Horses:

On August 13 2024 I put chief down. This was a very hard decision to make. A couple of weeks ago I found chief who had fallen down in a muddy patch in the north woods where they had been hiding from the sun and rain. I was not sure how long he had been down since I had seen him in the early morning but for sure he had been down for a couple of hours. Now how was I supposed to get him back on his feet. My front end loader was down with an injector problem so I got the small gas tractor and pulled him out of the woods. I did not enjoy that at all. I was worried that pulling him would injure him but I had no choice. Once I got him to a grassy area I tried unsuccessfully to get him on this feet. So I let him just lie there for some time thinking that he might be dying after being down for so long. But true to Chief he rested and then gave it a tremendous effort to get up. He did get this front legs under him and with the help of two others he seemed stable. Then with a great effort we struggled with him to get him up on his feet. He was very unstable but he was standing and before long was eating which is a sure sign things are ok. I stayed with him for a long time just to make sure he was fine but I certainly did not expect him to last the night. This whole episode prompted me to get a hole dug for chief and arrange to have him done in. The designated day I got chief and took him to the new pasture which had the hole dug. He was in a happy mood and managed to chomp on some of my sunflowers as he was passing. Unfortunately I had hoped to let him have an hour of so to enjoy the new pasture but the vet arrived. Chief danced his usual way in seeing a new pasture and I had to corral him and bring him to the vet to do him in. This was very disturbing. The vet decided to give him a tranquilizer but this made him very unsteady on his feet and the vet could not administer the lethal injections and Chief nearly ended up falling on him. I finally got chief to fall over and the rest of the injections were administered. This was one of the most frantic moments In my life. I felt so helpless and so bad that chief was having to go through this ordeal. He was excited to be in a new pasture and now I had to have him put down. Chief has always been so excited to be in a new pasture and today it was his end. I got the three other horses and brought them over to acknowledge that Chief was dead. They each said their good byes and I thought it was very hard for Ginger to say goodbye as they had been inseparable for many years. With everything now finished I placed chief in the grave and filled the hole with the dirt that had been piled beside it. I was very emotional as I felt I had betrayed him by bringing him to a hew pasture and then having him killed. I have visited his grave many times and am still having difficulty with the many emotions involved. It must surprise most people to understand that animals have many emotions too. And chief certainly had his enjoyments and often times did a small dance to show his joy. I will miss that old horse!	Chief snow plowing
November 26 2023. I finally combined the sunflowers and part of my rotation is to use the horses to break down the sunflower stalks and break up the crimped rye. There is also good green grass to be had along with some alfalfa just starting. I also tried them on some new rye which they happily ate. Maybe next fall I will over plant more rye as feed for them for the winter months.
November 15 2023. this is late evening as things are starting to get colder. You can see the wagon for the horses and in the distance one of the horses. I hope to keep them on pasture until December. Next year I am going to over plant rye and spelt so they can eat that when it gets frosty so I do not need as much hay.
August 6, 2023 It has been a good year with the horses but in late July it got too hot for the horses but they did cut the hay in early july. It was very impressive with Ginger really putting her heart into the pulling of the sickle mower. The hay was also very tall. They teddered the hay, then raked it but the tractor did the baling. Unfortunately Chief is having problems with his hind end so he vet is treating him with Vitamin E.
In the early spring we had some log to pull.

I first took draft horse lessons with Ken Laing. I really enjoyed the course but the thing I forgot was that his horses were very well trained. I actually took two courses.

In 2015 Dorothee and I purchased a farm and decided to get a horse. One of our amish friends offered to sell us one of his old horses named Major. We learned a lot from him and we decided to get another named Queen, then followed Duke and Jim. Major was sent into retirement. Next I got a young horse from Ken Laing, a Suffolk punch named Flynn. He turned out to be a very fine horse but unfortunately he got colic and had to be put down. This was a very big disappointment for me as he was the best horse I could ever get.

As of April 2021 we have four horses. Jim. Duke Chief and a new Belgium Ginger. I doubt that she had ever had a bit in her mouth or even harnessed. I took about training her and she progressed well. I have even got her plowing and having the honour of being in the furrow. All of my horses are over 15 years old and of no more use to the Amish.

The real trick I have found with my horses is to do something every day with them. Jim is a good example. In 2020 he got spooked and ran away with the other horses with our Sickle mower. Luckily for us there was only slight damage but it could have been a lot worse. I swore he would never be used again but I have spent time with him doing things like brushing him, doing exercises with him and it has paid off. “I have used him successfully in a three horse, and two horse team as well as by himself. I do not work my horses for long periods nor with very heavy loads because of their age and I must also remember I too am 73 years old this year. (2021)

Today was May 1 2021 and it was most successful using Jim and Chief on the tyne weeder. I never really thought that Jim would be very good since the last time he just wanted to go home after a few rounds. Today he and Chief were excellent and completed both fields for the sunflowers. So again just so much to learning how to use draft horses.