advice for choosing a farm horse

[slc2]

yes, we’ll avoid all the amish people selling horses .

yes, thanks, if we can find a shorter, smaller lighter draft, we will. we’re looking for a farm horse, and most of the draft ‘breed’ horses i see are too large and too tall, and too heavy and too hitchy, and too expensive to feed. they’re fancy show horses, not farm horses.

what i mean when i say ‘Farm Horse’ is not a large showy draft breed, and not a riding horse, but an animal heavier than a riding horse, and lighter and smaller than a show draft horse. we don’t want to ride it.

does anyone have any suggestions for a farm horse? we don’t need to ride it, and we don’t want a large, heavy show horse. any ideas on type, breed, where to find.

[egontoast]

I’d get a tractor instead.

I doubt you have ever managed or owned a farm. I expect we would have heard about it by now.

When all those little and not so little jobs need doing in all kinds of weather, too many to list, and you have to get out the team and harness up, you will wish for a tractor.

A team of draft horses will require all the care, vet, farrier,feeding, etc as any other horses.

Draft horse seems all dreamy and fun though.

[CHS]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>a 15 hand horse is 12 inches shorter than an 18 hand horse, and they are far easier to harness. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No really? Where are you going to find a 15 hand full draft? Do they make dwarf drafts? The smallest one I ever had was a 16.2 hand older style (read small) belgian. I have yet to see a purebred that’s 15 hands.

[CHS]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>I have a 15.2hh purebred Percheron </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I still never saw a 15 hand one. 15.2 isn’t 15.
Suffolks are small but I have yet to see any of the other breeds at 15.

[goponies]

I would second the haflingers! They’re strong, not too big, hardy and barely eat anything!

One other breed that some might know is the Cheval Canadien. Around here, you can get a good driving one with experience on the farm for not a whole lot of money. They were bred for the work on the farm all week and to drive the family to church on Sunday.
They are small (although getting bigger in size) and very hardy.

[Warmheart]

Well, my final answer is **** an OX. Thats my suggestion and I’m standing by it.

[hitchinmygetalong]

I just had a thought. Those PMU foals/yearlings are super cheap, draft x whatever, seem like pretty decent animals.

[slc2]

thanks. any other suggestions?

[hitchinmygetalong]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by slc:
the horse would be doing some pretty serious work, including logging, stump pulling and other hard work. i don’t think a single small horse would be fairly asked to do so. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Again, beg to differ. That’s what Morgans were originally reknowned for. And they are out there, and they aren’t so ungodly expensive that you can’t invest in one. Open your eyes and do a little homework. I’ve got one sitting out at the barn that cost $1500. He can and will do it all. The harder the work, the more you will get out of him.

One quick google search came up with this:

http://www.posmhorse.com/default.asp

I know NOTHING about this group, could be a bunch of crackpots for all I know. I just hate to see someone turning their back on a breed because the few individuals they have come across are not true representatives.

I never like to get into a heated discussion with slc, but bring it on. I’ve been around Morgans since the 60’s and believe me, I’ve seen all the fads come and go and I’ve seen what the show horse influence has done. But there is still a strong core of good foundation-type Morgans out there.

[Cherry]

Slc, you might try starting here. Decide which breeds interest you, contact the organizations and find out what breeders are near you.

There are also plenty of publications that list work horses for sale. You might luck into finding that three-quarter/one-quarter horse you spoke of, but I can tell you from living in Amish country that the Amish use draft horses, draft mules and sometimes, in an emergency, the family horse they use to pull their carriage–that would be a Standardbred, or a Morgan but I’ve never seen a Saddlebred, or a three-quarter anything hitched to a horse drawn piece of equipment!

There are plenty of work horses advertised in the farm trade publications, like The Draft Horse Journal and Lancaster Farming. Depending on where you are located there are plenty of farming publications to choose from, and probably a horse sitting in someone’s pasture waiting to be purchased. Network, network, network!

There are some folks who teach others how to drive and farm with horses–if you do a Google I’m sure you can find them… They might have trained horses for sale as well…

Happy shopping!

