think they've been spoiled with light wagons and sleds.  When I would step them off, they would barely shift their weight forward, and when nothing happened, they would just stand there.  Needless to say, they had me sounding pretty crazy as I tried and tried to coax them into stepping out.

One thing I've noticed when driving a team, is that getting them to step out together is VITAL!  I had many times today where I'd tell them to step out, and only one of them would.  When the one that stepped out would feel the pressure, she would stop, right as the other horse would step out.  This got a tad annoying.  Like a bad teeter totter while I wasn't going anywhere.

I should probably note that I was using new bits on the harnesses today.  I put straight shaft liverpool bits on the team harness and I am SOOOOO happy with them.  The girls were much more responsive today with them.  The ones I got have the 2 round loops for snaps, or narrow buckle lines.  They are awesome.  Very happy to be using them.

Stepping out with the harrow

Pam and Rachel are a pretty impressive match.

The first thing I noticed while working, was how annoying excess lines are.  For my first lap, I just tied the ends in a knot and threw them over my shoulders.  This worked at first, but soon it was just rubbing on the back of my neck, which got uncomfortable and annoying.  I ended up placing the ends under my butt on the seat.  I found that I had to keep just the very ends under, because I needed a lot of the lines for making the big U turns I was making to keep the disk moving.

Off we go!

Heading down a small incline

I also got to watch the dynamics between the horses.  Rachel is a go getter.  She steps out hard, and she gets into it.  Pam sits a bit more on her heels and seems to only move when she has to.  It was obvious who was doing the work after 10 minutes or so.  Rachel built up a lather on her breeching strap right away.  You could also see her getting drenched with sweat.  Pam?  Not so much.  As time went on, and Rachel got more tired, they matched much better.  When Rachel stopped really stepping into the disk, she matched Pam much better.  I think I'd much rather have Pam match Rachel though.  :)  Rachel is a dream horse.  She's so good with this stuff.  She is just laid back, relaxed, and does what she's asked.  You couldn't ask for more from her.  Pam is getting better.  She needs miles on her, and this stuff is just what the doctor ordered!

A rear view

Another row ... GET UP PAM!!!

The ride on the disk was pretty bouncy.  After Pat's two rides, he joked that you needed to have a chiropractor ready at the end of a day on that disk.  If both sides were biting in to the ground together, it was very smooth.  However, sometimes the two sides would trade biting into the ground, this would make you rock back and forth.  I definitely got a good abdominal workout.

I kept at it, and started giving the girls a break every 10 minutes.  They would get pretty winded, and as Pam started working more, she started to sweat real good.  I was very impressed with how well they were getting at coming around in turns.  It was neat to watch them figure out what I wanted, and do it when I asked for it.  It seemed like no time before this small 2 acre field was done.  I have another 4 acre field that needs to be done, but I decided to give the girls a rest.  I have to keep reminding my self that they are in as good a shape as I am.  I can't expect them to go from no work, to a full day of farm work in one day.  I will probably hook them up again tomorrow and do some more.  They sure did stand good on those breaks though!!!  They stood perfectly still and didn't move at all when I let them rest.

All done with this one.

After we were done, I unhitched the girls from the disk, and then ground drove them back to the house so I could get the harnesses off them.  They were definitely hot and sweaty!!

We're tired!  How 'bout you get this crap off us!!!

After getting the harnesses off them, I had some compassion on them and led them over to the hose.  I then sprayed them down real good with the hose.  Rachel loved it!  She melted and just leaned into it.  Pam was conflicted.  You could see her mentally thinking "wow ... this feels good ... WAIT ... THAT NOISE WAS SCARY THOUGH ... but mmmmmmm ... so good feeling".  :)  After I sprayed them down, I used the squeegee on them, and then left them to dry for a few minutes.

Whew!  We're glad that's over!!!

All in all, it was pretty awesome.  It's really cool to me to use the horses to do this kind of thing.  Yes, a tractor cab would be MUCH more comfortable, but I get a bit of satisfaction in knowing that I'm doing something that not a lot of people know how to do.  I also love knowing that my horses are actually contributing to the farm, and not just taking feed from it.  After a few more sessions like today, the girls will be a pretty steady team!  I'm hoping to use them for christmas wagon rides, so the more I can do with them now, the better!

Aren't you glad you read to the end?  As a reward, here's a video clip!

Tomorrow is the day!!!

