My Mother use to stand on a box and harness a team of horses like these and go out and cultivate corn, she was 10 Years old at that time. When I was 10 Years old, my Grandfather would drive the team (different team of course) and my brother and cousin and I would follow the hay wagon and pitch the hay into the wagon. When the wagon was full we would pitch the hay in to the barn loft. When I reached 14 years of age my Grandfather was to old to farm any longer and I was busy chasing girls. ( photo / image / picture from jbest123's Garden )
In the mid 1970's we had an acquaintance, Kit (who happened to be in his 70's) that still did all of his haying with horses. He said he didn't trust machinery. He was an incredible character with salty language and opinions. He had an old-fashioned horse pulled haying tractor and a couple of other pieces used to get the hay in. He put hay away in huge piles for winter feeding the livestock they raised for food. He cussed for ages when someone stole his 'comfortable' tractor seat. People gave him several replacements and he had a couple of extras, but the didn't sit the same. His machinery was museum pieces even back then, and left out in the field of course. After that he always took the seats in. Only person I ever saw use work horses for farming other than working cattle. Four wheelers got more popular than horses. My grandad had three or more old wagons that we played on as kids with all the harnesses, etc., but I had never seen them in use. His horses he rode every day well into his 80's though.
Clydesdale seem to have thinner legs than these beauties. They look more like Shire drafts to me! No matter, they are beautiful, draft horses are one of my most favorite, all that power and muscle. I'd work in the stalls just to see one every day. You were lucky as a kid, i was a pampered little brat
There is no view comparable to the view a plowman has of his horses (my uncle used to say this often). He had a pair of Belgians he used in the lower fields because a tractor could bog down there but horses were too smart to go into the muddy area. I used to get to groom the Belgians (I was about five at the time and couldn't even reach their withers). Uncle did the upper parts and I combed their feathers and polished hooves. Those were truly gentle giants--they had never been ridden, but I could climb up on a gate and call them over and slide onto one's back and hang onto the mane for a short ride until Uncle saw me.
My grandfather raised and sold Clydesdales for a living. I remember horse shoes hanging on the wall that were 12" wide.
oh I have no doubt they are huge animals, i meant the picture that is portrayed, that the horses could be shire as opposed to Clydesdales. I could be wrong, I am no expert lol.
