Sledding with the Boys

[Mike]

It was a beautiful sunny day and I wanted to build on my great time driving Finn yesterday, so Phil and I took Finn, Sputnik, and the sled to a quiet sloped street with good snowpack. We would lead the goats up the hill pulling the empty sled and then have them pull us down the slope. They're not big enough or old enough to pull a big load, but we want to get them used to pulling some weight and to the driving commands while they're still young. The hill was not steep, but it was enough that Phil and I had to scrape our boots along the ground to prevent the sled from overtaking the goats, which is why you'll see our feet dragging in most of the photos. 

I started with Sputnik. He's a flighty little goat and put up a lot more fuss today than Finn did yesterday. I spent quite a lot of time untwisting him since he would sometimes turn suddenly around to face me--a problem you have when your vehicle has no shafts. Even so, he did really well for the most part and exceeded my rather low expectations. 


With Phil there to help when he got tangled and Finn to lend moral support he did alright.
 

Sputnik is extremely sensitive to being touched with the whip, so I had almost no trouble getting him to go. The problem is that he's also extremely irritable about the reins and kept swinging his head down quite violently any time I tried to steer, stop, or even slow down a teensy bit. Then he would get upset by the action of the reins caused by his own dramatic movements and would swing even more. This is one goat who would probably do well in a check rein since it would prevent his being able to whip his head around to the point of upsetting himself. 


Finn did amazingly well to the point you'd think he'd been driving his whole life. He already knows "Walk on" and "Whoa" after his one lesson yesterday!  


We have a tandem hitch! Not really, but it sure looked like it a lot of the time. Phil likes to call the tandem a "hot dog hitch" for some reason and it makes me laugh.


Mario Andretti coming around the corner! I think Phil wants a steering wheel on this thing. 

Hey Nanno,
I just got a military Scow cargo sled and I am going to be taking my kids winter campind with it using it asa Pulk.  I have already made ridgid poles for it and have made attachment points on a padded lumbar belt for me as well as on my large pack.  I have been toying with the idea of making a sled harness for my guys as well just for fun.  In these picture your sled harnesslooks fairly strait forward.  Would this be the style of that you would style recomment for a medium duty harness that may only get used once a year?  I found this harness on Amazon and it is simple enough I could easily make it.  Do you think its design is correct to pull a 120# well waxed sled over relativly flat packed snow for about a mile and a half?  As always thats so much for your time and knoledge!!!