So tomorrow I'll be hooking the girls up to a disk and cutting up my pastures.  Take a look at the picture to see what I'll be using.  In the picture the pole is not attached.  This is going to be a great work out for the girls.  I'm way excited.  Pictures to follow!!  If anyone wants to come and check it out, just let me know. 

Prepping the land

Last week I had a death in the family.  My grandfather passed away at 83 years of age.  He has been fighting Emphazema for some time now, and the way things played out, we knew it was his time to return home to heaven.  RIP Grandpa.  We love you and miss you!!

I've been gone for 5 days to attend the funeral.  It was great to visit with my family and especially to see my grandma.  Since this blog is about my horses, I'm not going to talk much about this.  Let's just say it was a bad reason for a wonderful family visit.

Upon returning, I noticed how horrible my fields are.  The grass is gone, and only weeds remain.  I was only gone 5 days but wow was there a difference.  My tree lines on the fences are completely thinned out cuz the horses have been eating the leaves from the trees.  The first thing I did, was open up a new section of land for the horses to graze on.  It's an additional 2 acres that they have not yet been on.  They happily entered this new field and are quite happy!

My main pastures have this real crappy weed in it.  It's tall and bushy and is probably sucking up all the moisture that my grass needs.  I spent the day yesterday mowing this down.  Since I don't have a tractor with a brush hog, I used my old riding mower.  It worked well, but it sure takes long to mow 8 acres on a riding mower.  This took the whole day.

This is a shot of my weedy field.

The fields look great now.  Nice and short.  And things worked out well because it is raining now.  This is much needed.  Especially for my plan.

So here's what's going to happen next.  We're supposed to have rain all today and into tomorrow.  Then on Saturday, I'm going to use the horses for some farming!!  My friend Pat is going to loan me a horse drawn disc he has.  I'm going to use my girls to disc up all the land.  It's probably going to take a few times till it's done good.  So saturday starting in the afternoon I'm going to start this.  After going over it once, I will then wait for another rain storm, and then do it again after that.  I'm going to continue this till the land is ripped up nice.  Then I'm going to plant grass.  I have 2 main goals.  One, is to get some nice coastal grass growing again.  The second, is to plant some rye grass so I have quick grass next spring.

So keep your eyes on the blog for my saturdays adventures!  This will be my first time using the horses for working the fields.  I'm real excited to try it and see how it turns out.  It is also going to be great work for the horses.  They have no idea the workout that is in store for them!!!  :)

Cool Temps are back!!!

Well, at least for today.  Yesterday we got some rain and a cold front.  Temps dropped to the 80s and it was such a nice relief from the heat.  However, not having that burning feeling while being outside, got the hitch fire burning again.  It's time to get those horses working again.

Good news came from a phone call the other day.  I am wanted for wagon rides the 2nd and 3rd weekends in December.  In Greenville, TX, there is a historic street called "Park Street".  Every year they decorate their houses all pretty and give wagon rides on the Friday and Saturday nights before Christmas.  This is a real sweet deal for me and I've been invited to do it all 4 nights.  They really want a wagon that seats 15 people.  To me, this means I need to be on the look out for a larger wagon, and more importantly, I need to have the team ready.  Rachel is not a worry, but Pam is going to have to get some miles under her.  I'm real excited about this.  last year I got to do it for one night, and it was awesome.  Looking forward to it.

I'm also looking to begin actively pursuing my goal of haying my field with my horses.  This is tough though, because I need the equipment to do this, starting with a mower.  If anyone knows of a horse drawn mower here in Texas that is up for sale, please let me know.  I also need a good forecart so that I can pull other implements too.  Keep your eyes open for me and let me know if you find something that is within a half a day's drive to me.  :)

When I harness the girls up next, they'll be using their new liverpool straight shaft bits instead of the twisted wire bits that came with the harnesses.  I'm excited for this.  I've been really impressed with the liverpool bits and love the control that they give.  I just hope Pam and Rachel don't complain too much.  :)

Hooray for fall almost being here.  Time for this lazy boy to get outside and get busy again.  Summer break is OVER!!!  :)

Dog Days of Summer

It's been hot as hell here in North Texas.  The last 5 days have been over 100 and sitting around the 105 mark.  Due to the heat, it's  pretty safe to assume that not much is going on as far as working the horses goes.

In my riding club newsletter they posted a pretty good little blurb about horses and heat.  I figured I'd include it here.  It's an easy forumula and can help you know when you should be concerned with your horse.

