June 3, 20224 yr Jennifer: If you're going to cherry pick what I write, try to get it right. I have NEVER punched a horse in the mouth, that is your M O. A poke in the nose with an elbow isn't training, it's teaching the horse not to mess with me. Only the inexperienced would think that would carry over into general behavioral modification. Your posts on this thread are full of "shoulds", They should, the Owner should, I shouldn't have to, etc. You know what they call people who say "should" all the time? I'm becoming less and less impressed with how many horses you've shod over how long you've been a farrier. Frosty The Lucky.
June 4, 20224 yr Time is critical without a doubt,,, Heres my times. Average good horse- 1 hour Hard to do horse- 45 minutes. Really bad horse- 30 minutes. When done with all- clean nail lines, Shoe fits the horse, not the other way, All angles set. After the 4th time shod by me, no matter what "training" the owner has done in between- All are average good horses- 1 hour. Price? Same for all. Prolly should have charged less for the good ones,,, but hey,,, I refused to tie and throw them, twitch was covered in cobwebs and dust, used ace/rompin on rare occasions. It's amazing just how quick and good you can be when there is 1100# of dynamite trying to jump into your back pocket. I guaranteed my work so the last thing I wanted was a poor job on a hard to do horse,,, no go backs. On biters, Its one of those things any horse can do and with some its a habit. Often comes from feeding grain or candy by hand and not just doing it, but teasing the horse by pulling it back. As a farrier, one must always be aware of what might happen even from the best of horses. When i "felt" a horse was lunging in for a nip, I raised my elbow into place and let the horse run into it. He couldn't see me make any movements and thought he caused the pain. Horses are quick to learn and smart enough to not hurt themselves. Once or twice and "training" is done. Back to average horses- 1 hour. Literally no time in training. In my opinion, thats what you pay a Farrier for.
June 7, 20224 yr Author The outsiders I share this thread with are going to be very confused when they see all this horse banter, welcome to IFI folks. lol. I spent the summer of 2018 working at a Boy Scout camp in the equestrian program with my girlfriend at the time. Considering I had never even seen a horse up close before I learned a lot. For example, I have no interest in going near their feet! Much like dogs, horses have quite a range of personalities. Not to be tack-less, but I do have a few puns to rein this conversation in a bit. Perhaps I have not earned my salt?
June 7, 20224 yr Author Come on folks, back on the saddle! Don't be afraid to get on the horn. On second thought, that might hurt.
June 9, 20224 yr I was going to make a Gene Autry joke but you never know what that might stirrup. Anvil that leads to mold and fungus around these here parts...
July 6, 20223 yr Author Today I used an axe I made (see page 10) to fell a 13" tree. It was very satisfying... However, it was much more difficult than I anticipated.. The tree was very dead, but it looked WAY more dead on the outside vs the inside... That thing would've stood another 50 years.. I'm not sure what kind of tree, possibly walnut.. Beautiful stumps though. I'm only partially insane so chainsaws were used once it was on the ground.
July 6, 20223 yr A 13" tree for a first axe felling is a task indeed. Congrats.. There are methods that make the job a little easier and felling a tree is a skill set with an axe. A thin blade with a center swell goes a long way to being effective. When I was taking the trees out for the shop I should have taken video.. A properly designed axe will go thru a 4" branch with 1 or 2 swings when limbing.
July 6, 20223 yr I agree that it's a skill. Really appreciated! Edited July 6, 20223 yr by Mod30 Remove excessive quote.
July 6, 20223 yr For what its worth, its much easier taking them down green than dead with an axe. Congrats, tho, it is satisfying and truly gives meaning to " heating with wood warms you twice".
July 6, 20223 yr How about splitting dead wood? Ax or saw, green is the way to go unless you like work for the sake of the workout. Cut, split and stack it in winter when the sap is down and let it dry for next winter. Splitting frozen green wood is as easy as I know of. Without using a splitter which I heartily approve of. Frosty The Lucky.
July 6, 20223 yr Author Jennifer, the thickness behind the edge was certainly not doing me any favors. It never stuck, but the penetration was a little lackluster. The center swell also makes more sense to me now. Fortunately, the edge held up well even after many, many full force strikes. Anvil, most definitely. However, that tree was dead long before it became my tree. On the bright side it's already seasoned . I saved some smallish stuff that doesn't need to be split to be burned and a couple of stumps. The rest is on the side of the road and destined for the chipper. I have plenty of firewood.
July 6, 20223 yr Dead/dry trees usually need a slightly larger lead in (a thinner blade really helps) vs green or wet wood. I have no experience with the Osage or Mesquite or the harder woods in Southwest. Excellent as always.
July 8, 20223 yr Lol, the best wood is what is close. Ponderosa, aspen, spruce, lodgepole were my go to, then I moved to SW Colorado and pinion, cedar and ponderosa are my go to. Cottenwood is good to stay away from. To be honest, I haven't used an axe very much. Lol, making them and selling them is far better than using one. Ok for a one timer tho.
July 9, 20223 yr Oh come ON Anvil, Cottonwood warms you twice too, once when you cut and split it and again when you clean all the ash out of the stove. The fire? not so much. Tallest weed I know of. Frosty The Lucky.
July 9, 20223 yr A cityslicker friend who did low key landscaping asked me to help drop an old cottonwood. Said I could have the wood. Got it down and a water geyser took off out of the stump, about 3'-4' high. It took about 4 years to begin to get dry enough to burn. and then splitting it! The grain went every direction but how to get to church on sunday! I ended up taking lil slivers kinda tangent to the circumference. Finally got it split, dry and burnable. Sheesh,,, then it stunk so bad the ole lady refused to burn it! couldn't blame her. I wouldnt burn it either,,, unless it was a verrry last resort. I think it heated me 3 or 4 times, but only once in my stove.... Whats low key landscaping, you might wonder? Well his truck was a vintage VW truck.
December 12, 20223 yr Author It's been a little while since I popped in here.. Updating with a few projects I've finished recently that are worth sharing.. Horseshoe cross, purple heart cross & stained poplar mounting board. 1095 8" chef knife 19" (handle) bearded tomahawk from Niagara region demo.
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