Jay (pictured above) and Janet Bailey run draft horse workshops on their mostly animal-powered, organic farm in Brattleboro. They have a small farm store on site and sell at the local farmers market, producing organic eggs and goat milk products. They keep chickens, sheep, goats, and pigs. They also offer sleigh rides in the wintertime on trails that wind through the woods on their forty acres. They've been working with draft horses for over 30 years, and currently have six of them. We worked with four: Charlie, Robin, Nora, and Martin. We spent the first hour guiding each other around using twine as reigns...definitely a throwback to childhood, but incredibly instructive and very helpful when we actually started driving the horses. Then, they familiarized us with the horses by having us lead them through an obstacle course of buckets. Here's Keith as he leads Charlie around. Don't get stepped on!
Next step: properly harness the horses. A metal brush is used to groom them first...this removes any dirt which might chafe under the leather and injure them, and it's a nice way to bond with the animal and get ready for the work day ahead. They really like it. Then the harness, hames, collar, and bridle get attached. These horses have been so well-trained that they made it easy for us. Below, Anna prepares to put on the harness and hames.
Over the next day and a half we learned how to give voice commands - Come Up (go), Whoa (stop), Back (back up) Haw (left), Gee (right) - and steer with the lines, attach the farm equipment, and understand the work it takes to operate a farm with these horses. We spent a blissful amount of time on the wagons and carts riding through the pastures and woods while each one of us got practice time with the horses. And each day, Janet made an awesome lunch with food grown on the farm along with freshly-baked bread.
The farm is also part-museum. There are rusty old pieces of equipment scattered around the out-buildings and the fields. But don't let the rust fool you...many of these pieces are fully operational.
http://www.fairwindsfarm.org/
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