lorses i n seshitchi t ing a vei

If you are dropping three or more links, put the end link over the link being hooked. This minimizes the chances of a swinging chain end hitting a horse's leg and surprising it.

gave me a real perspective on h o w quickly things can go awry even w i t h seasoned horses and master teamsters," says student Brad Peterson.

H i t c h i n g and unhi tch ing is a t ime of great vulnerability. "We really need to have horses that stand reliably, and u n t i l people's skill and experience is very high, they need to have their horse or horses t ied up while hi tching and unhi tching, or at least have someone to hold and help manage them (a header)" says Doc. " W h e n we start doing i t alone w i t h o u t a place to tie or a header, the horses really have to k n o w to stay put , and the person needs to not mess around. We just need to pay attention and get the job done w i t h o u t delay or distraction. The students i n this workshop saw firsthand h o w dangerous i t can be i f horses become distracted, anxious, fearful, or move around when only part way hitched."

Doc continues, "It's really impor tant to have a very specific, wel l understood and consistent h i tching and unhi tching technique so that we can execute i t precisely and promptly. We need to h i t ch and unhi tch the same way every t ime to develop a consistent, familiar routine. I n addit ion, we should strategically pre-posit ion the vehicle or equipment we're hi tching to. A n d we need to have a clearly thought out 'escape plan' each step of the way so we can get ourselves and/or our horses out safely i n case something does go wrong."

Pre-positioning the Vehicle

For Doc, pre-posit ioning the vehicle strategically typically means put t ing i t where the horses w i l l be facing a direct ion they don't especially want to go so they're not incl ined to take a not ion to leave. " I don't

recommend point ing the horses toward the barn or the hi tch rail or other horses i n the herd. I do t r y to use a physical or visual barrier of some sort; I don't like a lot of open space i n f ront of them, especially for horses w i t h l imi ted experience."

Ground-driving the team to a strategically pre-positioned vehicle provides all sorts of opportunities for assessing readiness to hitch. "It's a test drive. I get to see if everything is working right. Are my lines adjusted right? W i l l the horses in fact start, stop, stand, and back when I ask? Do the horses look like they're the proper distance apart on the bits for the neck yoke and doubletree?

" M a n y times horses are anxious or i n a forward m o o d or mode when we hi tch , and they k n o w we're ready to go, so a lot of times just to counteract that forward energy, the first th ing I do is to back a few steps, both ground dr iv ing and when hitched. W h e n I ' m harnessing i n the barn, I back them up into the alley and purposely stop for awhile and wait while getting them to quit looking towards the door. Then I gee t h e m 90 degrees then stop and wait . O n l y w h e n they're clearly relaxed and wait ing on instructions and not interested i n their o w n agenda do we go out the barn door."

The Teaching Moment

The lesson that t u r n e d into an extreme teaching m o m e n t was h o w to h i t c h and u n h i t c h w h e n we're alone and don't have a place to tie the horses. Doc was demonstrat ing h i t c h i n g to a wagon w i t h a team of calm, reliable horses. The weather was changing often and quickly that day, and unbeknownst to Doc, a thunderhead was approaching f r o m a direct ion

December 2012/January 2013 I ]

where i t was h idden by a h i l l and trees. Violent l ightn ing began to strike suddenly nearby, w i t h l o u d claps of thunder. Doc had just started h i t ch ing and had hooked the neck yoke to only one horse w h e n explosive l ightn ing repeatedly struck nearby, fo l lowed by deafening thunder. Doc was already t r y i n g to unhook the neck yoke w h e n the other horse j u m p e d sideways and knocked its partner off its feet.

" I don't k n o w h o w many thousands of times I've hitched horses and mules i n the six decades since I started dr iv ing , but this was the first t ime I've ever had anything like this happen while h i tching. I n hindsight i t wasn't really much of an incident; it was more of a close call," says Doc, "but i t could easily have been disastrous". His students were unanimous i n their appreciation for how calm Doc remained and how he gently and efficiently managed the horses, b o t h physically and psychologically, to a safe and minimal ly stressful outcome. Student Brad Peterson shares, "Doc knew exactly what to do so quickly and so calmly. The

horses stayed relatively calm because they felt that f r o m Doc; they knew they needed to just stop and stand while he made things right."