Other than that neat idea below, I have nothing else going on.  I've been staying indoors and making use of the modern conveniences of air conditioning.  I tell you, I sure have a respect for those who lived 100 years ago, who had to work the land, even in head like this.  And they even did it without gatoraide!  :)  Hopefully we get some rain or a cold front soon.

The Heat is On!



We are now into the hottest weeks of summer and need to be aware of the effect of heat and humidity on our horses. Endurance riders use a simple formula to determine when weather conditions become stressful to the equine athlete. It is called the Heat Index (H I), which means in this context, the sum of the temperature and humidity. Any time the H I reaches 150, we need to pay attention to our horse’s condition. When the number exceeds 180, a horse can quickly get into trouble. Always encourage water consumption. Electrolytes are essential for horses working in the heat. Commercial supplements are available, but here’s a simple, cheap, home-made formula: One 26 oz. box of table salt (plain, not iodized) Two 11 oz. boxes of Morton’s Lite Salt Two oz. (4 TBSP) dry Epsom salt


Mix well and feed ½ oz. to 1 oz. per day, depending on level of work. (1 to 2 TBSP)


One of the most important things you can do to encourage your horse to drink water is to provide a clean, cool source. If the water source looks too dirty for you to drink out of, then your horse probably isn’t too keen on it either. The exception to this is pond water; they love it!! Go figure!

A Pictorial View of my first clinic (LONG!)

So last friday night was my first ever clinic.  It was pretty good.  There were 50 people that had RSVP'd, and I think we probably had close to that show up.  I was busy all day cleaning up the girls, trimming bridle paths, and scrubbing them till they sparkled.  It was definitely a long day for me, but it was awesome.  The pictures below should pretty much lay out what happened at the clinic.  It will almost be like you were there!  Just be a little considerate of how funny I look in many of the pictures.  Most shots were snapped while I was talking and explaining things, so I look rather funny.

 

 Things started with an introduction.  I introduced myself, and learned quickly that I didn't need a mic, because I have a loud voice.

 After introducing myself, I introduced the girls.  I had Rachel up front, and I used her to introduce the group to the Belgian Breed.  She's a very capable model and she sure looked good for the event.  Pat Chase walked Rachel around for me.

 

Next came an introduction to the collar/hames style harness.  I used my pretty nylon harness for this.

I tried to be as photogenic as Rachel was

Questions before we harness up Rachel?

Up Next ... Harnessing Rachel  (Isn't she a gorgeous model?)  Pat was a great extra set of hands!

Collar on, making front adjustments

Explaining about the harness

Adjusting the speider and breeching

Putting on the bridle

And here she is, a harnessed horse

Next was ground driving.  I did a lap of example, and then my friend Yvonne took the lines.  Yvonne is a lifelong horse person, but has never driven.  She got to try everything I did after I showed her what to do.

More Ground driving

And more ground driving.

After ground driving, I set up to pull a tire around the arena.  Jodi Fry did great at holding the lines for me while I got set up.

Explaining the single tree and how it works

Starting to work

More tire pulling

More tire pulling

Yvonne demonstrating the tire pull

Next thing to do is hook up a sled.  I hooked the sled up.

 

Next I gave a few instructions and then drove the sled around.  This was followed by Yvonne demonstrating the sled.

At this point, I told the audience we could either talk about team ground driving, or I could hitch up the wagon.  We decided on the wagon, and hitched up.  Roger Barnes, Pat Chase, and Mike Featherstone helped so we got it done quickly.

I then showed how to walk the horse with a wagon so they can get used to the sounds and noises it makes.

Next I hopped inside the wagon and drove around myself.

After that, it was time to take all the kids there for a wagon ride.  They were very excited about that.

More of the kids,

And more of the kids,

And more.  This kind of ride is the best in my opinion.  The joy of children is awesome to behold.

After the kids were done, I offered to let anyone in the crowd who wanted to drive the wagon have a go at it.  I had a few takers on that, and made some good friends out of it.  SUCCESS!  The clinic went well.

One of my favorite parts of the clinic was seeing all the teamster friends I've made.  Chuck, Roger, Pat, and Jodi were all there.  I also met a friend Jerry from my yahoo group.  It was great to get all together and chat.  I get the feeling we'll be trying to get together again soon.  Always fun when you get together with people who share the same interests and hobbies.

