Today we are doing more draft horse training with Baron, our Suffolk Punch Stallion, and things don’t always go smoothly!! Baron is doing a great job driving, but he is having a harder time getting hitched up!! I also wanted to show you some new collars we got for a few of the horses, and how to fit them to the horse.
Sugar Valley Collar Shop
18 Wagon Wheel Lane
Loganton PA 17747
(570)-725-3499
Watch our videos to learn about draft horses- horse logging, horses farming, and horse training! Jim uses Belgian, Percheron, and Suffolk horses to do work on the farm and in the woods. He teaches about harnesses, horse-drawn logging and farming equipment, horse feeding and maintenance, and voice commands for horses. New videos uploaded every week. Keep watching to see how Jim trains his new Suffolk Punch colts as he has trained his full-grown teams!
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Thank you so much for sharing this! This made me feel that I am not alone in this struggle.
a little touch with the whip at the 20 minute mark would stop that unwanted reversing, I see you grabbed it later. A day twitching logs by himself and lathered up good all day, he will likely stand. I've got 4 just coming 3yr olds and I'm all alone, just started hitching them as a 4 up and I take each team out on the sleigh for a brisk workout, an hour or so to take the edge off, then they will stand better while I hook them up. That lead team is a long way out front and if things go wrong there is not much I can do, so I try to tire them out first a bit. Hopefully by this spring/summer they will settle in more. Just had a foot of heavy snow overnight and got a call for a sleigh ride tomorrow so was breaking trail with one pair, that was a hard slog, had to stop and rest them a few times, no muscle tremors but sure blowing and sweated up with their winter coats as the temp here was just above freezing. Few nasty hills to pull up so I rest them at the top. So many times I wish I just had someone to hold the lines, or hold their heads…just to make an adjustment or unclip the lead shank. Oh well, maybe someday.
I just bought some new Shetler's Adjustable Farm Collars, 24/25/26, and I like them, nice and light and seem to fit well, Pads similar to yours but black.
I thought I might make a guess at why Barren kept stepping in and out of the shafts. I thought it looked like he was looking for the other set of shafts for the other horse, like he’s used to pulling w 2 horses. Just a thought. Bless all of you
Could you explain the purpose of the crooper? Not sure of the spelling.
Make him stand there at the trailer still hitched when you are done working and you are near by. I learned this from Barry Hook. He needs to learn to stand. It's just another gait and the most important one as you know. Use two people when hitching until he learns to stand still. He is doing great! Nice pivoting!
Well, I leant something today. I always hitched up by pulling the cart up to the horse and dropping the shafts over from above. Rather than have the horse step into place while the cart shafts are on the ground. I always thought that leaving the shafts laying down was being lazy and inviting damage to them. But then my work cart was small like your training cart. My cart was always parked with shafts poking up in the air so that was how I hitched up. I stood the horse more or less in the right place then brought the shafts down.
So my horse knew no other way. I guess having the cart sitting with shafts down would teach the horse to step over and be careful but he was always mindful of whatever was on the ground anyway.
Baron was using this delaying tactic to stave off his lesson for the day just as long as he felt he could get away with it.
I practised natural horsemanship so the teaching method was different to the way Jim teaches, but being patient is still number one no matter what method is practised. Always pays to be patient. And remembering that it is never the horse's fault even if it is the horse applying the disruption now. If Baron has this adversity, it is because a part of his learning process was skimmed past earlier in his education. Or maybe too much time was spent doing one thing until he went a bit sour. Or perhaps as Jim mentioned, the harness was not a perfect fit. But now it will be all fixed and Baron will feel more comfortable. Otherwise, finding that spot and relearning the lesson will fix his adversity without the necessity for upset or anger.
And I would bite the bullet and hitch him up again two or three times everyday for a week or more so he never knew when he was finished or he will develop an aversion to the cart or other work equipment. Drop the shafts down to get him rehitched. Eventually he will stand still for you.
I'm sure Jim will get it sorted. 😄
Would removing the blinders help for this lesson? Horses, and animals in general are said to be very visual learners.
For my 3yr Clydesdale we have just been pulling tractor tires around until I get shafts. But I laid poles out and had him stand between. If he danced then he got ground driven in more circles and direction changes stopping only between the shafts. Making it his choice to stand but allowing the choice to move. Just his choice caused more work for him. Now my boy chooses to stand quietly. I also wait until he stands calm before stepping off. Same with leaving if he dances I wait until he is quiet for a 5min or so then ask to step off after work. If while leafing he gets forward then we turn around and walk away from where he wants to go again Making his idea more work
Nip it in the bud! Said Barney Fife. Roman's dance around was almost comical. He's just as you said. A bit hyper. He's also terribly smart. Someday way down the road he'll teach other horses. Hopefully not in the school of shenanigans. This is important to show the not perfect days.
Good for you that you show us also things which are not going that well. What Baron shows here was exact that what you have to deal with in training my own horse. Jim , I admire you staying calm and not stressing. I think in this we see true 'horsemanship'.
Jim, your patience with your "rebellious teenager" is amazing!
Looks to me like he just didn't want to be hooked up!
I really enjoy watching y'all's video. I have a team of halflingers that I really enjoy
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Lots of respect for Jim. I feel you my mom's mare has become a real nightmare when we hitch her lately she will not stand & then bolts when first asked to walk off especially when heading for home.
We have increased her grain because of cold & working her.
How do you fit a collar to a horse that is about 12 hundred pounds?
Yes Brenda he is cute & a good sport! Barron is getting to be a big boy. Just wait till you get him going at
Pulling competitions! That wild be something to see!
Sugar Valley make great collars. Leather Therapy (brand) works great for conditioning leather…especially new leather.
I know baron is still young but what age is classed as strong enough to start working heavier loads
(A new Viewer) Very cute!
Great video, as always. Love to see challenges that we all share and different approaches to fixing them. He seems content in his regular stall, so maybe an outdoor stall where you were trying to hitch him up might ease his anxiousness.
Making money an action. Keeping money is a behavior, but "Growing money with an investment is wisdom" I figured this out a week ago.
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Thank you for showing Baron's trouble lining up with the shafts on the cart. Please show us how you resolve that. It's interesting to watch the process, not just the final result.