i’m working at a nearby boarding and lesson barn and finances are very,very tight. i’ve been brainstorming with the barn manager about how we’re going to get water and hay to the pasture boarded horses when the weather is lousy and we both had the same idea at the same time. we’ve several horses who drive and some experience between us, plus i have harness and we’re looking at a high clearance work sled.
we’re going to need to bring hay and water to a dozen horses down a rutty lane a thousand feet or so, so we do need some kind of vehicle to get it done.
i can see using a stabled horse every morning to make the trip, than again at dinner.
we could even use the sled (which has a seat,btw) to move manure out to the fields if we want.
i’m pretty psyched about trying it, i’ve always wanted to actually drive the ponies to help with chores, not for pleasure driving as much. we’ve got an indoor to get started in, and we may take a refresher course to get up to speed first.
anyway, wish us luck?
Good luck and get us photos. You really need to talk to Lost Farmer–he does this every winter out west.
Big deal is to not overload the new-to-driving animals. They have to move what you hitch them to, EASILY or they will quit or get paniced. You gradually add weight as they work, and trust me, they DO notice the extra 50 pounds on the first time you use it.
You have to be careful with sleds, their runners will freeze to the ground if you stop for more than a minute or two. Horses have “break loose” the runners of load to get sled moving again. Breaking sled loose is advanced work for pulling, not for beginner horse. Beginners get their load broke loose by the DRIVER!
Pulling real loads, may change how a horse goes. Horses working for a living with big loads, use ALL their hooves to pull with, not the airy moving Dressage types the carriage drivers want. Such working horses NEED shoes with traction, to stay upright, keep the hooves working on ice, rough ground, deep snow. Such shoes would need snow pads, we like the snow rim pads on our horses to self clean the hooves. Others like the snowball pads, covering the whole sole.
Lost Farmer is definately the winter feeding expert on here, using his horse and pony power daily. Daily work has a way of really getting them broke and listening. He has the bad weather, deep snow, lots of animals to get fed daily, to speak from experience. Reading old posts might give you some ideas, more questions to ask as you plan the project.
Oooh, I want to hear updates, too!
My trainer and I were plotting some chores to do with my Morgan mare, just to keep us all challenged and busy. We haven’t come up with any yet. (She pulled a mower back when she was an Amish horse.) Since I’ve had her I’ve only used her for pleasure driving and for training demonstrations (my trainer uses her to demonstrate basic exercises, ground driving, etc in workshops).
Other people’s horse chore ideas?
good advice, thanks! we’re also thinking we can drag the arena and move manure. in fact, the aisles in the barn are six feet wide, so the sled we’re interested in would fit nicely in the aisle while we muck the dozen stalls. i cannot wait to get working on it!
First if you are serious about this start now and get the horse/s in and start working it/them. DON’T wait until you need the horse to hook it up. You will sour them and sore the shoulders. Pulling weight is much different than pulling a cart or wagon.
ALWAYS break the sled runners loose before you hitch up. I have a pry bar I use to break the sled loose. I also have a couple of poles that I park on so the sled is not able to freeze down. A frozen sled and a green horse and you have a wreck in the making. Take the 30 seconds and pop the sled loose you will be glad you did.
Proper harness is essential. Weight pulling needs to have a collar and hames style harness. A breast collar is great on a cart and other light vehicles but it is not made for pulling sleds. With a sled you need to hook as low and as close to the front of the runners as possible so that you will get a little lift on the front. This makes the sled pull easier. A breast collar harness will pull down on the neck with that angle of draft. Breeching is important. as a sled once moving is hard to stop. Make sure you are adjusted correctly. I see more breechings too low than too high. Too low will sweep the legs out from under a horse and with the snow and ice… well you see where that is going.
A bob sled will be much easier to turn than a single long runner sled. But a single sled will work well if you are aware of the issues. Always start going forward before you start turning. Horses have to muscle the front of the sleigh over so they must learn to push sideways as they turn. Don’t stress the high clearance. A low to the ground sled works great. If you have a huge storm overnight then you can make a run empty to break a trail. I like to cut some willows and mark my snow road so after a big storm the horses can find the trail. As you continue driving in the same spot then the snow will pack and become a snow road. I have a couple of rims from an old geo car that I pull right behind each runner. I attached the steel rims with a short section of chain. This will help in breaking out the trail. In the spring the snow road will be there and the rest of the snow melted.
Have fun. I hook up in the morning and feed tie the horses in tie stalls and then feed again at night. I leave them harnessed all day. I like the harness to dry on the horse rather than on the rack. The harness will stay softer that way. I find that the difference in time to feed between the horses and the tractor is the time to catch, groom, harness and unharness. The actual chores are the same or slightly less with the team.
