Amish and Fjords
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> A bunch of years ago, at the Libby Show, there was an auction of a yearling Fjord. An Amishman, late teens or early twenties was hanging around , starry eyed over that horse, and wishing he could be the winner. I don't know if the gambling aspect was prohibited in his community - might have been - but I had a ticket and gave it to him, hoping he could get the horse that way, although he didn't win. Do others remember this fellow at Libby? There is an Amish community not far out of Libby, as group that was building log homes. Dave The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
RE: biothane harness
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I am no longer the owner, as I was until a year ago, but I can tell you Camptown Harness is your best buy both in terms of quality and price. Camptown has made way more harnesses for Fjord horses than anyone else, I can attest. Marjean has made some nice improvements which put the harness in a class by itself. Nuff said. Dave The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
Re: Did some of you ride endurance with Fjord horses ?
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Thanks for remembering Modellen, Marcy. He was a great horse. We did two three day 100 Competitive Trail Drives, and a 50. He was the first stallion to do the 100, as well as the first Fjord. We didn't win, but we did complete both years. On another occasion, a woman named Kim Keller, who lived at our farm at the time, and who weighed way too much but was elegantly graceful on a horse, borrowed Modellen for a 25 mile ride, competing with many veterans. Kim had never done the event before, and relied on some prior coaching from me. Despite any disadvantage, she came in second of 47. Modellen was an awesome horse, and very fit at that time. I may have told this story before I guess I am still impressed. Dave The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
Re: John Wayne Pioneer Trail
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sue asked: Did you have support vehicles? Or did you all carry all your necessary stuff? Rob asked: Dave , did you have backup on the trail ? , or did you just head out , and take what you needed with you ?. Regards Rob Johnson. Dave answered: This is how it works - everyone brings their truck, trailer or camper ahead each morning to the next camp location, and then we ride back on the school bus that the organization owns. This makes the trip very easy in some ways, because you don't have to bring your feed or camping stuff with you. Somehow all this happens and yet the fee for the ride/drive is very low, as almost all work is done by volunteers. The challenge isn't as great as if you had to bring everything, but for a larger group it works very well, and you could do infinite distance this way, if the horses agreed. The club also provides a 4 PortaPotty trailer with a 250 gallon water tank. We also use the tank some days to water horses along the trail. Originally, 26 years ago, people camped in tents. Now quite a few have living quarters, campers or motor homes. Maybe in 26 years I will do that too, but for now I am on the minimal luxuries program, meaning Thermorest pads and sleeping bag. It works. Food. Basically, you feed yourself and the horses. What also happens is that there are a number of potlucks (very good food!), and in some places, volunteer groups made dinner for us as fundraisers. Trail. The trail is mostly state park owned, managed and controlled. The surface is gravel, and pretty level. As a railbed, it has cuts and fills as it crosses hills, and has trestles and tunnels. People worry about the trestles, especially the few that have no side rails! But they don't seem to be a problem. Also tunnels. Some are dark holes, with no light at the other end. I was not aware anyone had a problem. Some of the fills are pretty high up - something like 20 feet wide, if that, and very steep slopes down to grade. If you went off, it would be some fast sledding to the bottom. But horses seem to understand about going across and staying on top. It didn't feel dangerous. More details are on the website: www.jwpwr.org One thing that was cool this year is that officials of State Parks came and joined us and talked about their management and plans. The state guys seemed enthusiastic and dedicated, and the current head guy for the state is a horse guy! They apparently see it as a challenge to restore as much of the trail as possible as a form of state pride, so they can claim the longest rails-to-trails in the country. I believe they are now second to Missouri, although if they add back in some miles that are now inaccessible (we go on backroads on one day), they will have bragging rights. Works for us! Dave The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
More on trail
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> This year I tried to write a journal, but the pressures and distractions of the days meant it only happened sporadically. So my writing won't be perfectly organized. Sarita Tudor wrote me, and I'll copy some of what I added in my reply to her: The cross-Washington trail is the Milwaukee RR railbed which the state owns as a state park. It makes a great trail because the surface is good, hills are minimal and you can trot 10 miles at a stretch if you wanted to. I have been enjoying Washington a great deal. I think of it as a state that goes from "seaweed to sage brush". Sarita wrote: My greatest horse adventure so far, though, has been a couple of week-long horse camp trips in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. Awesome!...and yes, you do worry about your animals the whole time. Our "guide" carried a pistol and told us if our horses broke a leg or were otherwise injured to the extent that they couldn't get out to a trailhead on their own power that he would have to shoot the horse. Definitely made us be careful! Dave again: Shoot the horse! That puts a little pressure for good horse management! D The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
John Wayne Pioneer Trail
This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I got back home last night about dinnertime after two weeks on the trail, and something over 200 miles across Washington. This was my second year on the trail, which certainly made things easier. As last year, getting home is a bit disorienting. After the intensity of camping and driving horses every day, it takes a little while to get back into my normal life. This year I was more conscious that sleep deprivation was part of the experience. We did pretty much the same trail as last year, with a few changes of campsites. My horses had the advantage this year of three months of fitness work ahead of time. On the trail, they were bright and energetic every day, to the end. The pattern of the trail is that the first few days are cool or even chilly, with some rain. This year we had one substantial overnight rain. I was sleeping on my wagon each night. For the night we had put a canvas top on it, with blue tarp over that, which kept me dry. A few days later, on a very windy day, we took the top off and left it off. The next phase starts at Ellensburg, which is warmer and drier. Approaching the Columbia River, dry goes to very dry, and this continues with increasing heat to the end. For the last 50 miles or so, we get in to the Palouse area, which gets more more moisture in the soil, and the wheat on the hillside is greener. One thing we learned during the past year was the history of the Lake Missoula floods - 40 of them at the end of the last Ice Age. The water from the floods scoured the soil from central Washington east of the Columbia, exposing volcanic rock. In the flood areas numbers of loess hills stood above the water, and are referred to as loess islands. The flooding did not extend into the Palouse. There, it is a region of pillow-like low hills, all covered in wheat. The last three days were very hot, with temps into the 90s. This year 21 of us went the whole way. I'm not sure how many overall were involved, but the number was large. For the first half of the trip I was accompanied by a friend from Port Townsend, a retired woodworker. For the second half, our old friend Jenny Bryan (and fellow Fjord horse owner) from Vermont flew out to travel with me. Just as I was appreciative of her traveling with me for two weeks when I was wagoning cross-country, I was happy that she would come all this way on faith for this trip. Before Pam took her to the airport this morning, Jenny made it clear she'd had a very memorably good time. She was very helpful to me, willing to do whatever work needed doing, and even able to drive the horses some of the time. One thing I thought about this year was how people who crossed the country on wagon trains must have constantly worried about the condition of their animals. After all, if the oxen or the mules failed, the family and all of the family belongings would be stranded in a place where help was unlikely. The travelers must have encountered places where feed and water were hard to predict, or scarce. When you travel with the stress of animal flesh pushing against harness, things can go wrong. So many of the people who finished their long travels remembered it fondly. During the travel however there must have often been considerable anxiety. This year, a friend from near my home came along also: Jennifer Reandeau. She drove a pair of Haflingers to a wagonette. Despite being new to this event, she brought years of knowledge and skill to the task, and went the whole way. Her horses also ended up in good shape. Traveling with horses is always a great experience. I am ready to go again next year. Dave The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
