Training or Breaking a Team of Horses to a Sickle Bar Mower

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In this video we introduce Hugo and Hilde, our Percheron Standardbred crosses, to our McCormick-Deering Sickle Bar Mower.
This video takes us through introductions and a rocky first few laps, to a smooth and seasoned team ready to mow with confidence. We included the whole session start to finish so you can see how we overcome hurdles.
Index:
00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Background
01:50 - Hooking Up
08:45 - First Laps
17:25 - Smoothing Out
18:55 - Engaging Mower
28:58 - A Seasoned Team!

[@nancyk3615]

That was so interesting to see how you did that! I was worried that they might grab ass and try to bolt. Nice job! They ARE a good team !

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

she mightve if I let her, but we worked through it safely

[@jerzy56]

Love it , awesome , have tears in my eyes , grandparents heritage

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank you very much!

[@bruceshearer1719]

Amazing video my friend.....🇨🇦

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank you kindly!

[@staceysteinhoff608]

I enjoyed this medium length offering. It clearly and elegantly showed "process" of listening for cues, responding appropriately to cues and shaping/reinforcing desired behaviors. You and your spouse should consider teaching parenting classes as it is exactly the same process of realistic expectations and compassion for teaching desired behaviors, with gentleness and love.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thanks for the kind words! Were not there yet... but working on it!

[@randybullard3930]

Sir, I've watched a couple of your videos and I'm happy that you're trying to work horses and that you're using Morgans in New England. It's great that you are utilizing a local breed to continue with what they were bred for. However I have s couple of suggestions for you. I've trained a few horses to ride and drive. The three (3) basic gaits you start with are: 1) whoa - without a basic understanding that when you give that command you want the horse to IMMEDIATELY stop 2) stand - when a horse is asked to stand they are required to not move 3) walk - a horse has to understand that a good flat footed walk is important and necessary I watched one of your videos where you were driving your mare and it looked like you were training her for a scurry class. She was consistently asked to canter in harness, never asked to stand. You've done a great job training her to be antsy in harness, not to stand and be ready to charge into a canter at the slightest urging. My suggestion is to get a curved bar butterfly bit use the lowest rein placement and put her to a stoneboat. With the stoneboat she has constant pressure whether going up or down hill. Teach her what whoa is, teach her that standing is a pleasurable experience and something she looks forward to. You have to undo all the training you have done up to this point. I prefer a curved bar bit because it doesn't poke the top of their mouth or act as a pinching movement on the lower jaw. I totally agree about being calm and quiet around your horses. They have great hearing and don't need to be yelled at. I listened to you yelling at your team through the voice over. My suggestion when trying a new piece of equipment that you know will be noisy is hook a TIRED team the first time. Hook the team to a stoneboat and work them for a few hours. It's amazing how having the edge taken off makes a quieter team. I'll quote an old saying from where I'm from. Young mules (here read young horse) are like teenage boys, they have to be a little tired to stay out of trouble. Please take this post as a positive critique and I wish you well with your endeavors.

[@emilkogut7904]

6th

[@germona]

Great job, and great horses. Nice to see how you worked trough the first anxieties. Well done.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank ya kindly!

[@smalltownrifleman]

It looks like you have a nice team going. Thanks for the video.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank you!

[@Alex-horsman]

Nice pair!!!

[@mickholroyd2190]

You have been very lucky not to have a run away starting out..I have had success with heavy slide/stone boat and holding a wooden toy "noise maker" which mimics the sound of a working mower very closely..I can then get them used to the noise but more importantly let them know when they stop/stand the noise stops..best wishes..

[@holderjosef7980]

Sehr gut. Grüße aus Unterfranken / Deutschland

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Vielen Dank aus Vermont!

[@klauskarbaumer6302]

I like it that you train them without blinders. In my experience of over 60 years of driving horses I found that those trained without blinders tend to stay much calmer when confronted with something new or even initially scary. The only thing I would have done differently when hitching them to a new implement is I have them stand at the hitch-rail for quite some time, and even moved the pitman in this case to let them experience the noise. But your horses took that well even free standing.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Appreciate the valuable feedback. This definitely would've further decreased the anxiety. Still gaining experience as I go and so thanks for the additional pointers

[@hughperkins707]

I disagree about the blinders, them being able to see what is behind them causes their anxiety

[@klauskarbaumer6302]

That's a question of training from early on. I have used horses in logging and even when we had to pull a tree down that got stuck in the tops my horses had no blinders. When you watch videos of the Oktoberfest parades in Munich with all the pandemonium going on, the draft horses pulling the wagons heavily decorated, flags waving etc wear no blinders, yet they are not perturbed at all. The more you desensitize a horse the more it will be able to take.@@hughperkins707

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

@hughperkins707 yes and in half an hour they are over it and will never be anxious about it again

[@ewarodewicz7577]

Great horses, great driver!

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank you kindly!

[@adam41280]

You should try tightening up those rear chains i noticed that every time that you stopped them they got a lot of slack in the chains and the straps just taken it it a chain link or to might help i have watch a lot of old school horse farmers hooking up there horse it just looks to loose just saying

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

First time on this rig so i might not have had it perfect. I used to string them up tight between neck yoke and evener, now i like to give them 4-6 inches between engaging the evener and catching the neck yoke, measured at the brichen. That way they can move freely without being squeezed tight the whole time

[@smalltownrifleman]

It looks to me like you are doing well. Keep up the good work.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank ya

[@kaiolavvasenden5875]

Very good

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Thank ya kindly!

