The return of the horse

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:58

I used to have a welsh cob,he was about 14.2 could pull a cart or a small plow or you could ride him, very hardy had a job moving logs out of woodland before I had him .
And unlike a tractor you could make leather out of his skin glue out of his hoofs and eat much of the rest of him , he lived mainly on grass and had mighty fine manure
Do you see horses coming back do we have the breeding heavy horses, the tack, the horse plows, the carts

oh yes one other thing he was a gelding but a horse can make baby horses (foals) well two can , two tractors dont mate and produce baby tractors

simonrichards912 · Post by **simonrichards912** » 02 Dec 2006, 20:11

I do see a return to horses in agriculture. If I had the necessary facilities and knowledge I would be breeding and training draught horses and making carys and ploughs too.

I bought two donkeys last year for that purpose. Although I don't have the skill to train them yet, I plan to use them to pull a cart and a plough. There are still some people who can work these draught animals and we need to learn from them.[/i]

Billhook · Post by **Billhook** » 02 Dec 2006, 20:30

It is heartening to see both your posts on working horses.

The farm I've taken on, with a view to providing (among other things) both trained working ponies and training in their use,

has two Welsh Cob (Sec D) mares so far, (plus a charming dun colt that might be good enough to keep entire).

I should add that my skills are with hardwoods, not horses, so it wll be down to another to be tutor with the latter, when we are properly set up.

With regard to the general prospects for working horses, I would doubt whether we'll see them used on any scale until PO is far advanced,

but I think in the interim smallholders are likely to lead the way with working ponies for carting, cultivating & general haulage,

and that is the market I hope we can supply with rare ready-trained animals.

Regards,

Bill

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 02 Dec 2006, 20:43

And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
and the nights are seen to draw colder
They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power
your noble grace and your bearing
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
in the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

- Jethro Tull

Billhook · Post by **Billhook** » 02 Dec 2006, 22:48

Andy -

do we also have in common the fact that we grew up with the wonderful music of Jethro Tull ?

How about "The Incredible String Band" ?

Regards,

Bill

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 02 Dec 2006, 22:50

Don't know much Incredible String Band, I must admit.

How about Camel, "The Snow Goose"?

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 02 Dec 2006, 23:14

Ah, this could turn into a Jethro Tull thread. Heavy Horses is the track that got me into JT in the first place and is still one of my favourite songs (along with North Sea Oil of course) and everything on the "Songs from the Wood" album.... Ian Anderson, still an inspiration with the old flute playing.

(i have heard the incredible string band but lack any of their music in my collection, i'm afraid to say).

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 03 Dec 2006, 00:32

Tess wrote:i have heard the incredible string band but lack any of their music in my collection, i'm afraid to say

Saw them last year and wasn't impressed I'm afraid

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » 03 Dec 2006, 00:38

JohnB wrote:
Tess wrote:i have heard the incredible string band but lack any of their music in my collection, i'm afraid to say
Saw them last year and wasn't impressed I'm afraid

I can only imply from their absence from my music library that I must have felt the same way

Post by **mikepepler** » 03 Dec 2006, 08:21

Is there any advantage to using an ox rather than a horse? I vaguely remember hearing that they can eat a wider range of food, is that true?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 03 Dec 2006, 09:50

Andy Hunt wrote:Jethro Tull

...who take take their name from Britain's most important agricultural pioneer, inventor of the seed drill and promoter of the heavy horse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tul ... culturist)

(why doesn't that link work properly?)

Billhook · Post by **Billhook** » 03 Dec 2006, 09:54

JohnB - we are conversing at cross purposes -

the band I enjoyed did its best work in the '60s & early '70s,

and then came to an end.

Just who & what the present band consist of I've no idea !

Mike,

IMV oxen certainly have a place as draft animals on larger farms,

where their capacity to get by on lesser feed than heavy horses improves their net yield.

However, they're neither as agile, nor as versatile nor as intelligent as heavy horses,

and the present manic regulation that no steer over 30 months can be eaten,

(meaning that training a steer to work is to accept that its normal value is written off)

mitigates against their return to farms at present.

Yet in the Cuban PO experience, even with the entrenched communist adoration of techno-solutions,

once fuel shortages began to bite a major program was begun of restoring the use of oxen.

So we may well see their return here in Britain one day.

Regards,

Bill

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » 03 Dec 2006, 11:31

I dont think oxen have the working lifespan either , Ive never had that much to do with them wouldnt think they would be half as smart as a horse there is a comparison between horse ,oxen, donkeys, I think in john seymours self-sufficiency book as I remember .
I think with horses it depends how much work you want them to do with really big horses like shires if your working them hard plowing let say you have to feed them well and generally its better to suppliment their feed in the winter .
With my old horse we used to feed him during the winter months because we kept him mostly in, I suppose you could have left him out but grass isnt as good during the winter months and he would have just tore up the fields .
Really their not that dear to keep and if you have the ground you can grow their winter fodder

skeptik · Post by **skeptik** » 03 Dec 2006, 11:50

A couple of questions for horse owners.

How many acres of land does it take to support one shire horse - with no other external inputs?

How many man hours a week does it take to look after one, and it's tackle?

skeptik · Post by **skeptik** » 03 Dec 2006, 11:53

biffvernon wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tul ... culturist)

(why doesn't that link work properly?)

I think it's because theres no file extension on the end of it. Or maybe it doesnt like the brackets. Some forum software is picky like that.

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The return of the horse

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