April 7, 2007

Plans were made for our first drive of the year.   The day dawned in bright sunshine with a promise of warm temperatures.   Jack and Helen Eden, our driving trainers, were on their way from Montana for assistance and encouragement.  Jim and I pulled the wagon from the stall barn to the hitching area.

After lunch Helen armed with her clippers and armed with mine we attacked Dev’s long winter coat from all angles leaving piles of hair.   At least he would be cooler and the longest hair was gone.

Soon the boys were harnessed and Jack took the lines to show us how to drive them to the wagon and over the pole. Dev stepped over and the team was hooked up.

With a slight incline the team has never wanted to back away from the fence, it looks like our hitching area will have to change to a more level spot.   With a sharp Gee the team was headed down the driveway with Jack handling the lines. Once on the gravel road he handed the lines to me and away we went.

Our route did not include any of the steeper hills and earlier that day we had gained permission to use a neighbors’ circular driveway for a turn around.   I had yet to try to turn the wagon around in the road and with Jacks help we managed to perform that task before our drive ended.

I had insisted on a running W placed on Dev, it was not that he would not stop, his whoa was fine.   He would not stay stopped, so with the assistance of the rope I could encourage him not to move.   Worked great!

We logged almost two hours of actual moving time documented by a stopwatch, a total of six miles.

April 8, 2007

We were not so lucky Sunday weather wise.   It was cloudy and cooler with a slight breeze.   Following a huge Easter Sunday breakfast of Eden’s famous sourdough pancakes we hitched and were soon ready to travel. Today was to be the very fist trip with our Corgi, Ardie, I was anxious to see how he would take to a wagon ride. He loved it, was a very good boy and will be going with us from now on.

This was the day for Jim to be the whip with Jack riding shotgun. Helen and I were the backseat drivers with Ardie.   The drive began with a sharp Haw turn which had never been done before. Instead of starting off with our drive down the road Jack took us the opposite direction to practice turning the wagon around again.   I'm excited about being able to turn the team around in a small radius.

The guys had decided not to use the running W on Dev, which I knew was going to be a mistake.   Dev was not about to stand when stopped and did his usual stunt of heading for the ditch.   The wagon brakes will not hold him either.   It was decided I needed to get a leg rope on him and I needed to change his bit for safety sake.

The drive again was six miles and almost two hours.

Helen and her cameras were hard at work the entire weekend so our great time was well documented.   Now all I need are volunteers and good driving weather!

April 21, 2007

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day to celebrate a wedding.   Luc’s day started off with pasture time followed by a bath… Man he sez, this wedding stuff really sucks!    Temp was almost 60, with sunshine and a nice drying wind.   Then the harness went on followed by a quick haircut and lots of brushing.   Loaded into the trailer and we were headed to town.

Luc’s Gig had a definite wedding theme to it with pink hearts and roses, and lots of greenery.   By now the winds were strong and gone was the sunshine behind a veil of clouds.   Hitched Luc drove around the large parking lot for his first drive of the year.   Then came and bride and we were off to a wedding!

As we wound thru the streets of Grangeville, people were stepping out on the porches to see this beautiful sight.   Man on man was Luc ever a great driving boy!   Finally it was time to head to the wedding destination.   In the parking lot folks were standing around with cameras… Luc was thinking he must have been pretty fantastic as everyone wanted to take his picture! When our bride stepped out of the gig we were off for a drive around town.   What a great outing!

Total driving time 1 hr 15 minutes.

April 28 and 29, 2007

Photo by Larry Smith

We are home again having survived Southern Idaho, the traffic, the people, the noise, man oh man it makes you appreciate home!   Best thing was it was like being in the tropics... out at night in just short sleeves, what a treat!

Dev and Liberty have their first public outing in the bag!   The facility was south of Nampa, Idaho at Al and Melinda Burt’s.   Soon after arriving we were greeted by their mammoth donkey herd.   Tim, the resident trainer, introduced us to their lead changing show jack, a pretty athletic and handsome guy.   We met Al and Melinda Burt Friday evening, very accommodating folks and of course they loved our big guys.

The barn was very comfortable for the donkey boys.   We took advantage of the level concrete floors and took a current measurement. Liberty is now 63 1/4 inches (up from 62 1/4" last year) Dev is 62 inches up from 60 3/4" last time he was measured!  They have just got to knock it off... no more growing contests!   I knew they had both shot up but was shocked at how much, especially Liberty!

The boys were turned loose in the indoor arena Friday night to let them get acquainted with the surroundings... Dev did a test roll and it met with his approval.   They played in the shadows and got it all figured out!   Sure wish I had brought saddles... a missed opportunity to ride!   Dang it!

