another cold one here, but then that is January here in Ontario
to continue-----
As I was talking and explaining some of the bush/logging stories to the young lads they seemed to become interested in sleighing in general
one line of interest seemed to be what a couple of horses could draw, well I explained that you first would break the hauling trail and let it freeze, then with well shod horses--this really threw them--here I explained that the horses not only needed to have steel horse shoes nailed to the bottoms of their feet, but they needed corks or sharp points attached to the steel shoes so that they would not slip on icy patches--anyway everything being equal after the loads were rounded up the horses anxious to be off would slightly jump forward using their full body-weight to break the sleigh loose and start it to move forward
they knew that they needed to exert their full force to keep the momentum going, the corks on their shoes would rip out pieces of ice, bark , sod, grass under the snow--if you were on top of the load you hung on for dear life as the sleighs lurched over humps, fell into swails, maybe through the crusty ice covered swail holes, at times nearly rolling over, at least feeling that way--I must say it took a lot to roll a sleigh because of its low center of gravity
once out of the bush the land would be smooth and the team would fall into a trot, the steam rolling off them in the cold brisk air
