What did you do today?

[Charlie Horse]

Wow all this talk about horse and goat driving makes me want to get back into it.  I'm not up to speed on it since my neighbor trained my horses and has the carts.  I need to build myself a couple carts-- Since I'm the prepper type it has been on my list forever.  



Here are some pictures from one year ago of my neighbor borrowing Shoney D. Pony for her 'troubled youth' horse experience classes she used to run.  I came home from a day of working on cars and was greeted with this.  Apparently Shoney is a natural.  She was professionally trained for riding by a cowboy and his kid, and was easily converted into a cart horse by the neighbor-- And that really makes more sense since she's so fat (Welsh-- has a neck like a stallion and no withers) and hard to keep a saddle on and of course I'm to heavy to ride her myself.  



My Morgan Mare-ilyn was once trained for pulling.  I'd want to re-train her though since its been a while.  I'm not sure if she'd work for a cart since she's now blind in one eye and tends to drift to one side if she's not following another horse while I ride hehe.  May not matter with a cart though, who knows.  She's beautiful though-- She's got that classic morgan look and shes' built for trotting.  She's one half Lambert and the rest is mostly old US Cavalry stock.  

I have the book "Drive On" which seems to be a comprehensive book about driving.  My harness is crap though.  Got it on ebay and the leather ended up dry and ripped too easily.  Honestly I have forgotten how all of that rigging worked anyhow.

I'd like to do a goat cart.  I know Shelby or Woodstock would be perfect for it.   Vincent may or may not when he grows up-- He likes to lean into pressure like its a competition thing.  A goat cart would be easy to build, too.  I weigh 210lbs though so I'd have to balance it just so.  For goats, isnt it pretty hard to get them to pull side by side?  I can see a lot of trouble if you dont have two goats that are friends (rare).  They line up pretty well though on the trail so it seems like that'd be the way to do a two goat cart.  I assume though you'd need a 4 wheel cart to make that work.  Perhaps it'd be easier to stick to a single goat.

[Charlie Horse]

Taffy, one of your goats looks like he has a big red bow on his back. He's probably ashamed.

That landscape sure is interesting. So much volcanic activity in the North West. Even here in SLC we have fields of lava rocks up in the hills. Hard on horse shoes let me tell you.

The hillside sure looks like it has been grazed for a long time with all those little terraced paths. I saw a lot of that in the middle east/Jerusalem area. The terraces were so old that some of them were wide enough to drive a truck on.

Hey good luck with your knee. Perhaps next time you'll make the hike to Wildhorse Window, eh? My good friend-slash-mechanic is going in for knee surgery in a month. He's recently divorced so he and I are going to Vegas for Thanksgiving to race the 68 Nova I restored for him (It was a work trade). I'm personally not into drag racing that much... My race car is a cornering car... But a Vegas holliday spent camping in a race track pit sounds like fun to me! He'd better do well after that knee surgery because he's always bending down to work on cars even though he's older and it hurts. Just getting a car on the lift means you have to crawl around to position the lift points.

[Taffy]

Bourbon does look like he's dressed up with a bright red bow!  It's actually my jacket.

The landscape is extremely interesting here.  The terraced paths are actually ripples caused by the ice age and Missoula floods.  It's really hard to fathom the water having been as high above the Columbia River as where we were hiking.  Here's a good link to some of the landscape history of our area.  http://hugefloods.com/  Cattle do graze the hills in the spring and there are some cattle trails.  The area burns almost every year due to lightening strikes or sometimes a train spark.  The best times to hike it are in the spring and fall.  Summer can get really hot.  The wildflowers are gorgeous in the spring and early summer.

I plan to make it to the Wild Horse Window next year!  This surgery is to repair tears.  It should help me buy time before the knee replacement.  The orthopedic surgeon couldn't believe I had waited since January when it was injured to have the surgery done and been able to do all of the activity I've done.  I'm a tough old goat!  

My nephew is into restoration and drives on a track in North Carolina.  He is into the handling aspect and "how fast can I go before it doesn't react like I want it to."  He had to be certified to rive on the track where he does it.  Have fun camping at the track in Vegas.  Don't lose all your money gambling!  

