Monday, June 3, 2013

Getting Abby to do some work



Abby didn't go far.  After all, she is placid and sweet, kind of like a gigantic 1800 lb golden retriever.  I rode her twice with the harness bridle, and found her to be stubborn but not unworkable.  I doubt she had ever been ridden, only harnessed and worked.

I soon discovered that Abby has some behavior problems- she doesn't like to stop when you tell her to, she won't plow a straight row, and she WILL NOT allow you to clean her feet.  When you ask her to lift up one of her feet she puts all her weight on it, and picks up the one on the opposite side.

I got the harness on Abby with the help of a WWOOFer (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers), and hitched Abby up to a huge old tire.  I taught Maury (the King of weekend volunteers at Colonial Plantation) how to drive.  He was quite pleased to get this picture taken in a Colonial setting- you wouldn't know Abby is pulling an old tire.