Lamb update, Mom's decided her business is finished with the lambs, won't let them nurse. So I've invented the Barb Lee Flank Lock Hold to get her to hold still so the lambs can nurse. She and the lambs - and the whole flock for that matter - are on Craigslist. We're getting out of the sheep business altogether. However...! Part of the reason we're going to exit the sheep is because it's time to get back to the horses. I have such a craving to try driving them together again. I've solved the gelding's pain problem that caused most of the mischief in my original attempt, but I got such a fright on that last drive, that I've just shelved the idea - but never got over it. Seems like it's time to try again. Hubby even suggested he wouldn't mind sleeping under the stars in the wagon bed for a night if I can get the team back together! Right off the bat it seems like I was doing a lot of things wrong before. I'm going to go with wider doubletree and neckyoke, and I let the crosschecks way out...they seem to be nice and straight on 40" centers (small horses, but the 36" setup was too cozy for the gelding's liking). We walked a couple miles yesterday. Today I hooked them to a tire and we walked a couple miles. That went so well I hooked them to the sled and tore up the driveway for awhile. When they had to put their shoulders into it a little bit, we were pretty pathetic, but after about ten rounds they were really going well! The sled isn't going to last long! I'd really like to start with long, straight, steady pulls and big wide turns, but I just don't have that kind of work for them. May just keep on ground driving until my new evener/neck yoke get here. Big, big smile on my face. If I don't go too fast, maybe I'll get that chance to sleep under the stars in the wagon bed this summer.

Barb

Barb, hang in there! I heartily recommend the sleeping out under the stars in the wagon! My husband and I did a three day trip in ours with two other wagons back in September. We had no vehicle support at all and hauled everything we needed in the wagons. We had so much fun I just wanted to keep going! It took us almost a year to put together two good mules, two good harnesses and a good wagon. It was worth all of the time, money and effort.

On feeding the lambs. I saw this trick in the commercial dairy industry. Might work for you. They had a trough that had several bottle nipples installed on it. They just fed the raw milk (from milking) into the trough.

Here's an idea to modify it for lambs. Get a 5 Gallon bucket and hang it by a rope. Install several nipples around the bottom. Take the lamb milk substitute that you can buy from tractor supply and fill it up. Hopefully you won't go broke in the maintime, but might help you get them raised.

Hi Barb, sorry to hear about your sheep business going south. Does your gelding not like close quarters or does he not like the mare or maybe the side that he is on? Sorry, I'm not familiar with your past experiance.

Mrs. Lee, I'm not sure what you were talking about of what happened before but it sounds like you learned from it. Just always be sure you have a way out. The horses will take care of their selves. I once had a mule that we had an adventure every time I hooked him up but he finally came around and made a pretty decent mule. I had a lady ask me how I could stay so calm (after one of his usual stunts). I told her there was nothing to it when it happens every time. I guess you just get used to it. Hook them up again and hope for better and it will eventually happen. Good to hear you're trying again.

aaaww Barb, sorry you had a bum experience. Here's a taste of what you will be missing!

Now that is my kinda lamb!

Janet, that looks good. I don't eat lamb as much as I used to when we had our little farm flock. My brother dutch ovened a roast for us last 4th of July and it was delicious.

If you have trouble getting to the wagon with the horses, just push or pull the wagon out under the stars at your place. Might not be as much fun as on the trail, but at least you wouldn't have any run aways or broken equipment.

I always thought I didn't like lamb. Then I was trying to help out a kid at the 4-H livestock sale and bought a lamb. It turned out very good. Just good eats all the way around. I finally convinced my wife that pink on a lamb chop is a good thing. That was a battle but we managed. I am a fan of lamb now. Not to replace my beef and pork but to go with it. Any meal with meat is a good meal.