[scramarama]

Eggy, I hate to burst your bubble but, burgerdoom eventually comes to most cattle beasts I may have to give up meat when my favourite dairy cow no longer appears at milking time OTOH, I’ve been known to comment that, “That one would make an excellent pet cow…in some nice persons freezer”

Oops, editing to post what I originally wanted to post which is that I liked Lost Farmers pictures and that a tire drag is brilliant! Safe and effective, You couldn’t ask for more. I was warned off using spike harrows with all but the most dead broke for fear of a run away. When spike harrows are pulled to quickly they can get dancing pretty good and become a real hazard to both humans and the horses attached to them. I would imagine that a weighted chain link fencing harrow would also be pretty safe. Anyone use one?

[gothedistance]

If you want a draft, then get a full Belgium. Great horses, steady, lots of them available, and I’ve seen a number of them talented enough to foxhunt as well as pull a plow.

And the Amish are more than canny – I’ve found too many that were downright dishonest. I wouldn’t trust an Amish horse dealer any further than I could throw 'em. I’ve seen more driving friends burned on deals with horses/ponies with hidden issues that only come to light afterwards. The Amish are users. Anything worthwhile is kept; anything with emotional or physical problems that can’t be worked out by long, exhausting hours in the field pulling heavy equipment, or being raced down the road at a violent trot with their heads strapped up in the air, is fosted off onto the outside public by pretending ignorance.

Sorry, but after 30 years dealing with these people, I’ve seen way too much of how they operate.

[slc2]

hitch, if i don’t want to get a morgan, i don’t have to get a morgan. it doesn’t mean i’m stupid or don’t have my eyes ‘open’. just because someone has a different idea than you doesn’t mean they aren’t doing their homework or don’t have their eyes open. i gave my reasons up above and the reasons are valid for this area. i love morgans. i’m just not getting one right now. are you ok with that? good. if not, that’s fine too. unless you move in next door and start coming over every day ranting about morgans, i don’t have to listen to it, so i’m perfectly happy. if you did come over every day and ranted about it, i have a 22 filled with salt and nails. you’ll get the point…in the end HA HA HA HAHA.

as far as not being experienced at this and it being a lot of work, what’s your point? my SO wants to learn this, and so do i. i have no problem with that, in fact if my SO shows interest in ANYTHING at all i’m happy, he has addison’s disease, he isn’t going to be around forever, and by god if he wants to do something we’re going to do it come hell or high water. we’ll have a tractor too. the tractor will dig the fence post holes etc.

[Warmheart]

LF, as you can probably tell. Our use is a purposeful “play at it”. Digging in is not in Miss Rosie’s vocabulary.
At least we are honest about it…

[Warmheart]

Sannois, You are so right about the heavy horses. I spent a lot of time up on Rural Heritage, asking questions of whoever would anwser me. I realized a lot of what I was getting into when I decided to go Draft, or so I thought. The one thing that I did not count on was the amount of urine and poop. I am lucky that mine can stay out 24/7 so that work load is not as bad but I still have to go in a clean out the run in. Also, doubled my grooming time as well. One side and I am tiii-rrr-ed !! Let’s not even go to the feet. Fortunately my farrier had an extra hoof holder for a stand and gave it too me. Mr. Heart fashioned a stand for it and I can truely say that Miss Rosie and I are much happier. I am not struggling to hold her foot up to clean it and she has a foot rest.
I kind of gathered from slck’s second or third post that this could be a “flavor of the month” or a ket’s rattle some chains thing, but that is why I suggested Rural Heritage and the expansive knowledge there.
I also had dreams of grandeur at logging my back 5 acres which has about 50 to 80 trees - pine of all trees,YUCK!!! Changed my mind ! REalized that it was a bit more than we could chew on, so will wait till I win the lottery and have someone come in a take down the selected trees to open up more pasture.
But as I said earlier, I am all for learning new things and trying new experiences, just go into it with your eyes wide open.

OX Tail soup – YUM !!!

[Trakehner]

Suffolk Punch was the classic “pocket farm” draft you could also drive or ride…nice chestnut “chunks”. Unfortunately, too many Suffold breeders have gone nuts and are breeding huge animals.

Suffolks are also expensive.

Fjords are expensive horses.

Morgans are expensive horses and are really tending to smaller nowadays.

