Chat
06-24-2016, 07:43 AM
Yes, we had a LOT of leaks on this little outing! At least I know the plumbing is in good order. 
The "tip factor" is definitely important with these little wagons. Luckily with the doubletree in place, I think it would be hard to get the wheels to turn far enough to tip the wagon unless the goats were REALLY crooked as well. We'll try to be careful to avoid getting ourselves into that predicament!
Normally we have a seat for this wagon that is at a much more comfortable height. It's a little folding stool that fits perfectly across the wagon box and whose top sits almost level with the sides. But I forgot it at home and there was no going back for it. So we used the trailer block instead. If we hadn't had the water trailer with us we'd have been sitting on the floor!
We got going as fast as a trot. The boys trotted very nicely together and seemed to enjoy going a bit faster, but the person driving felt bad for the person on foot, and it prevented picture-taking, so we kept mostly to a walk.
The boys didn't work equally at first. Finn likes to charge ahead and Sputnik is happy to let him do it, so Finn started getting tired toward the end as he was pulling a larger share of the weight. Finn is generally very responsive to the reins, but it was hard to continually pull him back because the halter would ride up his nose and the reins had very little leverage once that happened. So it's not so much a lack of obedience to pressure as a communication failure due to equipment. Sputnik is quite happy to work if Finn will allow him to, and toward the end as Finn got tired enough to slow down on his own, Sputnik came right up and worked with him. Sputnik also responds very well to a light tap of the whip or a flick of the rein on his butt, so with a little encouragement from behind it was easy to make him step up and come even with Finn. Finn has a "warpath" mentality and Sputnik prefers to mosey, plus Finn, being the boss, likes to insist on being ahead, even if it's just by a nose. But both of them are very obedient when we tell them to slow down or speed up, so it should be easy to get them working as a team with just a bit of practice. Finn was already much better about keeping his horns out of Sputnik's face than he was just the night before. The boys seem to really like being side-by-side because they often walk that way on their own when they're loose.
I ordered some 3 /12" half cheek driving bits. I'm going to try mullen mouth bits for these guys. I think that will help with stability and also be milder for them than the french link I got for Cuzco. These fellas aren't established runaways so the lighter the bit the better. I wish I could have ordered bits with copper mouths (Cuzco's is copper), but most of the copper mullen mouths are 3 3/4", and they are quite a bit more expensive. In the interest of not going completely broke, I went for plain old stainless steel. The bits were cheap enough that I felt justified spending a few extra dollars for expedited shipping. Hopefully they'll be here Monday.
Feel free to share my photos with Jack!
The "tip factor" is definitely important with these little wagons. Luckily with the doubletree in place, I think it would be hard to get the wheels to turn far enough to tip the wagon unless the goats were REALLY crooked as well. We'll try to be careful to avoid getting ourselves into that predicament!
Normally we have a seat for this wagon that is at a much more comfortable height. It's a little folding stool that fits perfectly across the wagon box and whose top sits almost level with the sides. But I forgot it at home and there was no going back for it. So we used the trailer block instead. If we hadn't had the water trailer with us we'd have been sitting on the floor!
We got going as fast as a trot. The boys trotted very nicely together and seemed to enjoy going a bit faster, but the person driving felt bad for the person on foot, and it prevented picture-taking, so we kept mostly to a walk.
The boys didn't work equally at first. Finn likes to charge ahead and Sputnik is happy to let him do it, so Finn started getting tired toward the end as he was pulling a larger share of the weight. Finn is generally very responsive to the reins, but it was hard to continually pull him back because the halter would ride up his nose and the reins had very little leverage once that happened. So it's not so much a lack of obedience to pressure as a communication failure due to equipment. Sputnik is quite happy to work if Finn will allow him to, and toward the end as Finn got tired enough to slow down on his own, Sputnik came right up and worked with him. Sputnik also responds very well to a light tap of the whip or a flick of the rein on his butt, so with a little encouragement from behind it was easy to make him step up and come even with Finn. Finn has a "warpath" mentality and Sputnik prefers to mosey, plus Finn, being the boss, likes to insist on being ahead, even if it's just by a nose. But both of them are very obedient when we tell them to slow down or speed up, so it should be easy to get them working as a team with just a bit of practice. Finn was already much better about keeping his horns out of Sputnik's face than he was just the night before. The boys seem to really like being side-by-side because they often walk that way on their own when they're loose.
I ordered some 3 /12" half cheek driving bits. I'm going to try mullen mouth bits for these guys. I think that will help with stability and also be milder for them than the french link I got for Cuzco. These fellas aren't established runaways so the lighter the bit the better. I wish I could have ordered bits with copper mouths (Cuzco's is copper), but most of the copper mullen mouths are 3 3/4", and they are quite a bit more expensive. In the interest of not going completely broke, I went for plain old stainless steel. The bits were cheap enough that I felt justified spending a few extra dollars for expedited shipping. Hopefully they'll be here Monday.
Feel free to share my photos with Jack!