I have to give a special thanks to my wife, and my teamster friends for helping to make this event happen.  A big thank you to Connie Pitkin for letting us use her covered arena.  Thanks also to my riding club, the easy rider saddle club, for providing the food and for getting so many people there.  I'd definitely do this again if given the opportunity. 

Picture of Rachel from the clinic

Just thought I'd share this.  She's an amazing horse and really showed off the breed well.

Line adjustment and coming around

My girls.  Notice the letters I added to their blinders.

This last saturday, I got up at 5:45 AM and worked the girls for the first few hours of daylight.  This is the only way to beat the summer heat.  It was still 80 degrees, but at least it wasn't 100.  If you recall my previous blog, I was looking into line adjustment.  I found an article on rural heritage that talked about how to adjust your team lines.  (Link Here)  It basically said that for a 36 inch tree you should adjust your team lines so that your check line is 8 inches shorter than the outside line.  He said that for a 42 inch tree, you should adjust the checkline out one more hole on the line.  I got out a tape measure and did this.  Turns out that for 8 inches of difference, I was on the hole closest to me.  My tree is 42 inches, so I adjusted it out one more.  I was pretty happy with this.  Pam and Rachel did very well on it, so I was very pleased.

When I posted about what driving commands I use, Jim asked a very good question that I hadn't thought of.  How do you train a horse to come around?  It is a sidepassing motion, but not completely.  The movement is more like the horse is the minute hand on a clock, and the wagon stays right in the middle.  So how do you train this?  I tried on both Rachel and Pam both individually, and it's a tough on.  Both girls did not want to move their back end, they wanted to pivot on their rear feet and just turn the front end.  What I was doing was giving a little more pressure on the inside of the turn, and keeping tension on the outside line as well.  I was trying to communicate that I wanted them to turn, but that I didn't want them walking forward to do it.  They were slightly catching on, but the most I could get was one step on the rear end, and that was from Pam.  Rachel struggled grasping the concept.

There has to be a better way to teach that.  My friend Pat has some Cathy Zahm vhs movies, and I'm going to borrow them.  He says she covers it pretty well.  In the meantime Jim, I'm not sure what the answer is.  I'm definitley going to figure it out though.  I haven't done that manuever since I had Lily, and she was already trained so that the minute you said "come around" she just did it.  She was trained so well!  Remembering this kind of thing really strikes the heart strings for me and makes me remember the wonderful things I miss on my wonderful horse.

I should also note that the farrier I use is AWESOME!  His trim on Rachel's rear foot is doing a perfect job.  She is carrying her weight on her frog like he wanted.  This means that her tender sole and hoof wall where the abscess was is growing out great.  I'm very happy with it and hopefully Rachel will be crossing rock roads without wincing in pain soon!

After I worked the girls, I hosed them down and let them dry, then I fly sprayed them.  I actually got a few pics, so enjoy.

A shimmering wet Rachel

A nice clean Pam

Driving Commands

So I am writing up some things to get ready for this clinic, and I compiled a list of all the commands I use.  I figured I would post it here, just so anyone else can see what I use.

Driving Commands


Step Up (may accompany with clicks) – move from stop to a walk.

Get Up – used in team driving to get one horse to step up and pull evenly with the other horse.

Trot Up (may accompany with kisses) – move from walk to a trot

Walk – move from trot to walk

Whoa – stop

Gee – turn right

Haw – turn left

Come Around – sidepass to the right or left

Back – back up

Easy – stand and be still; I also use this anytime I feel a horse is getting a bit anxious and needs to relax.



*NOTE – I always begin any driving command (except Easy) with the horse’s name. This lets my horse know that I am talking to it. This will help your horse not queue off any other person who might be saying those words. (Example: Rachel, Step Up; Rachel Gee; Rachel Whoa)

Clinic Attendance

So my clinic is next friday.  We're trying to get a headcount on how many people to plan for, so if anyone reading this would like to come, please let me know.  Thanks in advance! 

Link to clinic information is HERE:  http://thegreenteamster.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-first-clinic.html

Summer update

It's HOT!  I really hate summer.  Not only is it way to hot to find any joy in being outside, but I feel bad working the girls because they're already sweating before I even attach a halter.  I find myself waiting for storm systems and trying to get a few minutes before the rain hits or after if its not muddy.  Needless to say ... the girls have been getting a break.

