 |
 |
Fieldwork has to be done and as long as Winston is able, he will do as much as possible using the horses. It not only changes young unbroke horses into trained animals but it is also therapy for the soul. Farming, as you know, also has its share of everyday chores. We have a variety of horse drawn pieces of equipment and some machines that we can pull behind a fore cart. I really have to laugh at Winston though, as he is always doing his 'favorite' job. A "favorite' job is any job, as long as driving a team of horses is involved.
The blue roan mares, Blue and Smokey, pulled the heavy hitter post pounder benind a forecart and seemed to know just when to stop for the next post. The noise didn`t even phase them. We were able to get into really tight areas to pound posts when we used the team.
[THE BLUES STANDING QUIETLY AS POSTS ARE BEING POUNDED.] |
|
 |
|
Hauling manure is an everyday chore. Sometimes it is forked on to a stone boat and other times into a manure spreader. Either way the pitch fork is mighty handy.
I really don`t know how many hundreds of loads of manure we spread each year but the work sure is a good way to condition teams.[CARRIE AND TESS WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE SPREADER TO BE LOADED.] |
|
 |
|
On occasion I have seen my husband doing the manure spreading in a wee bit of a hurry. I don`t think it is always his choice when a team decides to run but as we use open bridles, a green horse has a lot to learn. On one particular day the manure was flying higher in the air than it was going out the back of the spreader. Like Winston said, "The horses were running so fast and the manure went so high, that it took a week for it to come down." There was no wreck but sometimes when the horses see the manure flying in the air it does startle them. They soon get used to the noise and movement.
And so it goes when you chore with horses![CARRIE AND TESS PULLING THE SPREADER.]
|
|
 |
|
On one of our trips to Ontario, we spied a 'working' horse-drawn road grader. Finding a machine in good shape is getting harder and harder, so we had this one shipped west. The grader keeps the driveway smooth in the summer and free of snow in the winter. [ELMER AND FLOYD ARE HARD AT IT] |
|
 |
|
I mentioned that in winter the horses and cows are fed hay from big round bales. We have a handy bale unroller that is pulled behind a forcart. A twelve volt hydraulic power pack raises and lowers the arms that squeeze the bale so it`s a speedy and effortless way to handle the large bales. The precision work of getting the arms in exactly the right spot to pick up the bale teaches young horses to back, gee, haw and stand. The bale is then lifted up and carried to the field where it is unrolled. A few bales a day, everyday, and before you know it your horses are working really well. [FEEDING ROUND BALES WITH JOY AND LINEUS] |
|
 |
|
We also use a barrel-shaped feed dispenser to feed grain. The barrel has attachments fitted on the side so it can be lifted with the same arms on the bale unroller that we use to pick up round bales. The tub is filled with grain and carried out to the field. Here the tub is dropped to the ground and as the team walks the dispenser turns and drops grain on the ground every fifteen feet or so. The piles of grain are far enough apart that each animal has lots of room to eat. [FEEDING GRAIN WITH OUR BREAKING MARE, JOY, AND TWO YOUNG MARES, ERIN AND EMMA, ON EITHER SIDE OF HER] |
|
 |
|
One winter we went all out, cutting and splitting wood from our wood lot. Winston would cut the tree down with the chain saw, skid it to the landing with a team, buck it into stove lengths and split it by hand [That`s a few years ago when we were more energetic than we are now].Then we would stack the wood on the sleigh deck and head for home. We managed to get a lot of firewood home in this manner. [MAX AND BARNEY SKIDDING LOGS IN THE DEEP SNOW] |
|
 |
|
We drive many teams in the winter and sometimes feed the mares out on winter pasture with a four-horse hitch. We have a lot of narrow trails through the trees so the lead horses really have to obey instantly or the sleigh will bang into a tree. It is also an excellent way for teamsters like me to learn to drive four head. [A HITCH OF FOUR PERCHERONS RETURNING HOME AFTER FEEDING THE MARES] |
|
 |
|
On most days we just work with teams we are breaking to drive but sometimes we just go sleigh riding with friends for the enjoyment of the great outdoors. We love those winter trails through the trees and up and down hills.
[BABE AND BESS,OUR HACKNEY/CLYDE CROSS TEAM OF MARES STRIKING OUT FOR HOME. WHAT A PLEASURE THEY ARE TO DRIVE!] |
|
 |
|
Living on a farm is a way of life that we really love and we sure do appreciate the slower pace of life. You just have to travel our busy highways or go shopping in the busy city with all the hassles and stress, to know that the quiet of " home on the ranch" is absolutely the best for us. Working with horses is definitely a life style that we intend to keep as long as we can.
Isn`t if great that we have cameras so when our memories fail, the images from the photos can make everything crystal clear again.
Just in case you forgot what doing chores in the winter is like, her we are doing what we like to do best, in a snowstorm. |