Barb, life is too short to deal with mamas that don't want to mama. We had a beef cow that took her claf for 3 days then kicked him off. She became a milk cow for the season the hamburger that fall. I will get even.
KM

Hay Connie, I am a certifiable card carrying coward. I'm skeered of the dark! But I have this dream of driving out somewhere with the wagon, camping overnight, and probably just heading back to base camp. Just once in my lifetime, at least! This is the FIRST time in 36 years that my hubby may have actually agreed to facilitate this silly dream! :o) It depends on how the horses go.
M. Burley, the gelding had a mouth problem that probably started with his breeder/original trainer. In single harness, he "suffered in silence" for years, until I tried driving him with the mare. The pull of the crosscheck eventually became unbearable to him and he blamed the mare, launching into her viciously. We finally had a very close call one day (I still didn't know about the mouth problem) so I have parked him for several years. He is finding out his problem is gone, but he still has memories, and testing to make sure the problem is truly "fixed." In the meantime, it seems prudent to give him some more space, and just put in a lot of safe hours on the ground before I get overconfident (which will happen any second now!)
Janet, we call that "lammie on a stick!" LOL! My little pea brain is as drifty as the wind, and things will change. For now, I've found someone willing to rassle the ewe for the next six weeks to get a couple of really high quality lambs. We have six to butcher this coming spring, and ten to send to auction. That leaves me with a really good, carefree and easygoing ram, and two really excellent ewes with their four lambs. For now...at any rate, sorry, I wouldn't trade a lamb chop for a night out under the stars with my hubby, ponies, dog and wagon! :o)
Gene, that's a great idea, but it wouldn't be the same, viewing the dull glow of Portland's electric lights reflecting off the clouds, and the smell of the manure pile versus a clear view of the milky way and the shooting stars and satellites, and the smell of sage and juniper out in the desert!

Barb

I understand, I have no patients for bad mothers either. I actually just sell the lamb as a pet and ship the mother asap myself. but then it does not happen often here. I'm not saying trade the lamb chop for the wagon trip, but bring the chops along to cook on the fire! I'd love to do the same, just can't get the other half interested :-(

Portland? Oregon?

Grey, yep, Portland, Oregon.

Barb

you can make money off sheep..as for eating them...we sell all our sheep to one friend of ours from across the river..he is in the home bbq business..if you ever eat any of his bbq you will ask for more..it is all in how you cook it..we have keept sheep for years and cathy would never eat sheep or lamb or what ever you want to call it...until she tried victorio's bbq..the last time he brouyght us some i ate it all..boy was she peed..as for me..i will and have eaten manny many things..and liked it..

For folks who don't like the "lamby" taste, cook the meat so the fat drippings fall away - bbq or on a rack in the oven. A lot of the flavors some people don't like are associated with the fat. Also, lamb, especially chops can be about as tender a meat as you'll ever eat.

I know I should put these on the calendar, I just haven't yet. Barb, here're some events that might be within reach of you:

•February 20-21, 2010. Happ's Horse Power Days in Ethel, WA
http://www.happs-inc.com/HPD_Home.htm

•March 27-28, 2010. Wilson Creek Plowing Days in Wilson Creek, WA
http://www.plowingdays.org/index.html

•April 3rd?, 2010. Plowing Invitational at Mother Earth Farm in Puyallup, WA
http://www.efoodnet.org/Page11.aspx

•April 3-4, 2010. Spring Farming Days in Pomeroy, WA

•April 14-17, 2010. Small Farmers Journal Plowing Match and Horsedrawn Equipment Auction in Madras, OR
http://smallfarmersjournal.com/horse-mule-plow-match

•April 17, 2010. Lynden International Plowing Match (location to be announced)

•April 17-18, 2010. Palouse Plowing Bee in Colfax, WA

•May 1, 2010. Champoeg Founders Days in Champoeg, OR
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/events.php?id=2709

•June 23-27, 2010. WDHMA Wagon Train.
http://www.washingtonwagontrain.com/

•July 9-17, 2010. 4-H Wagon Train in Sisters, OR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cJaUhiakSo&feature=related
They also have a Facebook account.

