Edgar, stitching Bob's new and improved throat latch.
I have decided that I need to brush up on my blogging skills. So while I will continue to document Intro to Draft Horses' time together, I will also be posting as much as I can from UMass Draft Horse Program. This semester, we have one intro course and two level 2 courses running. So, I take back what I said! This will not be a blog solely dedicated to Intro to Draft Horses, and should be much more exciting and comprehensive with updates from Level 2.
This week in the Level 2 class, we looked at harness repair. For me, learning to repair harness has been a very empowering skill and I thought it would be a great topic to cover in Level 2. We all had a jolly-good-time stitching and riveting, and riveting and stitching. BSE has an assortment of leather projects that need tending to, and we experimented with a few of them in class. Most importantly, we tidied-up April and Ruby's harness and made it much more comfortable for those very special "Lady Boppers" – as I like to call them.
Understanding how harness works and how to fix it helps the teamster to feel much more confident in what they are doing when they slide that harness over their equine partner and use it for work. Harness making is a practice that teaches you to be patient, aware, act with intention, and to think creatively. And just like learning to be patient with a horse can help you practice patience in your every day life, learning to be meticulous with your harness can open up worlds for you in areas outside of the horse-world. I know that the deep deep patience I have learned through working with Billy manifests in my world outside of horses. These practices with our 4-legged friends help us to become more present, more aware, and better human beings.
Practicing good harness maintenance is the sign of an attentive, great teamster. A great teamster cares about his team, and takes responsibility for the safety and comfort of the equipment his horses use in the "workplace". It is kind of like that old saying, and there are many of them – "you can tell a lot about a person by the way he cares for his tools... hair... car... home... etc.". A teamster who is always aware of what is going on with his team's harness, takes great care, and is meticulous and impeccable, is perhaps doing well? Doing "well" how? Emotionally? Spritually? Physically? Does it mean he is a great farmer? Maybe all of the above?
One thing that I know for sure is that the class and I feel great about what was accomplished this week. We fixed up April and Ruby's harness so that they are much more comfortable working with us. Here are some photos from class and also a few pics from some of my most favorite 2- and 4-legged friends!