Barney and Birdie, part 3 of 5

I guess that I remember Barney and Birdie most from such uses as pulling loads of corn during corn shelling from the farm to the elevator in Gowrie, pulling the bundle rack in oat harvest when I was a member of the threshing crew, or when I drove them during haying operations. Then I would drive straddling the windrow of hay, one horse on each side; behind me handling the hay as it came up the hay loaded at the back of the hay rack would be Uncle Carl along with whoever was helping him. I also drove Barney and Birdie as they pulled the hay role, which looped its way through the barn, connecting the sling which transported the hay up and into the barn and the double-tree to which the horses were harnessed.







Double tree

When pulling wagon loads of grain to Gowrie I was always instructed to take the route which had the lest graded road on it — even in the mid-’30s when we were first on the farm there was about 2 miles of the alternate road from the Peterson farm to Gowrie that was still ungraveled. The ungraveled road was thought to be easier on the horses’ feet which were unshod. I suppose in times past some of the horses on the farm were horse-shoed. I remember seeing a few rust horseshoes lying around — but Barney and Birdie never had any horseshoes on them when I was aware of the two of them.

I’m not sure just how old I was when I first was required to put the harness on the horses, but I suppose I was doing that by the time I was a sophomore or junior in high school. By that time my father was working in Fort Dodge in the county treasurer’s office and so it fell to me to do such tasks, as during the threshing season I was then a bundle hauler, either alone or along with a neighbor boy. The harness that we had was simpler and lighter than that used by some of the neighboring farmers but even so when I was first doing the harnessing it was a heavy task to throw it onto the horses. First would come the horse collar of course, then the rest of the main harness. Last would be the bridle. Barney for all he was a younger, more spirited animal and a male in addition accepted the bit and bridle more readily than the older and cagier Birdie. After Barney’s dying of sleeping sickness, Uncle Carl purchased an old black Shire of Vic Telleen. This horse had been the mother of a really superb team of horses that Vic had — my uncle Carl is said to have offered Vic $400 for the team but had been turned down. The horse’s name was Bird, and she really resisted taking the bit. I recall seeing older men introducing the bit right up against the edge of Bird’s teeth, but I was always frightened of doing so. How I managed I have no clear picture. Once the horses, still in the barn, had the harness on them, they were led out of the barn and the reins interconnected, etc. Finally the traces were attached to the double-tree of whatever implement they were to pull, after the yoke had been properly fitted to the tongue of the implement.

I’ve mentioned that Uncle Carl, while using Barney and Birdie when convenient, tended to regard them as inferior substitutes to his various tractors. When they were actively and continuously used they would receive an appropriate allotment of oats, grain and hay in the barn but at other times they were simply turned out into the barnyard and left to feed off the straw stack, for example. Even when they were actively being used they were always turned out of the barn at night. Sometimes the practice would necessitate a morning walk out into the pasture to bring them in for the day’s work. Some farmers would keep their horses in the barn at all times when they were not working but this was not the case with Uncle Carl. During the winter they would receive no feed other than what they could forage for themselves, either from the straw stack or corn stubble and most of the time their only shelter would be an open shed (open to the south that is) on the edge of the barnyard. The only exception to the latter in my recollection was during the two very cold winters of about ’34 and ’35. Then Uncle Carl called up from the house in town and instructed me to bring the horses into the barn — at least at night. It was during this time that one time I approached Barney on his blind (left) side in such a way as to scare him. He was haltered to the manger at the time and when he reared back he broke the halter. There was no spare halter around so I patched it up with some rope as best I could.