Pat's next steps include longeing in the round pen and unlike many horse farmers, riding. He considers this a major step in his training program stressing its value in providing important personal contact with the horse and another opportunity to work on responding to commands: whoa, gee, haw, back, stand and getting the feeling of the reins or lines.

    Once he has the horse responding comfortably, he introduces it to a vehicle with shaves. Later on, he will hook the horse as a team with another, experienced horse. He stresses again that teaching a horse to stand quietly is crucial to having a pleasurable, safe driving horse. He also feels that teaching the horse to back is important for these same reasons.

A lesson in the bush

It was time to head out to the training site with Felix, a six-year old stallion. This was to be his first day working in the bush. He was harnessed with a heavy breast collar harness, called a marathon harness in competitive circles. Today, Felix was just going to learn the basics and wouldn't pull any really heavy weight--he would be outfitted later with a collar for tougher work. As is Pat's habit, Felix's halter was left on in addition to the bridle so he could be tied up if Pat decided to cut more logs with the chain saw.

    Felix's previous training consisted of obedience work, riding and driving. In fact, we hooked him to a sleigh to get out to the lesson site, where Pat had already felled a few trees and prepared the equipment to be used (chain saw, swingletree, chains, etc.). Pat stressed the importance of teaching the horse to stand quietly, no matter what you are doing. He demonstrated this training by leaving Felix unrestrained in the middle of the logging road as he went into a small barn looking for additional equipment, reemerging and hooking Felix to the sleigh. This training is especially important if you must work alone with your horses.

    Before attempting to hook in the woods, you must introduce your horse to all sorts of noises and experiences: the sound of the chainsaw, chains clanking and bouncing, branches hitting the legs. Logging can be very spooky for a green horse. If possible, a round pen is an ideal and safe place to begin introducing him to these things. Felix had already been introduced to the whippletree dragging on the ground and his lesson today started with the chainsaw. Pat kept the end of the lines draped over his arm as he walked all around Felix, revving the saw but not completely starting it. He showed it to Felix in a nonchalant manner so as not to make too big of a deal out of it--as if to say "it's just another tool, like a broom or pitch-fork." Then he started it up, standing behind Felix and a bit off to the side. Felix listened carefully and with interest to the whole process but didn't move an inch. His obedience training and trust in Pat paid off here. Pat also noted that it is a good practice, when working away from the barnyard, to stand your horse facing away from the barn, if only to remove the obvious temptation.

    All this time, the traces were hooked to the whippetree, which lay on the ground behind him. Pat always kept the lines within easy reach. He prefers to work with shorter, rather than long, lines (which many horse loggers prefer) and keeps them attached. While this requires being careful not to get them hooked on a stump, he believes it is even easier to loose a line when you stumble or fall in deep snow or difficult footing. He's made this decision out of his own experience working with horses in the woods. Pat shows us another trick: how he has trained Felix to "come off" the trace. When Pat puts pressure on Felix's leg with the trace, Felix gently moves away from the pressure. This technique saves time and doesn't require the teamster to "drive" the horse into position to hook to the log--in addition, only the hind end moves. This kind of training helps to precisely position the horse in what can be difficult and dangerous working conditions.

    Pat likes to adjust the trace length so that the whippletree misses the horse by just three or four inches when he steps out. This prevents Felix from being hit on the heels but ensures that a log behind him will stay neatly on the track, even around tight corners, reducing the risk of cutting a corner and overshooting the track. Pat also taught us another little trick to avoid hooking a dragging whippletree on stumps and bumps in the trail: when he comes upon an obstacle in the trail, he steps lightly on the chain for a moment, lifting the whippletree a few inches off the ground and effectively skipping over the obstacle.

    Once Felix had been through a few minutes of ground driving with the whippletree--the logging road was sheer ice; Pat appeared to be "water-skiing" behind him at times--we headed into the bush, breaking through knee-deep snow. Pat made two tracks, one for the horse to walk on and one for him (and in this case, us). A few trips in and out got Felix used to the sensation, which didn't appear to bother him one bit.

    Pat then instructed us on hooking logs, continuing the lesson outside of the wooded area so that Felix could first feel the load of the log on a flat surface.

    When skidding a log, the teamster should always walk on the trail that is to the outside of the log, to avoid being knocked over on turns. If the trail turns, stop the horse and switch sides. Don't step on the log while switching sides and never step on it if it is moving, for obvious reasons! Pat tell us that you should walk just behind the head of the log so that you can always see what is happening and avoid problems. He practices ground driving with a log, turning left and right to accustom the horse to this kind of manoeuvering on a snowy or rough track with weight behind him.

    When you arrive at your destination with the log, it is helpful if you have trained your horse to set the whippletree down on the ground to make unhooking the logs easier. It is very easy to get hurt doing this job--fingers can get caught in chains and between logs so anything you can do to reduce the risk is worth the extra training effort. When Felix comes out of the bush with his first log, Pat asks him to whoa and he steps back a half step, setting the whippletree down and taking pressure off the chain. Next, Pat unhooks the chain from the whippletree. Very important to do this first!

    During the course of the lesson, Pat asked Felix to make five or six trips in and out of the bush in fairly deep snow, pulling only light logs. He gradually added a second log, increasing the draft needed, to give Felix a taste of "real" work and see how he responded to this greater demand. Pat had warned us that probably Felix would resist a bit on the second or third trip in, a common reaction with a green horse who has begun to realize that this was going to be actual work, but this never occured. Felix passed with flying colors, remaining happy and interested and always listening attentively to Pat, even with the two of us chasing them in and out of the woods with our tape recorder and cameras, a training distraction if ever there was one!

After our enlightening visit, I went home and began experimenting with Pat's lead-line training technique on my own horses and was amazed at the immediate results. I think that a part of this technique's success is the fact that it demands constant attention from the animal. In fact, it is really all about teaching your horse to stay focused on you (it could be compared to methods used with kindergarteners, who are easily distracted and have a short attention span). Our eight-month old Fjord colt seemed to see it as a sort of enjoyable game--it engaged him right away and he began to make a visible effort to stay right there with me--and this responsive behaviour is carrying over into other things we do together. I suspect that Pat's technique would also be excellent for horses who are prone to the "who's-leading-who" syndrome. --DW

 

When preparing to skid a log, always hook to the horse LAST, putting the chain on the log and leaving the horse free until you are ready for him to pull. When unhooking, the reverse applies: always unhook the chain from the horse FIRST.   The hook should always lie flat.   Hook about one foot back on the log. This helps prevent the log from flipping end-for-end if it should catch on something while skidding.   First, go under the log with the chain.   Then, go back around and under it again so that you are lifting the log when you finally hook to the whippletree.

Keep the swivel just ahead of the log.   When all is set, hook to the whippletree.   When skidding a big log, cut a "shoe" or angle on the bottom of the log with a chainsaw. This prevents the head of the log from catching on roots or rocks. The shoe angles up, making the log head into a kind of "fishhead" shape. Be sure to hook the chain on the top of the log.   Always walk outside of the log, changing sides care-fully when necessary as the trail turns.   Walk just behind the head of the log so you can always see what's coming.