I n addition, the students also experienced how Doc managed "people reactions and behavior" at the same time he was calming, controll ing, and untangling the horses. The students' nervous energy, talking amongst themselves, and attempts to help started to add tension to an already difficult situation. " I signaled the students to be quiet and asked them to relax, take their energy down, and stop moving around while I was holding and calming one horse that wanted to get away, unhooking harness to get them apart, and quieting and comforting the horse that couldn't get up," says Doc. "It's very natural i n such situations for people to become upset and adrenalin-charged, making things worse i n their efforts to help."

"Over the years there have been many times when my intent ion was to hi tch up, but instead I abandoned the idea," reflects Doc, "either because I judged the animals not well enough trained i n general, or not prepared well

Hitching the inside trace chain first preserves an escape route in case the horses move unexpectedly.

12 Rural Heritage

enough for h i tching specifically, or not i n a frame of m i n d to be hitched safely at that particular t ime. I t is imperative that they stand sti l l i n a quiet, comfortable, relaxed way to be hitched safely." Having a horse or horses move when part way hitched or part way unhitched creates one of the most potentially dangerous situations that can happen.

Several important things contr ibuted to the safe outcome f r o m this extreme event. First, Doc had a strong relationship of trust , respect, and leadership w i t h his team; he knew they were extremely well - trained and experienced and that they normally listened and responded to h i m well .

Next, Doc had made several changes to the typical hi tching gear and harness to minimize chances for equipment failure or wrecks. (See "Preventing Wrecks" i n Rural Heritage volume 37, number 2, A p r i l / M a y 2012, and the article "10 C o m m o n Wrecks w i t h D r i v i n g Horses" on D o c s website for complete details.) Over the years, he has heard enough stories of wrecks to know that taking the t ime to make these changes has prevented problems f r o m occurring.

I n addit ion, Doc had fol lowed his step-by-step process for hi tching so he knew exactly what had been done and

what hadn't when i t came t ime to extricate the horses f r o m their predicament. I f he hadn't been so rigorous about fol lowing his process, he wouldn' t have been as able to help his horses as quickly and quietly as he did .

Finally, because Doc had fol lowed his process carefully, he also knew w i t h o u t th ink ing what the escape plan was at the point when the incident occurred. Because he was fol lowing a procedure that he knew well , he was able to successfully unhook the neck yoke as the falling horse was going down. It's much easier to anticipate problems and consider escape routes when things are calm than to have to figure everything out i n the crisis of the moment when something happens.

O f course, just because Doc was able to extricate the horses didn't mean that was the end of the story. The students got to see what he d i d to calm and evaluate the horses after the mishap. "After I got the tangled harness off the downed horse and he was able to get up, I spent a lot of t ime rubbing h i m and talking to h i m , making sure he was alright both physically and mentally." The s torm had passed just as quickly as i t came, and the horses were again relaxed and comfortable so they were led to the barn. Af ter some quiet t ime, Doc's partner Cathy and the students groomed and re-harnessed the horse

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December 2012/January 2013 13

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Doc HammiU's Step-by-Step Checklist For Hitching a Team

Start in front - end in back. Reverse for unhitching.

1 . Pre-position and the vehicle. Whenever possible, pre-posit ion the vehicle or piece of equipment i n a place where the team can be t ied while hi tching, especially i n the case of an inexperienced driver, horse, or team. A t a m i n i m u m , pre-posit ion the vehicle i n a way that the horses have a physical and/or visual barrier rather than open space i n f ront of them.

2. Safety Check the vehicle. Be sure the neck yoke is chained on, and the double tree p i n is secured. Do a general equipment safety inspection. Have everything you w i l l need on the vehicle or equipment pr ior to hi tching.

3. Position the horses for hitching. Drive the team over, back them onto, or lead them into place relative to the tongue and posit ion t h e m for hi tching. ALWAYS have the bridle on and lines attached and functional before hi tching. NEVER unbuckle the lines f r o m the bits or remove the bridle w h e n a horse is still hitched to anything.