[@ayabokti161]

Nice. I have more cold-blooded horses 😂 Gypsies, Norwegian Fjord. Better suited for this. But your coming along fine ❤

[@charlielawson2510]

Tilt your bar forward. You'll have to when you start mowing if you want to get anywhere, anyway.

[@Andrew-sanders]

They did okay for first time nith good but not bad. Would like to have seen a running w on at least one of them. It's your emergency break when things go bad safe for you and them. I been starting teams for 30 years alot of the teams a tumb stone I started

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

A running w you say? I will look into that! Thank you!

[@jankadubowski9736]

Taką samą koszarką i końmi kosilismy z Ojcem trawe i zborze👍

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Where?

[@jankadubowski9736]

@@ruggedridgeforest7775 Poland

[@brentchalmers1436]

Get them out in the deep snow next winter and make them happy to walk

[@rollinbontrager9670]

Am wondering why you don't have blinders on the head stall

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4ipZoqtpr-babc

[@ewarodewicz7577]

Aren't you wondering why horses pulling fire engines back in the days didn't have blinders shoved to their eyes either?

[@massimilianocrotti5211]

👍

[@fion1flatout]

Thanks very much. There s an old mower for sale, been on evay for ages, quite near me. Don't know if I can repair it but might be worth a look. Seen an old photot of a friend s uncle mowing the roadside verges with one horse, looks like a Cleveland Bay. That must have been a tricky job cos there are trees and the ground is sloping towards the gutter in both directions

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Might be worth taking a chance but be ready for a project!

[@juliegoodge2680]

Excellent I think blinkers would help well done 😀👍

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

In the short term, absolutely, but in the long term I like an open faced team : )

[@fion1flatout]

I don't think blinkers help much. One pony I trained absolutely hated them and veered from side to side trying to see what was behind her

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

@@fion1flatout they can, i just like my horses to know their role in the big picture

[@ewarodewicz7577]

With what? Would you like to have your vision restricted to 10% yourself?

[@KaxantheDragon]

🎉 would leading them up individually on halter a few times before harnessing the team help more?

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Of course, the more you do to desensitize the better. I have gone so far as leaving stuff in the pasture and letting them graze around it. I felt that driving them up to a sniff test would suffice in this case : ) but of course there is always more you can do, and it will never hurt!

[@khaledissa9818]

شكراً ،،معلومات مهمه ومناطر جميله ومعدات قديمه مميزه ،،،لكن الفيديو طويل جداً،،،اجعل زمن الفيديو لا يتعدى عشر دقائق تحقق مشاهدات اكثر ،،،تقبلوا اطيب الاماني

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Interestingly enough, the fine folks of youtube like my long form videos! Instagram has only short videos and im much less popular : ) thanks for the feedback!

[@khaledissa9818]

👍💐

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

​@khaledissa9818 i think its a release from the rush of life. Some ASMR. Sound of birds, slow paced, real paced vid. For myself, it is my day, but for many in the city who long for the countryside, there is an appeal : )

[@smalltownrifleman]

You need to practice 90 degree corners with them.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Hilde is perfect but Hugos still tripping on himself. I tend to turn into him to get him more practice

[@catalinmenghita1529]

Bună ziua cît costă o cositoare?

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Got 2 at auction and had to reconfigure them both to get one working. The nicer one was 180, the parts machine was 60. They sell for 300 in the paper all the time for lawn ornaments, 600-900 for one ready to cut

[@smalltownrifleman]

Most old ranchers will tell you that the mower was what young horses got hitched to first. A half of a day mowing would teach a young horse an awful lot.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

People didnt like their initial anxst... but this is an uncut training video. To be honest 20 minutes to broke seemed pretty good to me : )

[@charliemarvin1129]

blinders yes or no??

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

No blinders : )

[@smalltownrifleman]

I don’t think your bar should be overcentered towards the seat. There is a hole in the bar and a bent rod attached to the mower frame that the end of gods in the hole in the bar and the bar hangs on that rod when reading the mower.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Weve since made many find adjustments... and shortened the bar to 5 ft. Good observation tho. The bend in the rod might bring it too close to my head : @

[@smalltownrifleman]

@@ruggedridgeforest7775 Boy, I didn’t check my spelling very good. Sorry for that. I grew up farming but we didn’t use horses for that. Horses were just a way of life and a way to keep the old ways alive. There’s nothing better to mow roadsides though than a team and mower.

[@smalltownrifleman]

Don’t put them up until the collars are wet. LOL

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

You know it@

[@smalltownrifleman]

You should have had them on a rock sled for a while before hitching them to something new.

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Theyre good on the rock sled... but true. Hilde coulda been more tired, but when shes angsty shes angsty

[@smalltownrifleman]

@@ruggedridgeforest7775 is there a little Percheron in her?

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

@@smalltownrifleman they are both half percheron half standardbred

[@wdtdive]

Too quick...too soon....

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

To be fair, these horses have worked infront of a forecart and manure spreader, as well as other implements. We were just adding an implement to the repertoire

[@juangarciagomez3095]

Con anteojeras trabajan mejor los animales de tiro

[@ruggedridgeforest7775]

Algunos si, algunos no lo necessitan.