[Ed Thayer]

Thanks for the info Erika, very helpful. I did pick up a straight bar liverpool and tried it on Oz this weekend. It did seem to work well and he did not appear so up on the bit. I only had it in the ring position not the lower levers.

Jeroen, His tongue continued to flap around and I suspect it will continue as a habit. It never bothered me much anyway. Thanks for the link. I am always impressed with the willingness to share information here.

Thanks again,

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

I was having trouble earlier with posting. But now it seems to work fine.

[Ed Thayer]

Carl,

I was referring to Erika’s comments above. Slight, gentle pressure on the bit in cadence with the tempo I wish them to travel at.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

I just read the other thread, lots of good information in both. I am going to pick up a lever bit and try that along with the other suggestions of see sawing the lines and communicating better with the team.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

When sizing a straight bar bit, do you measure between the rings for size? Or would I take the existing snaffle with me and match it up for width at the tack store?

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Thanks for the feedback. I had not considered Carl’s thoughts about my Belgian being more in tune with me than the other horse. That makes some sense considering 99 percent of the time I work him single. My horse may actually be reacting to my commands as he is supposed too while the other horse is confused as a result of my inability to communicate with him effectively.

Clearly I have some work to do and I like a challenge.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

George,

This is the neighbors horse we have for the winter. They have worked single for the most part for the last 6 or so years. So it is a challenge to get them to work at the same pace. They are getting better with regular work but still have their issues. The belgian ( OZ ) is up and ready to go and the Canadian is a little more laid back because he is an older horse. I am going to give the buck back strap a try this week to try and get Oz to slow down and pace himself better with Balzac.

You may have noticed the jockey stick I use on Balzac to keep him from mouthing the other horse. If I don’t use this and let them sit while hooking logs, he will have himself all tandgled up in the lines or have the other horses blinders in his mouth.

Jeroen,

Ozzie, the Belgian,has done that since I got him. We have a couple of different harnesses I use with him and neither seems to make a difference. What are you suggesting might be wrong?

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Jay, you are correct, my JD 594 high wheel rake has an adjustment to change the pitch of the teeth. I played with it a little but found once the rake was working well it was best to leave it be and stop tinkering with the adjustment.

I raked all but one field right before baling. That seemed to work well for me with my set up. The one field I raked into a windrow and tried to dry took forever to dry out and I ended up raking it two more times before baling. Not a big deal with a tractor but would have been a challenge for the horses.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Please explain the quality difference using a rotary rake vs other methods. I am new to hay making and never heard that comparison made before.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

I have been looking at my second cut as well. I feed it to the horses by mixing it in with the coarser hay from first cut. I noticed my second cut is bleached out a little in color as a result from letting it sit out a couple of days longer because I could not get it to dry with cloudy conditions. It never got rained on but the morning dew took its toll. The horses seem to love it however.

My first cut was a challenge like yours was George. It should have been cut earlier but the weather would not allow it. It is stemmy and the horses pick through it and eat the finer grass first. They will eventually much on the stemmy hay but save that till last.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2014 🙂

Ed and Jane

[Ed Thayer]

I like the concept of amortizing your costs to justify the equipment. We started making our own hay last year and It took a year to find what would work for us on a budget. I figured 5 yr for all our equipment purchases for us to break even.

Regarding the rake, like Jay, we use a Deering 4 bar roller rake. I purchased it for $125.00 and then replaced all the tines for another $200.00. I liked it because it was ground drive and very well built. It does a fine job of raking dry hay and is simple to operate and can be pulled with a tractor or horses.

Good luck,

Ed

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[Ed Thayer]

Great thoughts on this topic. I too use the local roads to access our several garden plots scattered around the village. We have only had a couple of minor incidents but really enjoy the peace and purpose of the trips back and forth. Funny how I start to notice every pot hole, plugged culvert, or other pleasantry while heading to the field.

I load my trailer with the implement needed for the job, then hitch it to the fore cart and off we go. We are in no rush but have thought about what we are going to do before hand and have a purpose. It is also a plus to see the neighbors when they stop to chat.

My only trouble is figuring out how to get the tractor back and forth to these locations while spreading manure on the plots. If only Oz would pull the tractor with the manure spreader in tow.

Ed

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[Ed Thayer]

Wish I had the time for this event. I will get there one year.

Ed

[Ed Thayer]

Good points Wally,

I almost never use my horse without lines in hand and was simply trying to demonstrate his ability to pull this small disk behind the fore cart. That said, using draft power of any kind is risky and inherently dangerous. If I was not confident in my horse to handle this demonstration, I would not have attempted it.

Ed

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