The Suffolk Punch

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Overall then, draft horse farmers can't farm as much land, but they make up for that on the debit side of the ledger: no fuel bills and fewer fertilizer bills. The initial cost is also less: You can get a team of good horses for around $1,800, while a small tractor runs $12,000 to $15,000. Repairs are cheaper. ("I never had a $600 clutch job on a horse," notes Chris Haugsten.)

The bottom line: less income, but less expense. Most businesses expand in good times, but draw back and cut costs in bad. In these bad times for farming, running a tighter, more economical farm makes sense for some people.

Of course, working with horses does have some drawbacks of its own. As mentioned earlier, the work goes more slowly, so you can't cover as much ground. Working horses is more physically demanding than driving a tractor. Most important, horses demand extra commitment. You can take the key out of a tractor and leave it alone for two weeks, but horses demand daily attention whether they're working or not. Maurice Telleen: "Today at lunchtime, the hired man turned off the tractor switch and went home. I took the horses to the barn, watered them. After I grabbed a bite for myself, I watered and fed them again. Tonight I'll have to unharness, cool and feed them again."

Horse farming takes more skill. John Cookson (horse logger, Maine) says, "Buying a horse is the easiest thing in the world. They don't cost diddly! It's after that, that things get really crucial." You need to know how to properly feed a horse, work it, deliver its offspring, care for its health problems. Tractors don't die from being misted. They don't get spooked by mishandling and become runaways. Paul Birdsell: "When you're working with a horse, you always have to know what to expect and anticipate any possible trouble. If you don't, the results can be tragic."

How do you gain such skills? Well, for a start there are two very good magazines and two instructional books. Lynn Miller edits the quarterly Small Farmer's Journal (subscriptions $ 15 a year; sample issue $5, from SFJ, P.O. Box 2805, Eugene, OR 97402) and is the author of the Work Horse Handbook ($14.45 postpaid from the same address). Maurice Telleen edits the quarterly Draft Horse Journal (subscriptions $14 a year; sample issue $3.50, from DHJ, Box 670, Waverly, IA 50677) and wrote The Draft Horse Primer ($12.95 postpaid from the same address). Both books and magazines are good; Miller's magazine is solely farming oriented; Telleen's covers the show and sales trade, as well.

But while books and articles are helpful, they are far from enough. Both Telleen and Miller readily admit that the only good way to learn is from an experienced teamster. Search for one in your community, enroll in one of the instructional schools listed in the draft horse magazines, apprentice for a season on a horse-powered farm. If you don't get such hands-on education, at the very least buy a well-broken team. That way, the horses can be your instructors.

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IMPLEMENTS FOR FARMING WITH HORSES AND MULES'

Sam Moore

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