4. Secure the horses. Whenever possible, tie your horses. I f the horses aren't t ied, have your header hold one of the cross checks i n each hand near the b i t of each horse. The header should stay i n this posit ion u n t i l released by the driver f r o m their duties. NEVER trust the horses to stand. NEVER let go of the lines or rely totally on a header. NEVER tie the lines up on the vehicle or equipment unless the horses are t ied. I f the horses are not t ied, ALWAYS keep the lines i n your hands i n case you need to "talk" to or control the horses w i t h them. Whenever you hold b o t h lines i n one hand keep one finger between t h e m and ALWAYS k n o w w h i c h line is on top so they are not crossed when you put them i n two hands again. Doc always puts his r ight line on top so as not to get them mixed up.

5. Attach the neck yoke. Hook the neck yoke to the breast strap and pole strap of the least experienced horse first, then the other horse. I f the breast and/or pole straps attach to the neck yoke w i t h snaps, be sure all snaps are hooked facing towards the tongue. A l l three of the r ing areas on neck yokes are potential finger eaters so be careful.

6. Check the neck yoke center ring position. Double-check that the neck yoke r ing is against the stop on the tongue. I f it's caught forward when the traces are hooked, on a bolt head for instance, and slips back later, everything could be hooked too loose. Back the horses a l itt le i f necessary to keep the r ing against the stop u n t i l the traces are hooked and holding i t there.

7. Hook the inside trace chains. M o v i n g to the rear, it's especially important to be conscious of your safety when behind the horses and i n front of the vehicle or equipment which is now attached to the horses by the neck yoke. Always bear i n m i n d that the action of the double tree and the two attached single trees can be like a guillotine. I f one horse moves, the space between a single tree and the double tree can close and crush a finger, hand, arm, foot or leg. The same is true for spaces between the double tree and the front of the vehicle or equipment. It's generally

14 Rural Heritage

a good idea to hook the trace chains of the least experienced horse first because once hooked, the outside trace w i l l set a boundary to help keep h i m f r o m stepping away f r o m the tongue. However, i t is more efficient and less t ime is spent behind the horses i f you step behind the first horse and hook the inside chains of both horses, followed, after stepping back out, by hooking the outside chain of the first horse. I f two people are hitching, I recommend that one person hook both inside chains because only one person is i n the vulnerable space behind the horses and i n front of the vehicle or load. I f you are dropping three or more links, put the end l ink over the l ink being hooked before hooking the chain. This minimizes the chances of a swinging chain end hi t t ing a horse's leg and surprising i t . ALWAYS grasp chain links and single tree hooks wi thout putt ing fingers through them so you can continue to count to ten.

8. Hook the outside trace chains. Always step to the outside before hooking outside trace chains so as not to trap yourself i n the space between the horse, single tree, and the two trace chains. First, hook the outside chain of the horse you stepped behind to hook the inside chains then go around and hook the outside chain of the other horse. NEVER step or c l imb over the tongue to get to the other side; always go around.

9. Check adjustment between pulling system and hold back system. Assuming the hold back system on each harness is adjusted properly pr ior to hi tching, the length at w h i c h the trace chains are hooked w i l l determine how t ight or loose the horses are confined i n the harness when hitched on a tongue. Too t ight and they become uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and can develop f r i c t ion sores. Too loose and they w i l l be alternately slapped or bumped by the bri tchen and the collar when changing f r o m the pul l ing mode to the hold back mode and visa-versa. To test for the appropriate relationship of tension between the two britchens and the four trace chains first note i f there is any slack i n the chains. I f there is, then the britchens should be fairly snug against the rumps. I t there is no slack i n the chains, as when the horses are pul l ing , then you should be able to either pul l b o t h britchens straight back one to two inches f r o m the rumps, or, i f one br i tchen is fairly t ight , the other should come back three to four inches. ALWAYS check both britchens, not just one. Adjust as necessary by hooking all four chains shorter to t ighten things up, or longer to loosen the adjustment. Be sure to unhook the outside chains for safe access to adjust the inside chains first, and then adjust the outside chains last.

