It's off to work we go...

It's off to work we go...

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Services

Located in Loudon, NH, we offer, horse boarding at our backyard barn in a country setting. In our barn we offer 3, 10 x 10 box stalls with concrete / matted floors and turnouts available. There are riding and driving trails throughout the property. There are fields, power lines, Snowmobile trails, and large conservation lands located close by just a short ride / drive over quiet public country roads.

We offer nothing fancy, just functional. There is no pressures here to participate in any particular discipline and hackers are welcome. We offer full or rough board, flexible services, and reasonable prices. We have the capability of building any type of outdoor hunter / jumper type of course to your desires.

Our draft horses are always looking for work. We offer hay / wagon rides for special occasions, family gatherings, and organizations

Land owners loggers and tree service companies. We can deck your saw logs and firewood effectively and with little impact especially on those environmentally sensitive jobs.

I am not a certified trainer or instructor but I have experience in starting horses to harness and saddle, and I can teach you to drive horses also. My rates are very flexible and vary on a case by case basis.

Monday, October 19, 2009

The plan

Use draft animals for traction as much as possible.  We have three young Belgian draft horses all of which ride and drive.  These are supplemented by a Kubota L3710 compact tractor with 4wd.

We started 4 chickens a year ago. We are just using them for eggs now and working towards flock regeneration and a culling schedule as the flocks age and numbers increase.  Starting with chickens, pork, and lamb; selling the excess animals to offset the cost of raising our own meat. We'll start beef when we are able.

I never promised you a rose garden but I do vegetables. I have had several successful back yard gardens in the past but not much lately.  Success is is generally proportional to the time spent on it and in the last few years it has been hard to work gardening into my routine. 

Honey, I love honey.  Honeybees from what I have read shouldn't take too much effort.  It will just be something else to learn how to do.  A lot of it will happen behind the scenes with a little time investment.  We haven't started yet.

I am such a sap. Maple syrup anyone?  We have about 15 acres of woods.  I have identified several Sugar Maple trees that are able to be tapped. However it will take many more trees to make tapping them worth while for a commercial project.  I figure this will be a project in need of long term preparations before hand.

Hard work and a warm house.  We harvest our cord wood from the property.  I have invested a lot of time since we have been living here out in the woods.  We use two wood stoves to keep us warm during winter months.  I would say that for the past twenty years or so we have been somewhat exclusive in using wood as a primary heating source.  We don't use it for hot water yet but it is planned on.  I am aware of sustainable forestry techniques and I am trying to implement them in maintaining and managing our small woodlot using only animal traction for the last four years.   

Not much happening in the way of sustainability yet.  I am sure there are other aspects of this project that I am missing off the top of my head and I will update as the details become available.  On a small scale though I guess it is a start.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

Looking Sharp. Ready to hitch and go again.




Lucy on the left and Roy on the right. A little ground drive after work and before dinner.