horses, anyone?

[mitchmaple]

hey folks. just wondering if anyone out there might collect with horses? we have belgians, and farm a little with them.

[KenWP]

Shhh don't mention horses to loud I am from Quebec and they eat them around here.

[gator330]

Trying to work it into part of the opperation. We have a team and do sleigh rides and hay rides with them. Started them on a plow this fall and hope to do some sap collecting with them. Hard to break the girls up. I'm thinking about a big gelding to start pulling fire wood with. Figure I can get about the woods better with one rather then one on each side of a tree going no place.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Yup! Got a team of belgians too. We went 20 years on this farm without horses (1959-1979) and decided there were some jobs where they were just plain better than a tractor. It's 5 below here right now and I'll bet my team starts right up and it wasn't even plugged in last night:) Since we no longer use many buckets, they don't get the use they used to but the public loves to see them pulling in a load of sap. I use them mostly in the woods in winter for skidding and hauling fire wood and logs and some in the sugarbush in the spring. Summer work is mostly on the hay rake.

[gmcooper]

Hi Earl nice to see you on here! I'm thinking that last rain knocked down the snow enough to get the horses into the woods? Lets hope for a good sap year!
Mark

[Frank Ivy]

Hi Earl nice to see you on here! I'm thinking that last rain knocked down the snow enough to get the horses into the woods? Lets hope for a good sap year!
Mark

At what depth of snow is a draft horse unable to walk/pull?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Frank,
Notice that GMCooper has miniature horses. My belgians work well with one to two feet. Break the road first before pulling a load. I have broken roads out in four foot deep snow but I hooked horses 3 abreast and walked them through with no sled or anything. Walk them a'ways then let 'em rest. Walk them again. Go back over it later with the sled and let it freeze down. Hardest roads I ever broke were with a crust that broke under them and tended to cut their legs. We went ahead of them and jumped on the crust to break it first. Took all afternoon to break out about 1/4 mile.

[BarrelBoiler]

mitchmaple, greeting, welcome aboard you going to use the horses again this year/ how many taps you planning on?

[mitchmaple]

hey mark, hey all, wish i could call you by name. the rain last monday knocked down alot of snow. its still good and cold out though. i've been trying to pack roads out there. lot of ice now. mark, penny and i are feeling our age now and it might be hard to hang 600 pails this year but we're game. tell ya later. i usually quit working out first or second week of feb. and start cutting and yarding next years wood. that way we're out there, some roads are good, the horses are starting to muscle up a bit and us too maybe. we can watch the trees and maybe be ready, or not. you know how it goes. best of luck, everyone.