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Draft Animal PDF
Draft Animal PDF
By Tracy Mumma Farmers may want to consider using draft horses, mules or oxen as an alternative to tractors for farm
NCAT Program work and a means of reducing fuel costs. This publication briefly discusses some of the considerations
Specialist and potential benefits involved in the use of animal power and offers resources for further information
© 2008 NCAT and equipment.
Introduction
Leather harness creaks and
chain jingles as the day’s last
Contents wagonload of hay travels from
Introduction .................... 1 the field to the stack. The pro-
Overview of types, duction of this hay was a cho-
uses and power rus of soft clicking, clacking,
potential ............................ 1 creaking and jingling: it was
Horses ............................ 1 cut, raked and loaded under
Mules.............................. 1 the power of a team of draft
Oxen ............................... 2 horses, with no internal com-
Add-a-unit bustion engine involved. This
flexibility ....................... 2 is not a memory from a hun- Photo by Tracy Mumma, NCAT
Applications ................ 3 dred years ago, but a scene A ground-driven hay loader pulled by a team of Belgians loads loose
Potential and benefits .. 4 from the most recent haying hay from the windrow onto a wagon.
Considerations ................ 4 season in our own field. With
Safety and fuel and equipment costs for farmers rising, primarily for freight hauling rather than
suitability ..................... 4 and many farmers operating on small acre- field work. Brabants and other Old World
Scarcity of ages, horses and other draft animals can heavy horses are also draft breeds suited to
knowledge
and equipment .......... 5 offer some farmers a practical and economi- farming, but are less readily available in the
Equipment ........................ 5
cal source of farm power. United States. The Norwegian Fjord and the
Summary ........................... 6
Haflinger are smaller horses of a draft body
Resources .......................... 7 Overview of types, uses type, suited to somewhat lighter work.
and power potential Centuries of selective breeding contributed
to calm dispositions among draft breeds that
Horses make them comparatively easy to work with.
Horses of any size can be trained to drive However, any prospective horse user must
and can pull various sorts of equipment. recognize that temperament — and body
For steady, day-in and day-out farm work, type — can vary tremendously by individ-
though, draft horses or draft ponies are ual. Furthermore, bloodlines are no guar-
ATTRA—National Sustainable
Agriculture Information Service preferable to lighter breeds. Their compact antee of working ability. Many a willing
is managed by the National Cen-
build and heavier bone structure give them and sturdy horse of no particular breed has
ter for Appropriate Technology
(NCAT) and is funded under a the power and durability needed for field proven itself an outstanding worker.
grant from the United States
Department of Agriculture’s Rural
work or heavy hauling. In general, American
Business-Cooperative Service. large breeds with body types most suited to Mules
Visit the NCAT Web site (www.
ncat.org/sarc_current. farm work include Belgians, Percherons Mules, a first-generation cross between
php) for more informa- and Suffolks. The Clydesdales and Shires, a horse and a donkey, are another popu-
tion on our sustainable
agriculture projects. other familiar draft breeds, were developed lar draft animal. Depending largely on the
Farming draft horse characteristics mouth, oxen in the United States typically
wear a yoke that transfers pulling power
Common weights 1,400 – 2,100 pounds from their neck region and the driver steers
Typical shoe size 5 to 8 them by tapping them on the side, with
Desirable temperament Calm and willing voice commands or by using a rope around
Desirable bone structure Thick neck, wide chest, sturdy legs the horns. Unless the oxen are very respon-
Reaches full adult size and Age 5
sive, it may be difficult to achieve the preci-
weight sion directional control needed for applica-
tions such as cultivation.
Potential working lifespan Approximately 15 years; ages 3-18
A common yoke setup for oxen is generally
heritage of their horse parent, mules come far less expensive than harness for horses
in all shapes and sizes. Finding mules with and may even be home fabricated. Oxen
the bone structure and build for heavy work are most often worked as a team, in part
may be a challenge in some parts of the because the presence of another animal
country, where riding mules are more pop- tends to have a calming effect.
ular than draft mules.
Is one horse a horsepower?
Related ATTRA Mules are known for their hardiness and
Publications strength. They have a strong sense of self- The term “horsepower” is somewhat mislead-
preservation that prevents them from over- ing, since an individual horse can actually deliver
Entertainment Farm- up to 27 horsepower in short bursts of power
working, overeating or foundering, but can
ing and Agri-Tourism with instant maximum torque. For sustained,
make it difficult to convince them to use hour-after-hour work, horsepower output will,
Farm Energy Calcula- their strength on your behalf. Apart from of course, be lower. Different farm jobs require
tors: Tools for Saving their mindsets, hoof size and shape and har- different amounts and types of power, depend-
Money on the Farm ness fit, the differences between horses and ing on the equipment being used and the soil
mules in terms of draft power are slight. conditions. For example, the power needed for
Throughout the remainder of this publica- tillage is directly related to soil conditions and
tion, “horses” may be taken to mean either implement size and design. How much weight
a horse can pull is heavily dependent upon the
horses or mules.
following conditions:
• Is the animal in shape?
Oxen
Cattle trained as draft animals are called • Is it tired from a day of work?
oxen. Theoretically any calf could be trained • Is the load on wheels or being skidded
as a draft animal, though draft steers are along the ground?
by far the most common. Dairy and mixed- • Does the harness fit properly?
use breeds are more often used as oxen
• Is the equipment in good working order?
than beef breeds, perhaps because male
dairy calves are comparatively inexpen- It’s not unusual for a horse in working shape to
sive. Calves that will be used as oxen should be able to pull a load equal to its own weight
be socialized to people as soon as possible along the ground—but not for a whole day.
after birth, and training can begin when
the calves are just a few months old. Their Add-a-unit flexibility
pulling power is obviously limited until full
Draft animals offer a unique flexibility
growth is attained.
in farm work. If you find you need more
A fully grown ox can easily outweigh a draft horsepower to accomplish what you need to
horse and can pull more weight. Oxen travel do on a daily basis, it’s comparatively sim-
more slowly than horses and may be less ple to add another power unit. Horses may
suited to some applications. In contrast to be worked single or in a hitch. Horses are
horse harness, in which the animal’s pulling commonly worked as a team, which tends to
power comes from the chest region and the create a synergy that lets them accomplish
animal is controlled by means of a bit in its more work. By modifying hitch and harness
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