Growing up we had a team of Belgians named Prince and Mike. We used them to skid firewood out of the woods the majority of the time in the winter since you could get them back in the woods easier and do a lot less damage when it was muddy. Man I miss those days, it was so much fun. We even spread manure with them in the winter since they did less damage to the hayfields when it was wet outside. They really were gentle giants.
For the record, that is NOT me. LOL> That was a video i saw and though I'd share. Its very neat. As a kid I used to help my grandfather with the cattle and we used these marvelous animals to prep the fields for planting corn and other crops. I wonder the face my wife would make if I showed up at home with an Ox. lmao.
Very nice. I looked into how to build a skid sled for hauling wood. My Google searches lead me to this Google Book... Many hours later I finally made my way to bed, very much in awe of how they used to get it done.
That looks like an interesting book. I am going to check it out over the weekend. Thanks for posting.
Cool But when I park my ATV, no need to daily feed, water & shovel manure Can leave it for months on end with out care.
My wife and I get up the Fryeburg fair every October and my favorite part is the horse pulls. The arena fills up to capacity and you have to get a seat early. The teams of Belgians are incredible to watch, it's amazing the amount of weight they can pull on a sled.
We have two teamsters in this area. Both of these fellows have been doing it for many years. They have all the work they want as quite a number of woodlot owners prefer their minimually invasive style as opposed to the smash and grab style of the mechanical side. Love watching them work.
We have about 6 pulls a season around here. Big draft horse population because of the lumbering heritage of this area. Lots of Belgians, Clydes and Percherons. Absolutely majestic animals.
I like it Certified.....I wish I had some pictures of helping my uncle put up hay with his team. I'd work all day with him and my aunt would be in making some kind of cobbler. My uncle would sometimes give me a big shiny silver dollar, but I didn't do it for the money because the cobbler was pay enough for me.
Looks a tad less stressful than the way stuff gets done today. Amazing how much work got done by men & animals. Nice pics Certified. A C
It was a blast working with the horses! Don't get me wrong we had tractors but in the winter things would slow down a bit and we worked the team a lot sometimes just for fun but a lot of the time we did it so we didn't tear up fields with heavy equipment. I dug the photos out last night and found a bunch of good ones. Might have to start an old pictures thread today. It would probably be a blast.
