Farming with horse power...?

[unregistered168043]

Anyone do it? How hard is the transition?

[Tessynae]

I have heard that Dexter cows make a great draft animal. Along with being a good beef and milk cow. I don't have first hand experience with this, but can't wait to try it.

[tkrabec]

According to 5 acres to independence horses require too much main & upkeep
having 4 train/barrel horses I'd agree, my wife trains them every other day, daily if she can

[FarmboyBill]

Get aholt of some Small Farmers Journals, and some Rural Heritage mags. Find in the back places where you can go and they teach you how to harness, feed, and drive horses. Without that, If you never have done it befor. DONT. You can ruin the horse, and get hurt/killed yourself. The transisition is easy IF you know what your transisiting to. Depending on how many acres your going to be working. IF few, A mule might be a better go. BUT there a world of there own. They have a side winder kick thatll guarantee to get you when you think your as safe as you can be near them, Know what your doin, There fine animals.
Like was said. Cows make a good work animal, BUT, You have to remember how to feed them if one or both of them are cows and prognant and your wanting to work them.

Understand a GOOD harness, and collar alone cost $500 PER hourse. If you have a team, U got a grand in leather or biothand. Than your horses will run in the neighborhood of $2000 for farmyard chunks. EACH. They get more, the better trained they are,
Then, You have to grow A BUNCHA hay and have oats and corn for them. Dad said grandad fed 2 ears in the morning with all the hay they wanted. 3 at noon IF they were working, and 2 again at evening

[MullersLaneFarm]

We used draft horses for a number of years around our place, mostly for cutting/raking the hay and moving things. We sold our last team about 2 years ago. Why? Because our 1930's Farmall was faster and when it is not in use, we don't have to feed it.

If you have the time and inclination, go for it! There is nothing else quite like sitting behind a team of horses on a mower.

Any breed of steer (or cow) can be used as a draft animal (or beef or milk). They do take a lot of training though for a draft animal. As for the Dexter breed itself, you will usually have one that is from milk lines or beef lines. Whichever line they are from, the other attribute will suffer.

[Ravenlost]

My Daddy used to farm with a mule when I was a kid. Mule and all the gear (collars, harnesses, plows, etc.) came with the farm when my parents bought it. We grew several acres of corn every year for the mule and chickens, plus bought sweet feed. Often had to call the vet out because the mule was prone to colic...he liked to eat his fill of acorns (or sweet feed if he could get the feed room door open).

We have four horses. They go through a LOT of feed and vet bills for them are high. Fortunately, horses don't need vetted often (knock on wood) but there's also farrier costs. If we didn't have our own hay I don't know how we'd feed the horses in the winter...they went through four or five large round bales this winter...and we had a short, mild winter.

[Limon]

There are reasons why draft animals disappeared from usage. Even the Amish are starting to switch to tractors around here.

There are still people who use them, for a variety of reasons, but they're few and far between. You might have better luck finding information with some forums or publications dealing with draft animals since it's not a common practice nowadays.

[unregistered168043]

Do you think the tractor is cheaper? I'm wondering because I already have a tractor...50 HP JD, diesel 4wd. Its a 2000. I've never had a problem with it, and I do like the fact that I put it away when I'm done and don't think about it. I change the fluids and filters and fill it with diesel and thats about it.

[BobbyB]

I have always entertained the idea, but as mentioned above, the start up costs or high. I have seen prices lower than mentioned, but still high and then there is the cost of feeding and housing.

If I also had time to attend various events and have a wagon for rises and such, I could probably be persuaded. But currently, just cant see it.

[jwal10]

Do you like doing everything REAL SLOW. I do. But feed, catch, curry, water and harness, hitch up, lumber along REAL SLOW. When YOU are good and tired, unhitch, get back to the barn, remove harness, curry, feed and water. Oh yea, it is only lunch time. Start over for the afternoon. Start all over the next day. You probably can do with your tractor in one day what it will take a week to do with a team. Half of the feed you grow will be fed to the horses every year, 1/4 of your time will be getting feed together and getting rid of the waste. I grew up with horses so no transition, but after a Farmall H it took some patience. I love draft horses, the solitude and a job well done, but.... it is SLOW....James

[BobbyB]

I tell you what tho, last year we went to a horse and mule harvest day. They invited an antique tractor club as well. The tractors were pulling breaking plows and there were some big team pulling breaking plows too, and traveling faster than the some of the tractors.

And they had a ground driven pto fore cart pulling a shredder. With a team of big Belgians, it was going about as fast as an 8-N could shred.

[wogglebug]

The one thing you can do with draught animals, particularly oxen, that you don't dare do with a tractor is working steep hillsides on the contour. If you've got a few acres of steep hillsides cleared, you can grow enough cereals and other grains there to feed a family and all their livestock. If you use oxen, you won't need to feed them as much grain as you would horses or mules. They are slower than horses or mules, but strong, steady, and they get by better on pasture and don't need as much in the way of high-energy grains.

[Limon]

It's not just the start-up costs that can be problematic. You'll have on-going vet bills. There are a limited number of hours a day you can use a team before they need to rest. You'll have to feed them. You'll have to set aside some of your acreage for pasture for them, and either set aside more land for feed or buy it. You can do less work in a day with a team than you can a tractor, but how much of a factor that is depends on how big of a place you have.

Another thing is, you'll have to learn how to work with draft animals unless you've done it before.

You might find someone locally who uses them. Some loggers use them to get into ground they can't take heavy equipment. If you have any Amish around, you should be able to find equipment and harness, as well as someone who could show you the ropes (or reins).

[texican]

I'd say if you have several strapping young sons with strong backs and weak minds, it might work. If hard back breaking manual labor (strong mind and weak back) isn't your bag, I'd not even think about it.

Only way I'd farm with horses/mules/oxen... the end of civilization.

[Maverick_mg]

We just got our Haflinger trained to do some logging. DH is gonna use her to help cut a road back to the sugar bush. I found an ex-Amish gentleman who has been training horses his whole life to show her and us how to work. She is a smaller draft breed, and is usually an easy keeper, but I will be limited with some of the things I will be able to do with her unless I decide to get another Haflinger. The other thing you might want to look into is teamster clubs. Sometimes, depending on where you live, there are clubs that work draft animals that you could join for help getting started. Sometimes they will also have tools and equipment members can rent or borrow to use with their drafts.

[Shadow]

By all means go with the animals. They work so more effeciantly, cost less, its real easy thats the reason you see tractors for sale everywhere cheap and horses are so expensive. Or is it horses are cheap even free and tractors are high, I need some more meds.

[Molly Mckee]

Unless you live in an Amish area you may have trouble finding someone to trim and shoe your horse or horses. If you can find a farrier it will be very expensive, often twice or more than a light horse costs. Farming with horses is going to be expensive, as well time consuming.

[uncle Will in In.]

When horses are pulling hard, they have to be rested every 10 minutes or so. They need to spend about a third of the day resting between rounds. An old two bottom tractor without hydraulics will do more work in a day than six big horses. setting on a tractor sure beats sitting on a breaking plow or walking behind a harrow. Before you start buying horses, find somewhere that will let you get your feet wet so to speak.

[unregistered168043]

O.K I'm convinced. I think I'll stick with the tractor. Seems like complicating my life with horses might not be worth it.

[FarmboyBill]

Mullers Lane Farm. What 30s Farmall do you have?? Iv had alot of 20s and 2 30s. Loved the 30s.