This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hello everyone,
Thought we would share our experiences with logging this year! We are in the process of clearing some of our land for an eventual arena and have been using the ponies to clear out the brush to make way for the Fjords to finish with the logs. Needless to say, the Fjords are not exactly pleased we are using the little guys to do "real horse work" but the ponies have been working hard and doing a great job! BNF Lilja, our 5 month old weanling, has been getting her chance to work, too. We normally begin very simple ground-driving when our foals are 6 months old or so, but decided to let Lilja haul a branch around while leading her. On the first day, I brought her out and tied her as normal, went to work with her grooming and she did famously well as usual, then out came all the harness equipment. Believe it or not, she slept while I was putting various pieces of harness on her, just like she was an old hand at this! It took quite a bit of time to get a good working harness to fit, as the ponies were already using our smaller harnesses, but I preserved and finally got a harness to work for her. I led her around for a while with that on, but she had absolutely not one problem with any of the gear, so I brought out the evener. She sniffed it, stood stock still while I attached it to the tugs, and off we went again. Again, not one problem, she was amazing to work with on her first day! Finally, I hooked up a fairly long branch, about 12 feet or so and off we went through the brambles. We weaved in and out of trees, over stumps, down small ravines, through thick brush, not one hitch. Finally, we brought the branch over to the pile we are making and believe it or not, she was ready to go back with the ponies for more! We let her take one more branch then called it a day as we certainly did not wish to overwork her, but she certainly was disappointed about having to go back to her pen! However, now she watches and when she knows we are "working", she is ready and waiting for her chance to haul a branch or two, also, just like the "other kids"! She takes after her sire and dam so much, it is amazing. They both have a wonderful work ethic, and Lilja obviously has inherited it as well. We believe she will be taller than they are as she is a very tall girl! We are very proud of her! She is our last filly of the season we are offering for sale, so if anyone is interested in a very well bred and nicely started filly, please email or call for details. We do have a few pictures of her up on our website. Her price could be negotiable to the right home. Thanks, Lynda and Daniel Bailey's Norwegian Fjords & Shetlands White Cloud, MI 231-689-9902 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hometown.aol.com/baileysfjords/
