A3O-L»ncaster Farming, Saturday, August 19, 2000
(Continued from Pago A2B)
with their skills,” said. The cou
ple’s home farm hosts more than
100 sheep.
“A Border Collie can replace
five people on a sheep opera
tion,” said Allan. “Out West, it’s
not unusual to see four or five
Stacy Cromer, watershed circuit rider, demonstrates to
Zech Hoffman, 9, and Michelle and Noah Hoffman, 2, from
Port Matilda how soil erosion in response to human activi
ties. Crushed walnut shells act as soil for the exhibit,
which is complete with vegetation and riprap, or stones,
on the bank which illustrate protection.
“The stream naturally meanders,” said Cromer. When
bulldozers get in and try to straight it out, it causes erosion
as the speed of the water increases when the natural
curves are eliminated. Cromer also builds debris jams and
dams with sticks to illustrate their impact on stream move-
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dogs working a flock together.”
Dogs may be as young as 1 or as
old as 13 to be in training or
work the flock.
While the couple works to
gether on the farm, their dogs
show a loyalty for either Allan or
Peg.
“The dogs will listen to both
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of us, but my dogs won’t work
for him (Allan) when I’m in
sight,” said Peg. “That’s the
bond that you have. You have to
earn that trust and respect. Once
you gain that, they just won’t
quit working.”
In The Horse Ring
A forum showcasing agricul
ture would not be complete
without a horse ring, a promi
nent place at Ag Progress Days.
Brian Egan, horse program as
sistant for Penn State Coopera
tive Extension, conducted a
horse-handling demonstration.
The audience had the oppor
tunity to watch training tech
niques in action as Egan put a
skittish 2-year-old through its
paces. According to Egan, who
spent his free time during his
college years watching horses
play, there exists a strong social
order among horses. He applied
his own observations by ensur
ing that his horses know that he
is the dominant member of the
social order. “A horse is not a
lap animal,” emphasized Egan.
As Egan backed the horse
quickly across the ring, he ex
plained that he uses the tech
nique for “major sin” such as
biting and kicking. “Backing is
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hard to do for horses,” said
Egan, which makes the skill is
useful in teaching horses what
behavior is unacceptable.
“Knowing how a horse is ba
sically made helps us to know
how to handle them. They’re ba
sically lazy,” said Egan. Point
ing out the glimmer of sweat on
the horse, Egan said, “Right
now he’s more concerned about
his next breath than the saddle,
or how he’s going to mis
behave.”
“We work with them an
awful lot to get them to the point
that they follow our feet,” said
Egan, who also demonstrated
how pressure on a particular
part of a horse’s body will get
the animal to move, enabling the
handler to easily direct the
movement of the horse.
The young horses are ridden
first in a 12 by 12 foot box stall
with high ceilings, then in a hall
way before going to the ag
arena. According to Egan a con
fined space limits a horse’s
action and tends to keep them
calmer.
Classic Carriage Horses
“They’re extremely strict
about what Friesans are allowed
to breed,” said Joe Myers of Joe
kar’s Hilltop Farm during the
Friesan breed clinic. The ani
mals are ridden, jumped, and
driven during a 50-day perform
ance test, explained Myers. Re
cently, out of 806 horses put
through the test, 6 were ap
proved for Friesan breeding pur
poses. Disposition is also key to
acceptance to the registry. If a
horse exhibits bad temper
during the test it is excluded
from breeding.
“They’re a kind, gentle,
giving animal that is easily
broken,” said Myers. “They’re
very much a people horse. This
isn’t a horse you can just leave in
the barn and go see once a
week.”
Basically a carriage horse, the
breed is also used for dressage.
The horses are shown natural
and untrimmed. “If a European
judges see that the horse is
trimmed they think the exhibi
tor is trying to hide something
and they become extremely criti
cal,” said Myers. For example,
“They’ll make the exhibitor pull
shoes so they (the judges) can
examine and measure the
hooves.”