10. Double check everything. Check bridles, lines, and all h i tching to make sure everything is as i t should be.

1 1 . Untie horses or release header. I f the horses have been tied, take up the lines and move to your dr iv ing posit ion before having a helper untie the horses. I f you are alone, take the lines w i t h you to untie the horses. However, keep i n m i n d that once the horses are untied the lines w i l l not w o r k u n t i l you get back towards the rear half of the horses. The driver must ALWAYS be i n posit ion on the vehicle w i t h lines i n hand before any passengers board the vehicle, and all passengers must be off before the driver gets off.

12. Wait long enough to "light a pipe" before starting the team. Spend the t ime double checking everything visually while managing horse behavior.

December 2012/January 2013 15

that went d o w n while Doc prepared to test the other one by ground dr iv ing i t single. " M y hope was to finish w i t h a positive dr iv ing experience for each horse, but only i f they could stay comfortable and handle i t . I didn't want them to associate acting fearful or misbehaving w i t h getting out of harness or work , but I didn't want to cause them further anxiety either.

"We used a very specific set of baby steps to test t h e m out to see i f any lasting psychological damage had been done. I started by ground dr iv ing one and then the other single. We left the barn and ground drove directly to the wagon, just as we had done an hour before w i t h them as a team. The wagon was in the same spot as before. I drove them single because I wanted to observe each horse's personal reaction to the wagon and the location of the incident. I n t u r n , I drove each one up to the wagon tongue and stopped to let them check it out. Both horses checked the tongue out by touching and examining i t w i t h their lips, but neither seemed the least bit concerned about the wagon or the location. As they were examining the tongue I rattled the metal double tree and single trees w i t h my foot to observe their reaction to the sudden noise. Neither horse reacted to i t . Af ter dr iv ing each of t h e m single around the barnyard w i t h lots of stopping, standing, and backing up, we called i t a day."

The next day the evaluation process continued. The

Slip-on neck yokes should always be secured to the tongue so they don't slip off and cause a wreck. Doc's preferred method is with a quick link and chain.

Diagram courtesy Doc Hammill.

horses were first driven quietly around i n the fenced barnyard single and then ground driven there as a team. Doc drove them into posit ion for h i tching to the forecart several times but simply had t h e m stand on either side of the tongue awhile w i t h o u t hi tching up. A l l went extremely well . Later that day the students practiced hi tching the team to a forecart repeatedly, and the horses were just fine w i t h i t . Doc explains, "We chose to hi tch to and drive a t w o wheeled forecart before advancing to the four wheeled wagon later on. The horses were fine w i t h each of the progressive tests, and we were able to resume our normal workshop curr iculum."

Standing Still Reliably

" I can't emphasize enough," says Doc, "the importance of teaching our dr iv ing horses to stop and stand still and to do so reliably. These are the most impor tant lessons we'l l ever teach them. I t should start when they're young, and i t needs to be reinforced every minute of every day that we're w i t h them. I n addit ion to not let t ing them move their feet, we also need to manage their heads so they don't get bridles, bits, halters, etc. hooked onto such things as harness parts, neck yokes, and shafts and perhaps rub or tear a bridle completely off."

Doc's f r iend and colleague Steve W o o d teaches pleasure and competitive dr iv ing and trains horses to drive. Steve adds, "For a pair hitched to a carriage, almost 100 percent of tongues are self-supporting, (essentially suspended i n the air), so the horses can't be ground-driven into place. Instead, they're typically led into posit ion individually. This means the horses have to stand there for three or four minutes while the lines are attached and hi tching is underway. So it's even more the case that dr iv ing horses have to be trained to stand sti l l reliably."

Equipment and Harness Modifications

There are many things that could be discussed i n the equipment and harness department that impact hi tching and unhitching, but Doc w o u l d feel particularly negligent i f he didn't ment ion the importance of securing sl ip-on neck yokes and using what he calls a but t rope.