For Rachel this is a good thing.  I had the farrier out, and he cut away a lot of dead frog and dead hoof on her rear left hoof (the one that had the bad abscess a few months back).  he's really good at what he does, and had to trim her to get her weight to distribute onto parts of the hoof that aren't tender from that abscess.  I was pretty shocked when I saw how much of her hoof was dead and regrowing.  He told me that she needs to grow out and that until she does, I shouldn't work her hard.  He said pulling something light in dirt is okay, but do NOT take her on rocks or on the road.  So it looks like we get to play the waiting game for Rachel to grow out enough so that I can work her again.

Pam is busy being as sweet as ever.  Giving her a job has been an awesome thing for her.  I have found now more than ever that she comes right up to me when I call her, even if I'm holding the halter.  It's very nice.  We got some blood drawn today for a pregnancy test and so within a few days I'll know if next march we're expecting.  Very cool!

I've been slowly starting to prepare for the clinic next friday night.  I was expecting the clinic to be a small thing with a group of friends from the riding club, but it got advertised pretty well, including an article and picture in the company email news.  With free pizza and prizes, I'm thinking we may have a few more people than I thought.  I'm really looking forward to it though.  Most of my teamster friends here are going to be there, so it'll be kind of cool just to have us all meet up.  Pat, Jodi, Chuck, and Roger are all willing to help and have offered me any of their resources I need.  I'm very grateful to have such good friends.  I'm pretty sure that teamsters are a cut above the rest.  Most horse people I've met will gladly give you the shirt off their back; but a teamster will give you their shirt and a harness for your horse too.  :)  I am very blessed to have such good friends.

I ended up not doing the parade on July 4th.  Roger offered a horse and wagon to drive, but a local red dirt country band I play the drums for was playing a show up on Lake Texoma that night.  We ended up having a practice that day at noon, so I figured it was probably best if I didn't rush up and rush back.  In my experience, I've found that Horse + Rush = frustration and trouble.

I've been looking for bits online and all I can say is that the 3 slotted liverpool straight bit (for buckle lines) is a VERY popular bit and hard to find cheap.  I need one so that I'll have 2 and can use them on both the girls.  I've been scouring the web and can find them for 45+shipping.  I found them on ebay for 35, but by the time I clicked the buy button, they were already sold out.  Like I said ... popular bit!  I did buy one liverpool with the two round openings for snap or buckle lines.  That one will go on my nice looking single nylon harness, which makes sense since my single driving lines have a snap.  The slotted bits will go on the team harness.

That's about it for me.  Not much going on, just trying to beat the heat and get ready for the clinic next week.

I think I should take a moment and brag on my friend Pat's colt again.  I went over the other night to pick up some hay and give Pat a line drop I got for him as a present.  He had his mares and colts up and I got to see Ace again.  Wow is that little guy put together well.  He holds his head almost like a swan.  Head way up, and nose down a bit.  His shoulder line is awesome, and his feet and pasterns look awesome.  Pat is going to try to show him in the upcoming Oklahoma State Fair.  I'll probably see if I can't tag along for it.  Usually the weanling winners are born in January, so Ace has a 2 month disadvantage there, but Pat figures by the time he gets to the yearling shows, he'll have no problem holding his own.  He's beautiful to look at and really shows off the Belgian breed well.  Great job on a great colt Pat!

More teamwork

I tell you what ... having a nice storm system swirling about all week has been so awesome.  I've played with my horses almost every night.  I'm real happy about that.

Last night was teamwork night.  2 horses, one sled, 2 hours of work.

The highlight of the evening was to see that both horses are actually beginning to see that they are workhorses.  Let me explain.  It's one thing for a horse to tolerate a harness and then do what you say, and another for a horse to know that when the harness is on, they are gonna work and actually look forward to it.  Rachel is changing right before my eyes and it's awesome.  I always put her collar on by just sliding it over her head and down her neck.  Up until this week she kind of mildly tolerated it.  This week she is actually pushing her head through.  I just hold the collar up over her nose and she does what she can to get it on.  She knows where it goes and seems to want it on. 

Also, the last few nights, she has surpassed Pam in wanting to pull.  Rachel has been a constant step ahead of Pam the last few nights.  This is different from Monday night when Pam was a step ahead.  I find myself getting after Pam to step up, and then when Pam does do a quick step to get even with Rachel, I have to make sure to hold Rachel back so she doesn't just break into a trot to stay ahead.

