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  • From: "Dori Green" <dorigreen00 AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: market-farming with horses
  • Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 10:12:30 EDT


On horses at the farm:

I had a wonderful registered Percheron gelding who was worth his weight in gold for publicity and general interest. But he was show quality (I have the blue ribbons) and much too fast for walk-behind field work! That ol' boy really stepped out -- great for Lady's Cart or Lead Hitch but not so good for humping along in the mud behind a cultivator.

I never ever had a problem with this horse (well, not since the day I bit him back but that's another chapter).

I had _lots_ of problems with civilians and ended up selling the horse and converting to goats because of these. People just didn't know any better than to walk up behind a horse in working harness (with blinkers) and without a word just swat him on the rump to say hello. They also didn't realize that if he wanted to swing his head to snap at a fly on that big old rump they had better not be standing in the way. And I have grey hair today in large part from watching the parents beam as their two-year-olds darted under his feet.

I will have draft animals here again, am considering trying oxen because I can keep up with them but might get into picking up ponies from the Unadilla auction and training them for harness work, because they're cute and can have options besides the meat dealers if they have a marketable skill. I might even go totally crazy and start a carriage horse rescue and retirement home.

I happen to have 40 years of experience with equines. I heartily do NOT recommend them to people who are new at farming and at horses, at least not until they've found a farmer who works with them and done an apprenticeship for a year or so. Most farmers I know are happy to swap lessons for help with chores; that's how I expanded from hunter/jumpers and dressage warmbloods to drafters.

Keep in mind that caring for the animals and handling them are only two pieces of the picture. Most farmers have to be vet paramedics these days because we might have to wait for two hours or longer for the doctor to arrive in an emergency. A draft horse patient can weigh a full ton and we don't have the needle that makes the vet their instant master. For personal safety and that of the animal, don't get caught up in the romance of horse farming without also getting the necessary education.

Dori Green
Ash Grove Community Farm
Corning, NY
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  • Re: market-farming with horses, Dori Green, 05/11/2000

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