Saturday morning we had a chance to visit with Hardy Zantke, the clinician.   We told him about driving a team of donkeys; he did not seem impressed which was fine.   He is a very well known and respected clinician, author, whip and judge who has driven world wide.   He had recently returned from Africa.

I did not have to drive until Saturday afternoon so had lots of time to absorb his excellent explanations.   During the breaks there was time to visit with members of the hosting club, The Treasure Valley Whips.   It was great to see old friends like Dev’s breeder and an internet friend whom we had yet to meet in person, both from Oregon.   A couple from California put their pair together for a first time go during their session.

It was hot when we harnessed and I was hoping Dev would stay calm.   Jim was going to be my header when I needed him so I figured all would be fine without the leg rope.   Besides that I wanted Hardy to see Dev do his I won't stand and you can't make me!   We drove around for a good 45 minutes before our turn and the boys did well in the 85* plus temperatures.

When I pulled into the indoor arena with the team Hardy was shocked beyond belief, he looked at Jim and said, "Mules?" Jim said, "No donkeys!"   He was in a state of awe when he first laid eyes on our team. “Whell,” he said. “Let’s see what you can do with them.”   That was my cue to drive them at a walk, trot, circles, figure 8's, serpentines, changed directions across the arena, do a barrel race pattern come back and stopped.   Then we did our very first few steps each way into a fan.   Dev got frustrated and wanted to go so Hardy had us move out and drive. When we stopped again we did a rein back.

Then Hardy went into a wonderful long speech about the difference between pairs and teams.   Most of the time pairs refer to a light breed horse where as the drafts are a heavier bred working animal.   Horses like Fjords can fall into either category.

That is where the style of harness comes into play.   Pairs use either a breast collar or a more refined collared harness, the hookups to the pole are different as are the traces and normally there is no britchin in a pairs hitch.   The draft setup has a line weight between the two animals, they are hitched to a yoke in the front, the collar has hames, there is a britchin, and the traces have a chain to hook to the single trees.   Wagons and farm equipment have an evener setup.   Normally a pair’s carriage does not have an evener although it could.

Other big difference is in the number of animals to a hitch.   Pairs are no more than two, four animals in light carriage driving are a team.   Both have tandem driving, which is one in front of the other.  With work animals a team is two, then you have a unicorn hitch with is three with two wheelers and one leader or it could be three abreast.  Four animals would be a four-up or four abreast; from there you go to six-up or eight-up hitches.   The draft hitches can go 20 animals or more.   He explained to the audience the jerk line method used with the twenty mule team.   I've probably left out a lot of differences but that is pretty much the gist of it.   I hope that helps anyone with questions about the differences in a team or a pair.

Meanwhile thru out all this discussion the boys are standing perfectly still with their sides heaving in and out from the heat and workout. Hardy apologized to me saying he knew nothing about donkeys, I think he was just in shock and awe of the mammoths!   He asked what we do with them, how many times they had been hitched as a team etc... Team Donk had a great time with demonstrating what high class driving animals they really are. The team was so relaxed inside the arena, no pressure to drive on.   All in all I felt that I had a great chance to show off what they could do on their 7th hitch as a team and how truly wonderful our big guys are.

Sunday morning Hardy was up in the wagon and giving us excellent and needed advice during our lesson. Hardy took the lines and the whip to show me how to bend them thru the corners.   We did dressage work which I found amazing!   I think he enjoyed his opportunity to drive a team of mammoth donkeys.   I certainly had a great lesson which included showing me how to use the whip, he loved my new McKee ultra light whip, and how to hold the lines single handed Achenbach method.

The spectators were pretty blown away by how well the big donkeys behaved and how easily they drove, maybe they just didn’t know what to expect.   I think donkeys are natural born showman as they liked the indoor arena, performing in front of a crowd and were soooooo goooood!!!!!

Following our lesson Jim and I went for a nice long drive outside and again they were driving like a well oiled machine, even with Al and Melinda’s Jennies’ running and playing along side them.

What Hardy said to do when Dev will not stand is to not to do battle with him.... I'm not going to win anyway. Drive him thru it!   There is a fine line between giving in and making it my idea to drive him on and I need to just drive him on.   I agreed!   I changed bits again before the clinic and Dev is doing much better in a Liverpool bar bit.   The other thing he told me to do is to put an extra set of single lines on Dev and have my passenger hold them, that way if I need to get after Dev I could it without punishing Liberty.... that idea I really liked!

Driving Time Saturday April 28, 2007 1 hr 40 minutes…

Driving Time Sunday April 29, 2007 1 hr 59 minutes