I grew up on a farm in rural upstate New York in the 40s and 50s. At that time we had neighbors who still farmed and logged with horses. As a young child I was fascinated with the horses - closest neighbor had a pair of Belgians named Prince and Jerry - and would disappear every chance I had to be in the barn with those horses. They seemed so huge, but were so gentle. My mom would get furious, track me down, and chase me back home. Even now those days seem so magical to me, watching those magnificent beasts work.
I understand, When I lived in Connecticut I mentored a couple of young boys from Hartford who knew nothing but crowded, poor, city life. I’d take them to farm fairs and the Big E (New England’s yearly fair) and it was fun to watch them learn about raising chickens, and shearing sheep, and milking cows. It was a whole different world for them.
My have has a collection of Percheron drafts. Here’s a mare and foal from last spring. No babies yet this year.
Beautiful picture! I grew up in New York City... so close yet worlds away. I saw my first horse as a teenager... in the Bronx Zoo. I see a lot more horses now. After years of living all over the country and the world... I have retired to Texas.
Beautiful. Seeing these wonderful creatures, I can practically feel the warmth of the barn and smell the scent of their bodies.
I really botched that post. It’s supposed to say my wife has a collection of drafts. LOL. I don’t have many pictures of them on my phone. I’ll try and get some more to share here in the next few days.
I’ll bet there are a lot of horses to see in Texas. Many of the greatest old style quarter horse breeders are in Texas
Here are a few more pictures. Our stallion. Caught a mare feeling frisky. All four feet off the ground at a full gallop. Don’t see that every day with a draft. LOL Another mare. If you haven’t noticed my wife likes black equines best.
Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. If you have a moment, could you enlighten me about what it takes to care and feed a great horse like that? My wife and I are thinking about getting a horse or two.
I suppose the two most important basics are fencing and feed. Fencing depends on the horse and what it’s used to. All fencing materials can be used from board fence to barbed wire to a single strand hot wire and most things in between. Woven wire is probably the worst option because of the propensity of horses to paw at it and get a hoof caught. The safest fencing material for all horses is board, vinyl, or pipe fencing with spacing large enough heads or legs can’t get trapped between courses of fencing materials. Also, this type of fence is better at stopping a spooked horse whereas even a horse “broke” to barbed wire or hot wire can go through the fence if spooked. At the end of the day, I’d just go with board, vinyl board or pipe. Feed is really pretty simple in most cases. Feed and supplement manufacturers advertise hard and muddy the waters a bit. The average horse should eat what horses are made to eat—grass. Just grass. Pasture in the summer and good mold and dust free grass hay in the winter. I’m sorry I don’t remember where you live so you may have pasture year round. In southern and eastern states fescue pasture needs to be endophyte free if possible to avoid toxicity. Here’s a decent article on the details. https://extension.psu.edu/fescue-toxicity In general the more feed you give a horse that isn’t grass, the more likely you are to induce founder or colic, both of which are expensive at best and often fatal at worst. Alfalfa is commonly fed to horses and can be done safely but it isn’t necessary in most cases. Most horses that get alfalfa don’t need it. Just like humans, the activity level of the horse determines how much non grass feed you can get away with without problems. A stabled horse on fourth cutting alfalfa is a colic case waiting to happen. Horses can be expensive to keep depending on how readily available feed is and what you do with them. Having a saddle horse requires tack etc. and if you show or do other competitions you “need” a $60,000 pickup and a $40,000 trailer. Vet work and farrier service is expensive and can vary a lot by where you live. The quality of vet and farrier service also varies. I’d suggest finding reliable services for both before needing them desperately. That’s the most basic. If you have other questions I’m very happy to help.
Thanks for the info. I live "in town"... it must be a half mile to the nearest pasture. But a buddy of mine is escaping CA soon. We're planning on buying enough land to support an outdoor pistol/rifle/shotgun range and possibly enough to support a couple of horses and his residence with his wife.
Sounds like a great plan. Having land to shoot on is a great thing. I’ve shot on a range once in my life—to qualify for a CCW. Being able to shoot what I want when I want is a blessing I often take for granted. Horses or no horses you will be happy having your own place to shoot. Edit to add: Doing the majority of my shooting around domesticated animals has led me to shoot almost 100% suppressed. Something to consider with horses. Some don’t mind gunfire, some will have a hard time adjusting to it.
@mswan, We had our first Percheron foal of the year today. Not great pictures as it was about to rain and was hurrying to get them in the barn…
Those ARE great pictures. I love seeing and being around these beautiful creatures. IMO there is no animal more noble than a horse.
Those pictures remind me of the Bonanza episode "The Prime of Life" where the Cartwrights have a massive contract to provide timber for building a massive railroad trestle. Ben's obsession with fulfilling the contract causes him to take risks that result in an old man on his crew being crushed by a log. Ben becomes depressed and steps away from the work enabling his friend and business rival to take advantage, his rival, Barney takes the draft horses that Ben had contracted to use to drag the logs to the river. Unable to get the draft horses back the Cartwright boys decide to use all their saddle horses to drag the logs. Little Joe comments that they'll need to harness at least three of the saddle horses in order to drag a single log at a time.
