Since our off horse was injured, we have been working our lead horse, and retraining him a bit to work single. He is 5 years old, with lots of try, lots of willingness, and a great attitude. So far, I have hooked him to our stone boat several times, and pulled quite a few logs with him. He has done very well, and seemed to settle right in, only getting nervous about things a few times on the first day we worked him alone.

Interestingly, now that we could actually use some assistance, it seems all the local teamsters that offered to "help if you ever need it!" have disappeared into hiding. Not a one will return our calls or e-mails. So, I guess we are on our own. We are ready for the next step (as soon as the equipment arrives). What steps should I take to retrain my big guy to drive in shafts. I am assuming he has never used them. He is a gem hooked to a tongue or just a singletree. Should I start at the basics like I did with our donkey? The only teamster we managed to track down (in person) just said, "he's gonna break 'em!" when we asked what to expect when he hooked him to shafts. He said it as if there was no question, it's gonna happen. I'm not sure whether it's that bad or ??? Have any of you re-trained from team to single, what steps did you take, and how did things go for you? Anything you would do differently next time?

When we hooked our Haflinger mares up single the first time, I had been told the same things and I was a nervous wreck, actually put it off several weeks before finally just "doing it"!! I did have a friend come by and lead each mare, as we started off and as we turned, to get a feel of how she was going to react to the feel of something different as she turned...never missed a beat!!! Each mare responded as if they had worked single all their lives!!! Of course, I was thrilled!!! Now, that is referring to their reaction being in shafts...the same mares are the ones that I'm working on, about keeping a steady pace forward!!!

I once tried making a training set of shaves out of PVC pine but ended up just hooking right to an old cart. Having wheels can't be beat.

If he's doing as well as you say, I would work him on a load for an hour or two if wasn't sure about him ,and then I would put him in the shafts. The only thing that I would suggest is you have plenty of room so you can let him get use to them before you make him turn really short.

Shanen

Just a thought to begin with, make sure your harness has shaft loops, most farm harness doesn't but does have a ring on each side to attach them. When you finally do hook him a belly band to keep the shafts from raising up. Now a couple ideas. Use a wood pole or sticks, not plastic, through the loops. Somebody driving and somebody working the make do shafts put him through the motions. Those horses are probably not a problem anyway. If your in a cart and an enclosure he can dance and be nervous and wherever he steps you'll be right there with him. Your better off in the seat with the lines.

I haven't been here in a while. Ben to busy making a living to sit still. I have same problem. Lost 1/2 of team of mares and haven't had time to work Maggie alone.I think I am about to take time to have relationship with one girl and am wondering just how to approach her.For those old timers its good to see you and for you newcomers I'v been a come here for over 40 years in Bertie County I welcome You to The Porch. Mike Neal

I would hook him up in the shafts in a large area. I have found most of the problems come from the horse not being used to the shafts touching them when they turn . I would start out with a cart and slowly make turns tighter and tighter. I would also have a short whip on board in case the reaction to the shafts touching becomes backing up. Once that is going smoothly start hooking things on like harrows and tires and logs. I also find once you have trained them to shafts they sidepass better even when hooked up in a team. When I trained a donkey to pull in shafts it never even reacted to the shafts touching her shoulders, I think donkey brains are set up a lot different than horses.

Forgot to ask ...how is the injured horse healing ?

One trainer I admire works with a sulky cart and rubs the horse all over with the shafts while leading the horse around the arena. He even bumps the hindquarters with the shafts and teaches the horse to move over when a shaft touches. It's a simple 5-10 minute lesson, and afterwards the horse has no fear of the shafts, and knows what they are for. I do not like trainers who say for the first hitching "take care not to bump the horse with the shafts." If you're worried the horse is going to jump if a shaft touches him, go back to this simple shaft lesson and get it solid. Never sneak around a horse! Break the lesson down and solve one problem at a time.

We always made a set of shafts from green wood and rather thin. Nailed a board across the bottom that we could stand on and walked them off a couple times before we stood on them. Just make sure you are not going to jab them in the front shoulder / leg, and make them long enough you won't get kicked. We had a long lane that was tree and brush lined on both sides and would start them in the cart there, about 1/2 mile, Worked well.

The thing to remember is that when a horse out of shafts is turning, their body is in somewhat of a bend. In shafts they have to learn to keep their body straight and step over with their front legs. Sometimes that's a little confusing to them but most of the time they master it relative quickly. Just don't get in a hurry turning around.

Call my cell 765 479 0369

If you had loop shafts, just hook up and go.

Dear Dris, you are our expert. It is admirable that you are willing to give out your cell number for people to call you for one on one help. But please remember that there are many others here on the Porch who read and learn from the suggestions of people like you. Why not give your comment in writing AND then give out your phone number for followups by the original poster. I, for one, would enjoy learning from what you have to say.

Easy on Dris, he happened to be near a harness shop and wanted to get us a few things. He didn't impart any wisdom worth posting….but I'm sure he enjoys being called an expert.

Training a horse to shafts is easy. One way is to just hook them up and go.....they will get used to it pretty quick (I have a chariot with pipe shafts and they couldn't hurt them if they tried). I just lead them hooked to the chariot making slow turns and gradually work them into tighter turns. Doesn't take long. If you are worried, I know a man who cuts 2 long good size branches (smooth them down) and ties them to the horses sides and let the ends drag the ground (like the old Indian setups that they used to carry sick people on). Tie the ends of the branches that are dragging the ground together also. Even if they break the branches you haven't lost anything. Your horse will be working in shafts in a couple hours pretty good. You can also just tie your horse to a hitching rail with the shafts or branches attached. They will initially try to move around, but will soon learn that the shafts don't move. Good luck!

