Draft animal forum?

[SimplerTimez]

I'd be interested as well.

[Goatguy]

Sounds like enough people are interested to me! Why hasn't this been started yet?

[homesteadforty]

Originally Posted by Goatguy

Sounds like enough people are interested to me! Why hasn't this been started yet?

How? I was hoping a moderator, owner or someone else would let me know... apologies if I'm missing something obvious.

[fin29]

Dude, chill. The best ideas in the world take longer than two days to implement.

[joyceb]

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

Joyce, your 12 1/2 mile trip, with cattle for power, would be a three-day trip (one to get there, one to do your business, and one to return). Did you realize that? This is why the villages and towns in the Northeast were often only three to five miles apart, because oxen were the main motive power other than shanks mare. (The same applies to goats, unfortunately.)

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person planning to use goats as 'draft' animals!

Kathleen

Can cattle not travel as far as draft horses? If that's the case I may have to adjust my aim from Oxen to Equine.

I spoke to a fellow just over a week ago who calls himself Lee the Horselogger (in the very town I'd be traveling to) who has traveled across much of the US with a wagon and 3 Suffolks. He carries his whole life in that wagon & behind it they pull another smaller wagon for hay.

Traveling every day they get from 12 miles (in bad weather & through traffic in cities, Boston for instance) to 25 miles (on the open road & in good weather). Seeing as how he's the only fellow I've met with daily experience traveling by means of draft animals I was using his info as my measuring stick. Before that I had figured a trip to town would probably take 2 days.

Regardless planning to make my trips to town over nighters would be fine. Either way - this is not a consideration for fun - it's more of "in case it becomes a necessity."

One more reason I'd love to see a draft animal forum!

JoyceB

(Edited to add - It'll only be 9.7 miles if the county ever fixes the bridge on our road! )

[ErinP]

It's not so much that oxen can't travel as far, it's that they can't travel as fast.

[Freeholder]

The range of most oxen is ten to twelve miles for a day's travel. I don't know if Milking Devons might be able to get farther in a day, as I hear they are faster walkers than most other breeds. I'm trying to remember the name of the website for draft animals of all kinds -- they have a lot of good info on oxen.

Back when our ancestors (well, some of mine, anyway) were traversing the country by wagon train to get to Oregon, the cattle trains and the horse/mule trains traveled separately because of the different speed of the animals pulling the wagons. My great-grandfather and his family (GGF was four years old at the time) came West in a wagon train in 1864, with mules and horses pulling their wagons. Some families preferred oxen, either because they already had them, or because they expected to use them farming after they arrived. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of animal.

My father and grandfather used horses in the potato fields on their farm(s) in Alaska, because they did less damage to the plants and the potatoes. But I wasn't old enough to learn much about it. I'd like to use my goats to pull a cart for getting in hay (scythed and raked by hand); for gathering firewood; for carrying 'stuff' locally (I expect that after a period of high food and gas prices, our small community may develop a farmer's market that I could sell a few things at). They could also pull my heavier chicken tractors, and possibly cultivate the garden, if I don't mulch all of it. In addition, the 'cute cart' stuff would enable me to take my 95-y-o grandmother and my handicapped daughter out for rides, which they would both enjoy!

Kathleen

[Ross]

I think the answer was in the original post......... there just aren't very many topics relating to draft animals on HT yet! I mod AE go ahead and make yourself comfortable with all the draft animal topics you want........... if there's so many threads it needs seperating for ease of use then you can go to admin with a need rather than an idea. (I'm not admin BTW) I notice there's lots of relative newcomers to HT replying to this thread so maybe it's a future direction just waiting to bloom?

[JHinCA]

Hey, I guess draft animals *are* Alternative energy. I had been thinking that a draft animal forum would be under livestock.

[sarhound]

I'd be interested-- I drive draft horses now for carriage tours, but I want to learn how to use them for work purposes, as well. I wouldn't mind learning how to hay with them, for instance.

I'm all ears...

[Ross]

Alt Energy on Homesteading Today is geared towards powering the Homestead and isn't even an especially "green" oriented board. Old technology and new in however it can work for your home, farm, or family. I gotta say I don't think we've had any draft animal threads there before but it is an alternative to the current normal modes of transport and getting work done, so why not?

[homesteadforty]

Originally Posted by Ross

I mod AE go ahead and make yourself comfortable with all the draft animal topics you want...........

Thanks for the invite Ross. I actually check in on your forum fairly regularly and have found quite a bit of useful information. I guess draft animals is a form of alternate energy but I don't know how many people see it that way. Really when I think of alt. energy I'm thinking solar, wind, geothermal, etc.

[Ross]

Really when I think of alt. energy I'm thinking solar, wind, geothermal, etc.

That's understandable....... just know draft animal topics won't get moved scattering them to the various livestock boards we have.

[joyceb]

Thank you, Erin & Kathleen!

I personally love horses with a terrible passion, however for our limited space and with concerns over future family food resources, I'd been focused on oxen for our draft animals. I'd not considered how much slower they are than horses or mules. But I've seen mentioned that cows can make just as good workers as steers! I'm interested in learning more about this option as well.

Here are a couple of links I've been studying with information on using oxen (and equines) for draft purposes:

http://www.ruralheritage.com/ox_paddock/index.htm

http://www.prairieoxdrovers.com/

http://www.modaox.us/

http://www.ridingsteers1.netfirms.com/ (riding steers)

In the case of our goats, I'd been considering the same uses as you mentioned Kathleen, hauling cut grass, pleasure rides & hauling camping equipment down to our neighbor's campsite on the creek.

I am very happy to see that there are other folks with a serious interest in draft animals.

JoyceB

[Ralph in N.E.Oh]

Count me in. I work Percherons.I had draft ponies as a kid, then draft horses since 1986.
There is a draft forum on the Rural Heritage magazine website, but it will be fun to start one here.
Our horses are used for farming (all jobs) logging and parades. I am currently training a pair of full brothers. I use them in a 3-horse hitch with their mother.

[piglady]

Just had to share a picture of our 6 week old Percheron colt. That's mom to the left. I love that butt!

[nikkers]

I would be very interested especially now with the cost of gas.
here is a site I found a while back.
It may be helpful.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/index.php

[wr]

I responded to the thread in admin stating that we do have people working with horses and that we are not light horse exclusive. Anyone with any questions or wanting to share information is more than welcome to start threads over on the horse forum. I know that anyone interested can expect a warm response. If you would rather not start a thread just yet, perhaps pm me and I'll be happy to start one for you and see if we can catch the attention of some of our working horse members. It could be said that we horse people visit a bit so our threads can contain far more than the title suggests.

[SFM in KY]

The equine board has had some threads on draft horses and I know several people there do have drafts. My family still used a draft team on the ranch when I was growing up, hayfield in the summer and feeding cattle in the winter.

The last three years I've had a Haflinger mare that we do farm chores with. She was well trained when I got her, ride and drive both single and double and she knows more about it, I'm sure, than I actually do. I wouldn't want to try to train a young horse to drive but I can manage one easily enough that is already trained and reliable.

We don't do any actual farming ... no "crops" or hay ... but we've certainly used her a lot and at this point I'm sure she would be the last horse to leave the place.

I've used dogs to do light hauling in the past (raised Rottweilers for 20-some years) though have never had goats or oxen.

[davisdj]

I would be very interested in this. It would seem to me that a separate forum for this subject would be most useful, because it might attract goat people who wouldn't think to participate in the equine forum, for example.

I find that participating here leads me to think of doing all sorts of things I wouldn't have thought about on my own. (Not sure if that's good or bad...)



Sally