New horses at the farm

I have been working horses for 29 years ever since I first learned when I came to Wisconsin in 1981. It must be a real relationship because there have been hard times and great times. It is the best when it is at the center of what I do and commit time to. Like many relationships, as the thrill wore off, it has been put aside as other needs pushed in and took the attention. Several times I have considered getting out of the horse business and just using tractors.

One of my mares, Tora is now 23 years old. I bought Tora when she was 5 years old and broke her to work in only a few days. She has always been my smartest and most reliable horse. She can still work, but her feet hurt and she is over weight. I feel lost thinking of working horses without her but it is time to add new animals or stop with the horses altogether. With this in mind, I began to look for new horses. Perhaps, I thought, I should get a different kind of horse. I went and looked at some that the Amish had. Compared with my Fjord horses, they all looked big and awkward. Then I realized that to get horses I really like to work with, I would have to break them myself.

About this time, I learned of a herd of Fjord horses that had belonged to Betty Davidson. Betty had died tragically in a farm accident and all of her horses were for sale. In early December I went and looked at the horses. They were in need of a little attention but one stood out, Molly, an 8 year old mare. In another pasture were the weanling filly colts. All out of the same sire, they looked remarkably similar. I had not come with any intention to get babies but the group was so nice. Two of the fillies broke away from the bunch and approached tentatively. One particularly was very friendly and unfazed. They did not have names but were distinguished by number tags on chains. I fell in love with 13 and 15.

I called Betty's daughter Bev and said that I wanted Molly and the two fillies. I picked them up on December 23 and have not had a single regret. I have christened the two new fillies as Binna (female bear in Norwegian) and Snorri. They are learning about being tied up and having their feet handled. Molly will undergo some training when things warm up in February and I have the time.

It feels like the right time to recommit to working horses. The best days on my farm were when both the horses and I worked in a regular rhythm. I can't imagine my farm without these wonderful teddy bear horses.

Water Without Electricity

Water freezes. Of course, this is obvious, but to someone raised in California, it still comes as somewhat of a surprise. Making sure that animals have water in the winter is an ongoing challenge. In the summer, I use lots of water from the barn to water and wash vegetables as well as water the animals. In winter, the amount is cut back to around 30 gallons a day.

In the barn, water comes from a sand point. This is a 1 1/2 inch pipe driven up to 25 feet into the ground with a sieve on the end. When the pipe reaches a shallow aqua fer, the water is pumped up. In summer, a jet pump attached to a pressure tank does a great job. In winter, this above ground system has to be insulated and kept warm. I have done that with insulation and light bulbs. Slowly the ground freezes outside the insulated box and creeps under the edge. Often the pump comes close to freezing or actually cracks.

This year I have a hand pump that lifts the water from the ground. When the pumping is finished, the water drops back below the frost line. While the pump above ground freezes, it has no water in it, and a quart of warm water poured in loosens the leather seal and primes the pump. Pumping water by hand is hard work for your arms and back. I have set up this pump using pulleys, rope, a bungee cord and two boards to be powered with feet and legs. Instead of working out in the house, I pump water in the barn. This new pump not only lifts water to the level of the handle, a common feature of many hand pumps, but it can push it up hill further. There is a hose on the pump that goes up into the hay mow and then goes outside to the stock tank. This allows the hose to drain when I am done pumping and it doesn't freeze. I can fill a medium stock tank in about 20 minutes on stepping.