Sunday, November 1, 2009

Big-assed horses on the farm!



The NC Percheron Horse Association held their field day at Chapel Hill Creamery yesterday and we wandered over to see what it was all about.  We found teams of massive, powerful and stately horses pulling all manner of farm equipment around the place.

There were sit on plows for one person


others for 2 persons

And some that you walked behind


They were coming and going all around that field turning up the soil and showing off their skills,
geein" and hawin", goin" and woein"

Here is a 3 horse rig dragging a rake across after the plows to smooth things out, actually that's a mule on the left, you can see he's smaller and has tall ears


Then the seeder came along to sow the seed

There were black ones

And white ones

And wagons to tour the visitors around the farm

These big guys really worked up a lather as they were put through their paces and at the end of the day the field was smooth and sown.  I am not a horse person but I really enjoyed seeing these fine animals and their trainers/owners working them.  Everyone out there seemed to be having a real fine time.

5 comments:

Nell Jean said...

They had to be pretty big to pull some of those big fellows riding the plows!

Most folks back in the days when mules were all there were to pull, had to walk behind.
My husband's job when his Daddy brought the mules to the barn at the end of a day's plowing, was to give them a measured number of ears of corn along with the hay. By the time he was big enough to follow a plow, they had a tractor.

janie said...

Daddy used to tell us stories about their mules, and he was the one who tended them. They were a very valuable part of the farm.

Daddy also worked with mules when he went into the Army, stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He said he caught dandruff from the mules and that was why he lost his hair. Of course, we believed every word Daddy ever said, and it was decades later that we realized he was funning us. LOL

Maria Hitt said...

Thanks for sharing your true life mule stories gals! It was alot of fun to watch those pretty horses work, not sure I would want to be the one walking or riding behind though...

Sylvana said...

I love Percherons! I always wanted one. They are so beautiful, elegant and poised. These are great pictures.

Lona said...

I remember gardening with my grandpa and he used two giant pull horses. I was always watching my toes because we use to run around barefoot ;-) This posting brought back good memories for me.