"Many close calls, mishaps, wrecks, and injuries are caused when slip-on neck yokes that are not secured to the tongue accidentally slide off the end of the tongue," says Doc. "This can happen more easily than most people t h i n k , both dur ing hi tching or unhitching and when actually dr iv ing . Consequently, all sl ip-on neck yokes should be secured to the tongue every t ime we

16 Rural Heritage

hitch . M y preferred way of securing t h e m is shown i n the diagram. A n y t h i n g less than a %-inch chain and a ^s-inch quick l ink is not strong enough for forces that can be encountered."

Doc continues, "One of the most c o m m o n wrecks I've heard about over the years is horses spreading their h i n d ends and then getting head to head or even t u r n i n g around and coming to the teamster. For this reason, I always recommend the use of a but t rope." (See "Key Techniques for Safe Confident Horses" i n Rural Heritage volume 36, number 5, October/November 2011.)

Ironclad Process for Hitching and Unhitching

Doc's f r iend Steve W o o d emphasizes the importance of a well-understood process for hi tching. "Halfway hitched is the most dangerous t ime i n dr iv ing , so you have to concentrate very carefully dur ing that 90 seconds or you w i l l forget something or do something incorrectly. A lot of people get distracted—'Oh, wasn't that a wonderful drive,'—and the conversation causes them to forget one strap or another. Because of mult iple connections to the vehicle, w i t h the single horse especially—with the hold backs and shaft wraps and traces—it's easy to miss just one step that can have devastating consequences

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i f not caught and corrected. A n d w i t h young or green horses, when a driver forgets something, i t changes the routine w h i c h can be stressful for the horse, heightening the possibility for an incident to occur."

Steve continues, "Generally it's another person who causes the distraction. O n club drives, dur ing family gatherings: the excitement can distract you as much as anything. Here's m y solution: I have a step-by-step check list. As a driver, hand that check list to your header. Make the header read off the list; i t keeps h i m or her f r o m starting up a conversation that might distract you dur ing that crit ical 90 seconds. A n d remember that unhi tching is the reverse of the hi tching process; start at the b o t t o m of the list and work back to the top. I f people get distracted, especially when unhi tching, they tend to do i t backwards. W h e n people are distracted, they tend to remember the first incorrect sequence (for hitching) rather than the second proper sequence (for unhitching)."

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December 2012/January 2013 17

trouble. By taking such steps as h i tching the inside trace chains before the outside chains, we can preserve our escape route should the horses take an unexpected step i n any direct ion, put t ing us i n jeopardy.

Doc explains, " H o o k i n g the outside chain first then stretching to reach over i t and hook (or unhook) the inside trace w i l l put you way off balance. Were you to fall i n between the trace chains behind the horses' feet and i n f r o n t of the vehicle/load, you'd be i n extreme danger of being stepped on or r u n over. Standing w i t h the lines between a horse and the vehicle near the tongue while someone else hooks or unhooks is also dangerous since a horse could fly back and crush you against the vehicle or load or go f o r w a r d and p u l l the vehicle or load i n t o you."

Doc adds another i m p o r t a n t p o i n t about his extreme teaching moment , "It's unl ikely that I w o u l d have been able to hang onto and contro l b o t h horses i f I had not had halters and lead ropes on them. I was able to quickly undo the ropes f r o m the hames and use t h e m instead of the lines (which became useless because the fallen horse was ly ing on them). W i t h o u t halters on A N D lead ropes attached and easily accessible, we are at an extreme disadvantage i f someone needs to get contro l of the heads."

The Importance of Patience

I f we regularly h u r r y t h r o u g h our harnessing and h i t c h i n g rout ine , it's very easy to teach our horses an unintended lesson. I f we hurr ied ly g r o o m , harness, h i t c h , and drive off then we are teaching t h e m to be impatient . Doing so sets us up

for trouble w h e n at some point the process is delayed for any reason and we really need to have t h e m stand and wai t rather than go.

Doc shares, "There are exercises I use regularly for helping horses practice patience, relaxation, and standing st i l l . For instance, I g r o u n d drive t h e m i n t o pos i t ion on the tongue but don't h i t ch anything up. I wai t and concentrate on having t h e m stand there patiently for varying lengths of t ime before h i t ch ing . Sometimes I even drive t h e m away w i t h o u t h i t ch ing so they become accepting of whatever I choose to ask for rather than start assuming they k n o w what w i l l happen next. However, once we start to h i t c h up (or unhi tch) , it's i m p o r t a n t that we fo l low through to comple t ion i n an efficient but relaxed way w i t h o u t distractions or delays."