Last night the girls seemed very full of energy and so I did lots of trotting with them.  This is good because it let's us work on the "trot up" command I'm trying to ingrain in them.  I was real impressed though.  Both girls seemed to have no problem and I didn't have to get on them about wanting to stop either.  Great progress.

The lowlight is my rein control.  I'm not happy with things and need to do some research and try and get it to where I feel like I have more control on the lines.  I think the biggest issue was that the girls seemed to not keep a constant relationship next to each other while working.  Pam was always falling a step behind and in the process of stepping up, she would get really close to Rachel, or further away than she should.  They have a yoke on, but sometimes they are 4 inches from each other, and other times they're over a foot away from each other.  This makes it a nightmare to try and keep line tension good.  Rachel seems steady as can be so I want to say that Pam is just not falling in line like she should.  I don't know though.  There were many times when I'd try to turn and I'd get the inside line on one horse with good tension, but there wouldn't be any tension on the outside line of the other horse.

I'm going to look more into team line adjustment.  My current line setup up has me using some spreaders on the inside.  The lines have a few holds where you can adjust the check lines.  I don't know how to know when and what to adjust those to.  I'm going to do some research in that and I'll try some things and let y'all know what I find out.

In other news ... I noticed that Pam is doing the head movements I talked about the other night anytime I stop.  I unhooked the overcheck completely and got way too much head movement.  I hooked it back up but gave her some slack in the line, and she would still lower her head till the overcheck was tight and then jerk it back up.  Is it possible that she just likes the feeling of the twisted wire bit being tight?  As of right now, she looks like she is constantly nodding "YES" when we're stopped. 

I think I'm also going to switch out my 2 twisted wire bits with Liverpool straight shaft bits.  These twisted bits came with the team harness and so I thought I'd try them.  They work okay, but I don't feel like I'm getting the response I want.  Maybe switching bits could help with Pam nodding her head too.  Who knows.

Tomorrow I should be going to Paris Texas to be in a parade.  Due to Rachel's hoof still healing up, I'm not bringing my own horse.  I will most likely drive one of my friend Roger's horses on one of his wagons.  He's got beautiful Belgian horses so I'm sure I won't mind at all.  For more information on Roger, check out his website at http://www.oldtimetransport.com/.

My first clinic.

In July I am putting on a clinic for the riding club I belong to.  They just sent me the flier for it, so I figured I'd post it here.

Easy Rider Horse Club to sponsor a
Horse Driving Demo/Clinic

with Tim Adams

July 23, 2010 – 6PM

Have you ever wished you could do more with your horse than just ride? Would you like to hitch to a wagon, skid some logs, even pull a stuck vehicle out of the mud? Your horse can do these things!! This month Easy Riders Saddle Club member Tim Adams will be doing a driving demonstration/clinic. Tim has been working with Belgian draft horses and is very passionate about all things hitch related. Tim has used his horses for many different things on his farm. He has been in parades and given Christmas wagon rides on Park street in Greenville last year. Tim currently has a team of Belgian horses he is working. Tim is going to cover topics that could enable any horseperson to begin working their horse into other uses, besides riding. Topics to be covered will include: a brief history of the Belgian horse breed, introduction to a work harness (collar/hames style), how to fit a harness to your horse, introduction to ground driving, introduction to using a sled. Tim wants this to be as hands on as possible, and hopes that anyone who wants to try their hand and driving will have the chance.

There is no charge for the demo/clinic and it is open to the public. The arena is covered with a limited amount of seating.

The Demonstration will be held at John & Connie Pitkins Farm at 3915 Old Mill Road, Greenville, TX 75402-5417 at 6pm on July 23, 2010.

The public is welcome.

Free gifts and Pizza will be handed out till gone. If interested, please email Yvonne Gurzell (yvonne.r.gurzell@L-3com.com) or Ann Sides (Ann.Sides@L-3com.com) so we can get a head count. You can also call Yvonne at 443-854-1042 for more information.

Directions to the Pitkins Farm:

From I-30, go south on Hwy 34 for 4.4 miles. Turn left on CR 3318. Go 1.2 miles on CR 3318 and turn left on Old Mill Road. The farm is on your right after you turn. You’ll see a large covered arena.
From L-3, go west on Hwy 1570. Approx. ½ mile turn left on Old Mill Road. Go 2.5 on Old Mill Rd. and you’ll see their place on the left, before you get to a “T” in the road.