You will absolutely positively get the most bang for your buck with a smaller Belgian. They are everywhere, very fairly priced and the smaller ones don’t have the desirability as the show-sized harness horses which means even cheaper prices for a nice one. I’m a Shire fan, it’s what I drive and use, but Belgians are a lovely breed that is very affordable.

I second the “don’t buy a horse from the Amish”. Great carts and carriages, bad for horses. If you want to see an amazing variety of horse lameness issues, go to the New Holland PA auction…if it walks funny, the Amish are selling it there.

[slc2]

i did not write to start trouble. i wrote to find out about a topic. i am not required to agree with every reply, or to run out and buy exactly what a specific posts says i should buy. that’s not a requirement of membership here.

if you want to start a fight about this topic, you’ll have to find someone else to fight with. i’m not interested, we’re very busy and we have a great deal of work to get done in the next couple months.

i appreciate the useful and informative posts. as for the character assassination ones, here’s a quote from peter tosh:

“if you live in a glass house don’t trow stones”.

it’s good advice.

i had no idea that there was such a large group of working horse fanciers outside the amish in our area, and there are plenty of the type of horse i’m looking for (small draft horse), and tons of knowledgeable resources. this has been very useful. i had no idea there were still so many smaller draft horses available.

since i was quite young i’ve noticed that draft horses are always advertised as to what side they work on, whether single or not, etc, so i was aware of that, and one dealer yesterday told me that older horses can’t often be changed round, so be careful when looking at the older ones that are set in their ways, don’t assume it can be changed. we saw some horses yesterday right in our area that will be fine both for size and build, all under 2000 dollars and all with training at several different implements.

i don’t think we’ll get a team and for those of you who feel we must, i hope you aren’t too offended, and i hope that you will find the strength to forgive us for not following what is obviously excellent advice.

however, we’re trying to keep our operation small. and as for those who are concerned that i won’t keep the horse fit or feed it properly, you don’t need to be concerned about that. we keep our horses fit and we feed them properly. we also understand that if horses are not worked regularly they get fresh. i can assure you that we work our horses far more regularly than most people do. i’m sure you would be sorely offended if someone else was ‘concerned’ about whether you would keep your horses fit or well fed, especially when stated as stated above. i have no interest in indulging in a snarkfest on the subject, if you do have that interest you will have to find someone else to do it with as we are very, very busy.

yesterday i was driving by a place that would be much like ours. talked to the owner for awhile about his draft pair. they are ‘husband horses’ and he has a lot of fun with them.

oh. i just remembered. no one could answer my question. why NOT a draft breed?

[suz]

hey slc,i’m wondering why you didn’t consider haflingers. are they too small for your purposes? i’m looking for a work cart to start using around the farm with my mare. she’s 13’3,just the right size to handle by myself, and very nimble and powerful. the tractors do all of the real work around here,i’ll just be fooling around. i do think that she can do ten times what i ask of her. she’s got a great work ethic(that’s because she’s happy to have my undivided attention),and lots of strength. can’t honestly speak of her stamina,i’ve never tested her. anyway,i was just wondering.

[Drive_NJ]

X’s comment on checking if the horse has worked single reminded me of that old joke about the farmer driving down the road with his big draft Jack who found a motorist who had driven his car into a ditch. The farmer offered to help and proceeded to rig some rope to the horse’s harness. He called out HUP Jack HUP Molly and Jack gave a might heave and pulled the car out of the ditch. The confused driver asked the farmer “why did you call for Jack and Molly? Clearly there is only the one horse”

“Well,” said the farmer, “Jack is blind, but he’s not dumb. He wouldn’t have pulled all that weight out if he had to do it on his own”

Whether slc wrote to start trouble or not, we’ve sure all learned a lot more about working horses and all you people who work your horses… keep talking, its interesting.

And by the way she mentioned receiving loads of sources for small drafts and crosses. Don’t forget we are still searching for Alex’s new partner.

[Sannois]

I so agree scramarama. I cant even imagine doing the draft thing on a daily basis. I think its lovely and Romantic and very nostalgic but NOT really practical, for a person who has a full time job and id training other horses to do Dressage! But heck Thats just me~!