[Nanno]

Aw... Taffy I love it when you post pictures with Pac-Man! Tell Eldon and Debbi to get on here too! I still swear Jethro belongs over here in my herd. He's a perfect match for Finn.

Charlie Horse, you should go over to Driving Lessons and take a look at the harness and cart set-up. I'm seeing a few things that could easily be improved in your pony and cart hitch to make it safer and more comfortable for pony and people alike. All the equine driving stuff translates over to goat hitches. My favorite driving book is called A Teamster's View: More and Different by Steve Bowers. It's what got me started in my carriage business since I had no place to go to take lessons. It's got a ton of great technical info on how to adjust the harness and hitch to be safe and comfortable. 

As for driving goat teams, I'm concerned about the goats not getting along too, but I think I can make this work with Finn and Sputnik since they've gotten to be pretty good friends. I'm also considering the idea of training them to bits and bridles instead of just halters. This would make my steering and stopping aids more effective, and I could also attach an overcheck if I find that they are interfering with each other too much. A properly adjusted overcheck can keep them from swinging their heads too far to either side without interfering with their natural forward movement.

[hihobaron]

Hello Charlie Horse and All

This is Part Two of the Red Neck Goat Shed project.

As with any Projects you do you run into problems.
Nothing Major just some dimension problems from the first part of the tarp that was cut off.
Not quite wide enough for the height of the arch or long enough to cover the length of the shed.
I went ahead and just to see were and how would be the best system to fit the final cover.
For the Length problem all I have to do cut the next piece longer.
For the side wall  shortage I will just make a under lap with the wall sheet then over lap the roof sheet on it.
Tied down it will shed rain, an in hot weather can be held open for ventilation.
The wall sections will be made from the cover now on for the wall sections.
Here are the Latest Pictures:

You can see the arch made with Cattle panel in place and fastened down.
 

Just a little bit short

This shows the steel tube in the pocket and then tiring down the sides of the Roof Tarp.
The wall Tarp will Under Lap the roof tarp to shed rain and keep it from blowing into the sheltered area.
So much for the progress on the Red Neck Goat Shed.
Happy Trails
hihobaron

[hihobaron]

    Hello All
Well here is a funny for you today.
The Boys, Pete and Sam got a lecture from Susan on manners this morning.
I will not go into how they got her goat, but as you can see they got a lecture on manners out of it. Enjoy.
Happy Trails
hihobaron

[Nanno]

Pete and Sam are so cute! I'm guessing maybe Susan left a door open and had goats in her kitchen this morning? I'm not sure they're quite getting the message about manners. They seem to think she's about to give them a hand-out!

[hihobaron]

  Now this in a real trailer.jpg (Size: 113.82 KB / Downloads: 119)
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  Now this in a real trailer.jpg (Size: 113.82 KB / Downloads: 119)
  This is a Class Ride.jpg (Size: 119.89 KB / Downloads: 120) Nanno pid='7922' dateline='1447869223']Pete and Sam are so cute! I'm guessing maybe Susan left a door open and had goats in her kitchen this morning? I'm not sure they're quite getting the message about manners. They seem to think she's about to give them a hand-out!

Hello Nanno
Actually you got it part way right.
She did leave the door open but the boys came to the step and stuck their heads in to say HI.
She told them Back/Out and they did. so she took some stale crackers out to reward them "Outside" with. 
I think because these boy's are living with us they are learning manners and voice commands better than most goats.
I am a long time Dog and Horse trainer, she is a long time Small animal Veterinarian Technician and a horse person from her youth.
Yes ,we enjoy all of our animals and Yes at times "Spoil" them, but they all are taught who is herd Alpa and manners.

Here are pictures of my Goat Mountain , and Sam "Helping" unload Trailer then checking out the truck bed to see if it will make a good ride.

[Taffy]

I had knee surgery on Tuesday.  Yesterday Pac-Man, Parker and Rudy had their humans (Eldon & Debbi Otta) deliver a beautiful bouquet of flowers to me with a get well card!  Next time I see the 3 boys they'll get peanuts for thinking of me!  My boys haven't given me a card or bouquet.  What's up with that?!  


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[Nanno]

Aw, that's sweet! I hope you recover quickly!