Your horse sounds like he has enough mileage on him to be quite sensible. He has probably worked both sides of a pole and been bumped by same. The only suggestion I would make is to have an extra set of hands when hitching up. Don't head out of an enclosed area until both of you are comfortable. Have fun, and always try to end on a good note.

Unfortunately, the injured guy took a turn for the worse when infection set in seemingly overnight, and blew out all the stitches. At that point we opted to leave him at the clinic for more intensive care. They spent last week gaining control of the infection and monitoring healing. This morning, minor surgery under general anesthesia was done to clean and freshen the wound, then it was re-sutured, splinted, and bandaged along the entire length of leg. The plan at this point is to change that out every day for 10 days, and then he can come home. It's gonna be pricey, but we have weighed all our options carefully, and feel this is the best way to go right now. the vet seems to be enjoying working with our big guy, and is doing a lot of the work at cost, which will help. After 2 weeks of confinement, this young gelding has gone Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hide on us and become quite the pistol! We really can't do much for him at home without stocks, except change the wrap. Even that requires a blindfold at this stage. The vet says they've never had horse so combative despite sedation and a twitch. I don't mind letting the vet earn his $$ in this case! Once he is allowed to walk again, I think it will help his attitiude significantly.

So that's the update for now. Hopefully I'll have better news next time.

I always come to the aid of my customers first and foremost. I am at a funeral for family member and read where Sean and Danielle needed assistance. I don't mind helping anyone at anytime. I am not much for typing so I would rather talk so I may ask questions of the questions. Any of you may call at anytime.

Take down dris's number and store it in your phone. That one on one thing works very well, understanding the situation before making any suggestions is a wonderful approach. Dris has helped me one on one and he would not know me if I knock on his door.
Shanen

I agree that the personal one-on-one approach is a good one for discussing a specific topic and I understand that Dris was trying to offer the best solution under the circumstances he is facing this week. The back-and-forth dialogue that is often necessary to come up with a diagnosis or offer a complete picture is hard to accomplish with this forum format. It can just take too long.

That said, I agree with Nora wholeheartedly. I hear from people all over the country who tell me they learn so much from this front porch by reading people's questions and the answers they receive.

Perhaps a compromise might be that when someone gets advice through a phone call or private message, the person getting the advice might come back to the porch and explain what the two came up with. That way we all benefit from the discussion. So, if you offer someone private answers, ask them to share it with the rest of us later. Hope that makes sense.

Joe

When the course of treatment concludes, would it be ok to ask you what it ends up costing? Those of us with animals always have to try judge the options when vets are needed. It's tough trying to assess both the odds for success, and how best to use our resources. One approach is you do whatever it takes, which kind of means you have to be rich to have animals. In the old days, if your ox broke a leg you ate him, but how many of us are still there?

Peter, I understand completely. We are very good at not making decisions based on emotion. We look at the whole picture. I say the following for anyone who might be interested:

I believe you should always have a plan in place ahead of time. In the past, we have always had a set amount of $$ we were willing to spend on a given animal emergency, based on the value and purpose of that animal. For example, a pet dog (much as we loved them) was only given an emergency bill of about $150 or so. I think our favorite got $250, but it was never needed. A dairy goat supplied our milk, and thus had a higher emergency fund of about $300 (our goats are more valuable, purebreds, registered, and large producers--not run of the mill backyard mutts). My saddle horses were never given more than $500.

So our allowance varied, but was always within a reasonable amount based on the replacement value of that animal. Needless to say, those prices didn't give a vet much leeway with today's veterinary costs, but when we walked in and said, "I can't spend more than xx amount on this." It gave the vet a plan, and they often worked with us as best they could--though we have been very blessed to not really have many emergencies in all our years of critters. Most importantly, we realized that it was OK to put an animal down if the price was too high.

This situation has thrown us for a loop. We've never before had such a valuable animal on the farm. While he and his partner were high dollar at purchase, the value we have on them is their perfect match, their age and capabilities, the fact that they are the sole horse-power on our farm (we don't have a tractor), the ONLY way we can log our woodlands (the hills are too steep and trails too narrow for machinery), etc. In addition, they were shaping up to be the majority of our farm income. They have brought in almost as much revenue as the rest of the farm, in just the few months we've been for hire, plus their advertising for our farm has been very valuable. From a business perspective, we know his actual replacement value, but realistically, we have to also consider the time and training involved in finding a replacement. Time is money too. I have seen beautiful carriage horse that are great for hired events but wouldn't pull a log if their life depended on it, and I have seen good, solid farm chunks capable of powering our farm but not something I would hire as a wedding horse. I see very few that are ready to do it all the day they come home. If I do run across such a horse with a comparable disposition, it's not typically for sale! So in our case, it is highly likely we will get this boy back to working for less expense overall, and in less time than replacing him. We stay in contact with our vet, visit and get daily reports, which allows us to keep tabs on the costs, and the vet is doing what he can at cost. Our guy is such a sweetheart, the staff loves him, so I think they are going out of their way to help him. Granted there are no guarantees in life, but if his prognosis was poor, we would rethink. We have gotten a second opinion though, and everyone seems to agree that the prognosis is very good. The biggest threat we have is likely arthritis in that joint, but with proper care, it shouldn't hinder him at all.

Hope that gives someone out there an idea.

Daughter had a horse get injured long time ago, turned into a tendon sheath infection. Horse lived, but could not be used for anything, became her pasture ornament for the rest of its life.

Mptclinics-You put a lot into that answer. Thank you.