Loose Haying with Horses on the Davis Family Farm

John Davis of Kennan, Wisconsin and his sons Justin and Jacob load their hay into a wagon with the power of two home raised, mixed breed draft horses. Joe gets great footage of the entire process.

John Davis farms a small acreage and grows hay to feed his horses. John discusses with Joe his philosophy on sizing a farm to where is can make a profit and do most of the work yourself. He uses the comparison of making round bales with a tractor vs. loose haying.

Joe follows them as they hook up the hay loader to the well-trained draft horse team and head to the hay fields. They had cut the hay four days earlier and it was nice and dry. Justin explains the process of loading the hay at the edges of the hay wagon, in a way that allows the pile to be stable and quite high.

After loading the wagon they return to the huge gambrel barn to offload the hay. The horses are unhitched from the wagon and led to munch on the drooping hay as they ready the hay trolley system for loading. The grapple hooks are set in a large bunch of hay. The horses are connected to the line and pull it to hoist the hay to the loft door. Once there, the rail carries it into the barn. Justin is int he barn and when he yells "HO" those horses out side stop and the hooks release. Justin then spreads or "mows" the haymow - using a pitchfork to level out the hay. And repeat...

It is a well "oiled" system and a joy to watch this family work together with the horses they have trained well.

Видео Loose Haying with Horses on the Davis Family Farm канала Rural Heritage