Goodhors gave you some great shoeing ideas. We usually do not have ice so I get away with bare foot most the winter. I have a pair of drill tek shoes for one team that I put on if the ice gets bad. But then we get a little new snow most every few days and that keeps us good footing.
http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t323/lostfarmer1/Winter%20Feeding/Sleigh1.jpg
This is one of my sleighs as we finished up in the shop.
http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t323/lostfarmer1/Winter%20Feeding/feeding2_2.jpg
Headed out with a load. We feed about 20 bale or about a ton of hay a day. I have already fed some at a feeder before this picture was taken.
http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t323/lostfarmer1/Winter%20Feeding/feeding3_3.jpg
This particular day we went out in some deep snow. I like to put the hay on fresh snow each day so we keep moving the feed ground out.
This is not a big team. This pair weigh about 750 a piece and are all heart. We use this pair when I don’t know what the conditions will be. The little greys are used on the good days when there isn’t much new snow to fight. They are as game as they come but at 500 lbs a piece and a ton of hay on the sleigh they need conditions in their favor. The shires were green last winter and one was with foal so I took it easy on them. They esentally got light duty as well.
Again if you are serious do both you and the horses a favor and get in shape now. LF
Could I pull an arena drag once or twice a week without a pulling collar? Maybe I should try pulling it myself once or twice. I don’t know how much it weighs - at most a little over 100 pounds? Maybe 200?
But if I’m seeing LF’s and others’ points, using a proper collar has to do with the angle of the weight being dragged on the ground, too, not just how heavy it is?
[QUOTE=twofatponies;4416122]
Could I pull an arena drag once or twice a week without a pulling collar? Maybe I should try pulling it myself once or twice. I don’t know how much it weighs - at most a little over 100 pounds? Maybe 200?
But if I’m seeing LF’s and others’ points, using a proper collar has to do with the angle of the weight being dragged on the ground, too, not just how heavy it is?[/QUOTE]
You are not just pulling the weight of the drag, you are pulling as drag RESISTS being moved. So if you put a scale on the drag, you will find that weight PULLED is much more than the weight of drag only. Thinking small, you CARRY a tow chain, because dragging by only one end, makes chain moving a LOT HARDER for you with dragging resistance of the whole chain’s length on the ground. MUCH easier to pick up and carry the chain’s weight, no ground resistance.
Collar spreads the weight out over the whole surface (face) of the collar touching the horse skin. Less weight per skin inch, so easier to pull. Hames make the entire collar work, not just the point of shoulder contact under the trace attachment location.
OP has harness. Collar harness needs to be well fitted to EACH animal who will be pulling. Collars are sized, no universal size for all animals. Hames, the pieces that fit around the collar to attach the traces to, need to have good straps or chain, to keep the top and bottom ends together. A broken hames strap will have the horse breaking loose from the vehicle, only have the reins left on him! Hames straps need to be strong with VERY sturdy buckles, to withstand the pulling pressures. Stitching should be strong and complete on harness parts, so pieces don’t come apart under any strain of use.
Traces that attach to singletree of the sledge, also need to be very strong, able to take the pull of a bigger load. Need to be long enough with that low attachment point on sledge, to not hit horse hoof or leg when fully extended behind horse.
Singletree and bolts attaching it, need to be checked well, before attaching any animals to the sledge. Bolts used need to be hardened, not just cheap bolts off the shelf. Hardened means bolts are stronger and wear better in hard use. Cheap bolts will snap with jerk of pull, often just shear right off. Not made for such hard work.
You might check around, see if there is a local Driving Club, Draft Pullers or breed group, that could give you assistance by looking over your equipment, harness for problems. They have “trained” eyes in driving related areas, could spot problems you never considered on the items you plan to use.
Lost Farmer is dead on about your needs before winter arrives. Covered it very well.
I was browsing sites today that sell draft work harnesses.
Makes sense that not only the collar needs to fit but you also need “heavy duty” versions of traces, etc.
I know some draft folks (and my trainer used to log, if I recall, years ago). I’ll poke around to see if anyone in the area uses a light horse for pulling work (mine’s a Morgan). Off the top of my head I only know folks with Belgians, and some mules, doing farm work, etc.
Thanks for bringing up the subject, OP - I’m all curious about it myself now!
very good advice, and we are going to start ground driving this week.
i do have a good resource for draft needs nearby, and we have a fair amount of draft folks around to get hands-on help and equipment from. i don’t forsee ever having to break the ice from the runners, as the sled will be stored inside. and we’ll only be bringing a half dozen small bales a trip, and maybe ten or twelve buckets of water each trip–so not too heavy of a load.–nothing like those pics lostfarmer posted!!!
lostfarmer, your pictures are great!