•August 30-September 2, 2010. Draft Horse and Mule Extravaganza.
http://www.wdhma.org/cgi-bin/view/Main/DraftHorseExtravaganza


•September 11-12, 2010. Palouse Empire Threshing Bee in Colfax, WA

Grey, that was great of you to put up all those events! I wanted to add that there is usually a threshing bee in Dufur, OR in August. Don't know the dates, but I'll bet it would be easy to find on line!

Barb

C'mon, Barb, go for it! I went on my first wagon train back in '89-borrowed a wagon, borrowed a team and took my 4yr old neice along for a week on our state's centennial train, cooked over a fire, slept in the wagon. Got hooked for sure. Did a repeat in 1990, only for 2 wks, they called it the Reconciliation ride as it was on the Pine Ridge reservation. Slept in a small tent, cooked over a fire, had my own wagon w/ a chuckbox I designed and was out for 2 weeks. Trouble is, it's addictive, so much better than the "real" world. I have 2 great wagons now, but no big team. I plan to use 2 stout QH full sisters for my team IF I can persuade the ladies to that kind of work ethic. "USE WHAT YOU HAVE"-Dale. (thanks, Dale, your advice is always on target). They have been challenging as they have "strong" personalities, but they turned into wonderful saddle horses and are sensible. I have enjoyed them as much as any horse I have ever owned or ridden. Still, I yearn for a team of big ones, I have drooled over and coveted a team of Brabants ever since Ann Harper brought them into the US. Maybe someday, before I get too old and crippled up............

If you don't overload them, the small horse will out work the bigger ones.

Dale, definitely no plans to overload them, but I'm really having to be creative to find "meaningful work" for them. I'm aiming for the kind of exercise that will make them feel a good kind of tired and relaxed. About the only thing I can come up with is sacrificing the perimeter of a one acre paddock to be able to hook them to the sled. Half out of that produces a lot more "tired" than two hours on the wagon. But of course two hours on the wagon gives us twice as much practice! :o) Today I got them set up on 40" centers. The old gear was 36" centers and that 4" breathing space made a huge difference. If I work this right, it's going to be one heck of a fun camping season!

Barb

I sorta wanted to spend some time just wandering with a team and wagon but the wife vetoed the idea. Her grandpa was a crazy old coot that thought nothing of taking a team and wagon, a bunch of kids and her grandma, and spending half the summer going visiting. Her mother told her about sleeping under the wagon in rain and snow, cooking over a fire and bathing in ice cold creeks. Wife wanted no part of that.
Her grandpa would also ride a hundred miles a horseback just to play baseball.

If I was going to eat that lam it would have to be cooked that pictured was just warmed up a little. just cook it til its done not raw.

You want to just get it back to blood heat, not CREMATE it. Any more than that, you may as well eat the charcoal.

A feller ordered his steak rare, When he cut into it, the waitress said, "I've seen my husband doctor cows hurt worse than that". True story!!

Ya gotta eat LAMB, not mutton, and yes, it's just about right the way Dale described it.
By the way, Dale, your wife's grandpa sounds like my kinda guy. I plan to hit some 3-4 day wagon trains this summer-there are several towns in SD that are celebrating their centennials and folks have realized how much fun they can have just toodling around with their horses. Will be in a wagon IF I can get the ladies going well enough to be safe. Also want to get a slightly smaller wagon restored for them, will be better and NOT overload them. Otherwise I will be riding the older one and maybe packing the younger one.

Mutton is better than lamb. You just need to learn how to cook it. At the ram sale at Dubois, Id, the ladies there would barbeque old rams and they was good eating also.
Bought a boneless leg of lamb from OZ and threw it in the oven. They had rolled all the fat into the middle so it couldn't render out and not even the dog would eat it. Found out they slice and put it on the grill so the grease could get away but I never was brave enough to try it in case it was a waste of money again.