Doc continues, "Once you are completely hi tched, d r i v i n g of f r ight away sets a very bad precedent. I have often heard m y good f r iend, master teamster, and horsemanship c l inic ian John Erskine share a story w i t h students. A n o t h e r teamster w h o m John admired smoked a pipe. Every t ime after this man hi tched up his team he w o u l d sit on the wagon, clean out his pipe, refil l i t , l ight i t , and get i t going. O n l y then w o u l d he ask his horses to go. John's advice to students is not to smoke a pipe, but rather to take the t ime i t w o u l d take to l ight a pipe before asking horses to go after they get t h e m hitched. John assures t h e m that their horses w i l l become more and more patient and safer and safer i f they do so, and that i f they don't , the horses w i l l go the other way. It's great advice for w h e n we unhi t ch as well ."

18 Rural Heritage

I n Hindsight

Doc concludes, "This inc ident came extremely close t o being a disaster. I f I had not been able t o u n h o o k the neck yoke t o free the horses f r o m the wagon, and/or i f I had not been able to h o l d o n to the horses and keep t h e m f r o m r u n n i n g o f f w i t h or w i t h o u t the wagon, the potent ia l for more s ignif icant last ing psychological effects and possibly physical i n j u r y to the horses w o u l d have been great. T h o u g h we were fortunate , I s t i l l f u l l y expect the horses involved to be more anxious and concerned w h e n they experience s t o r m condi t ions i n the fu ture t h a n they were before this experience.

" I n h i n d sight, do I w i s h the horses had been t i ed up w h i l e I was h i t c h i n g t h e m for that part icular demonstrat ion? Yes, of course. The reason I show people h o w to do i t alone and u n t i e d is because i t is something that we and the horses need to k n o w h o w to do. Sooner or later i t may be unavoidable. However, w h e n I ' m demonstra t ing and explaining the process of h i t c h i n g and u n h i t c h i n g , par t of m y a t tent ion is distracted f r o m the horses and the process is s lowed d o w n , so i n the fu ture T i l consider demonstra t ing the technique w i t h the horses t i ed and let the students imagine that they aren't."

Student Brad Peterson's greatest lesson, i n h inds ight , was the impor tance of staying slow, steady, and conf ident . By not overreact ing i n the face o f adversity, it's possible to w o r k quick ly and i n a cont ro l l ed manner to correct a p r o b l e m i n a way that allows the horses t o r e m a i n as ca lm as possible, too . Using a wel l -de f ined h i t c h i n g procedure w i t h horses, equipment and harness that are wel l -prepared sets b o t h people and horses up for h i t c h i n g safely and successfully. 31

Doc Hammill and his partner Cathy Greatorex offer workshops and private clinics year-round as well as instructional videos on working horses in harness, including techniques for safely hitching and hitching and preventing wrecks.

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Practical Tools & Solutions jjj^fegg for Sustaining Family Farms

ŷ 'l** J A N U A R Y 2 3 - 2 6 • L I T T L E R O C K Pre Conference Courses Include:

Organic Vegetables, High Tunnels, Pastured Livestock, Farm Profitability, Cut Flowers, Food Hubs and others.

Conference Sessions Cover:

Sustainable & Organic Production of Flowers, Livestock, Vegetables and Specialty Crops; Direct Marketing Strategies; Successful Farm Stories and more!

Plus five field trips! Visit www.ssawg.org

or call 404-797-0496 for a brochure.

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Inc. (Southern SAWG) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1991

to promote sustainable agriculture in the southern United States

*ft was incredible. Of

oil the ag conferences

( a t t e n d , this was by

/or the m o s t engaged

group, as well as the

^^^mostdiverse^^

-G lenDupree , D.VM

December 2012/January 2013 19

http://WWW.tlller5internatlOnal.Or2http://www.ssawg.org