Homestead mailing list

[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> I know I can buy a trained horse for less than I can buy a tractor, for 
> sure, but who is going to train ME to do things with the horse, i.e. 
> log, plow, etc., and how much would all that tack and equipment cost in 
> addition to the horse?

A full new biothane harness including collar is about $500.  Used harness is 
abundant and feasible harness can be had for $100-$200.  We homesteaders 
don't 
put in horse time six hours a day week on end and so our equipment doesn't 
have to be the best of the best.  Having said that, I opted for the new 
harness 
made by an Amish fellow in Ohio.  Marvelous workmanship.

To move logs and such that's all you need besides a 'tree' and some chains.

A very useful device is the forecart.  A new one made by Pioneer is $500.  It 
looks like a Roman chariot and is used to attach some farm equipment to the 
horse power.

I bought a mower, hay rake, seeder, cultivator, a spike harrow, a disk 
harrow, a scratch plow, two turning plows, and a set of wagon trucks as 
antiques all 
for $400 total.   A lot of restoratio was needed.  I'm going to sell the 
planter and cultivator and much else as I have no use for them.

All that equipment is available new through Pioneer Equipment.

The thing about horse equipment is that it last for hundreds of years of use. 
 You only buy it once.

There are scores and scores of draft horse afficionados in your area.  They 
would stumble over themselves to help you learn, and it isn't rocket science, 
just some safety precautions mainly.  You can get in touch with them through 
Rural Heritage.

Half the cost (or value) of a horse (or mule or donkey) is it's training.  A 
trained horse knows his business.  God only knows how many miles of furrow 
Duke has plowed in his day, and today when I needed him to step into the 
plowed 
area instead of staying beside the furrow on hte unplowed ground to finish 
out 
the edge of the field, he snorted and turned to look at me as if I were God's 
own fool and in his own way said "That's not right, that's not how it's 
done." 
  </HTML>