This may seem strange, coming from the LATOC's Old Horseman, but
horses may not figure into many preppers' plans.
Our grandfathers switched from horses and mules to trucks and
tractors for good reason. Horses require considerable knowledge and
skill not only to work well, but just to keep sound and healthy.
Unlike infernal combustion machines, which can be put into
the garage and ignored, equines have to be fed and cared for
three-hundred and sixty-five days per year, whether you're using
them or not. They need pastures and paddocks with well-maintained
fences. Properly constructed stables. Hay, feed, hoofcare. Etc.,
etc., etc...
Fuel, replacement parts, and other things needed to keep tractors
and automobiles going may someday become inaccessible, making horses
the best solution for rural transportation and farm traction again.
But, if all you really need is a light motorcycle for errands, and a
rototiller for the kitchen garden, you might be able to scrounge up
a few gallons of gasoline and motor oil to keep them going for years
to come, even in the face of shortages or rationing.
On the other hand, if you need to transport people and cargo
beyond what you can move with a cycle, or your doomstead operations
require substantial pulling power, equines might make sense. Riding
horses are excellent for long-range reconnaissance, being quieter
than motorcycles, better off-road than wheeled vehicles, and having
a built-in GPS system. (Horses are great at finding their way back
to the feed trough, no matter how lost their riders get.)
Whether you have a pressing, practical need for them or not, the
opportunity to keep horses may be considered one of the
benefits of doomsteading. If you're living out in the boonies
anyway, may as well take full advantage and experience the joys of
horsemanship, if you are so-inclined.
If you are one of the few 'steads in a 'neighborhood' with solid
workhorses and equipment, you could find yourself in a position to
provide valuable services to your community should the petroleum-fed
equipment be silenced. Hobbies sometime become lucrative
occupations.
Horses do require a substantial investment in treasure and/ or
personal effort. The more equestrian knowledge and skill you have,
the less coin you'll need to spend. Many books have been written on
husbandry, training, horsemanship, and farriery. (Some by
myself.) So I'll try to keep it to an overview here...
Speaking the language...
An intact male, adult (usually over four years old) horse is a
stallion.
A juvenile male is a
colt. Stallions are sometimes
called
studs, especially if they are used for
breeding. Some folks, especially our cousins across the Big Pond,
call a breeding farm or program a stud (shortened from stud farm or
stud book).
A castrated male horse is a
gelding. Most colts
are gelded, as geldings are generally the preferred gender for
riding and work horses.
An adult female (usually over four years old) horse is a
mare.
A juvenile female is a
filly. Mares are very rarely
spayed, as the surgery is far more expensive and risky than gelding
colts or spaying smaller animals.
Very young horses of both genders are
foals.
Pregnant mares are said to be
in foal. The birth
process is called
foaling.
Horse height is usually measured in
hands (four
inch units) followed by remaining inches. "15-3" means the horse is
fifteen hands and three inches (63" total). This measurement is
made at the
withers, the bony protrusion where the
top of the neck meets the horse's back.
A
pony is a small horse. Usually less than 14-2
hands, though breed and show organization standards vary. A pony
under 9-2 hands may be called a
miniature horse.
Ponies and miniature horses are the same species as full-size
horses.
The
donkey, also known as an
ass or
burro (especially smaller specimens), is a separate
species in the same genus as the horse. Donkeys tend to be smaller,
slower, less athletic, smarter, surer of foot, more fuel-efficient,
and tougher than horses. The go-to beasts of burden in the Third
World, they can be prone to some maladies due to easy living here in
Cornucopia. (Like founder from overeating.)
A male donkey is a
jack. A female is a
jenny.
Large donkeys are called "
mammoth jacks" (over 14-2)
and "
mammoth jennies" (over 14 hands). The largest
are up to 17 hands.
A
mule is the result of a mare being bred to a
jack. Being a hybrid of two distinct species, they are
almost always
born sterile. A male is a
john, and is normally
gelded, since he has no reproductive potential, and all the
behavioral challenges of a stallion if left intact. A female is a
molly.
In extremely rare cases, mollies have been fertile, but it's a
literal one-in-a-million fluke.
A
hinny is the result of a jenny being bred to a
stallion. Generally smaller and less strong than mules, and harder
to successfully produce due to the genetic technicalities of having
the female parent with the lower chromosome count, hinnies are
somewhat rare.
Horse types....
There are countless breeds and types of horses on the market
today, each with their ardent fans. Since the focus of this book is
doomsteading, I'll be omitting horses bred for show, novelty gaits,
and racing. We're looking for animals who can get enough useful
work done to justify their upkeep around a self-supporting farm.
Quarter Horse.
The
American Quarter Horse got its name for being
bred for the equestrian version of drag racing; quarter-mile races
from a standing start. Their explosive acceleration and agility
made the breed dominant in cutting, reining, rodeo, gymkhana, and
similar competitions. Handsome in form, calmly alert in
disposition, muscular but compact in size, the Quarter Horse became
the default ranch horse... But the primary breed registry, the
American
Quarter Horse Association has a long history of tossing the
breed standard out the window in favor of generating revenue for the
organization, so there are horses of such broadly ranging types with
AQHA papers now that registration is virtually meaningless.
There is little wonder that, in recent years,
"quarter horse"
has come to denote any generic riding horse between pony
and draft size, including
paints and
appaloosas.
Quarter horses are your basic American riding stock. It's easy
to find tack, equipment, and everything else to fit them. Most are
pretty durable and easy keepers. And they can do a very wide
assortment of things well in terms of riding styles and activities.
Quarter horses can be trained to harness, and many do quite
well. But sudden acceleration and turn-on-a-dime agility are
definitely not desirable between cart shafts or in a plow row, and
the 'rear wheel drive' conformation of the quarter horse is not
ideal for pulling.
Morgan.
The old-school
Morgan is like the
quarter
horse's even more blue-collar cousin. Not quite as athletic,
but strong, compact, rugged, and utilitarian. Unfortunately,
Saddlebreds
(among the
least practically useful horses for real
work) have been a corrupting influence on the Morgan breed in recent
decades, making the classic type Morgan harder to find.
Traditional Morgans are the quintessential, jack-of-all-trades
farmstead horses. Being a little heavier on the forehand, they
generally fall just shy of quarter horses for riding applications,
but tend to be superior for harness work. Their compact size makes
them easier to manage and fit with tack than draft horses.
Drafts.
Draft horses are the giants of the horse world.
Commonly a foot taller and a half-ton heavier than the typical
quarter
horse. And they're even stronger than they look. Because the
draft breeds were developed with matching hitch teams in-mind, they
tend to be very uniform in appearance. (American
Belgians are
usually red with blonde manes, blaze faces.
Percherons are
usually either black or grey with stars and minimal white leg
markings.
Clydesdales and
Shires usually have dark
body coats with lots of white on the faces and limbs, long 'feather'
hair on the legs.)
Draft horses are bred to pull heavy stuff. If one gigantic
superhorse isn't enough to move something, they like to work in
teams. Draft horses are usually calm, even stoic. (But don't buy
into the 'Gentle Giant' thing
too much. They can spook like
any horse. Some know their own strength and get pushy.) Most are
fairly fuel efficient, needing no more feed than quarter horses, and
only a bit more hay. When it comes to pulling deep plows through
tough ground, big combines, or freight wagons, draft horses rule.
Draft horses can be ridden, and doing so has become quite popular
lately. But, honestly, they aren't very good for it. They're slow,
lumbering, and lack endurance. Their height makes them difficult to
mount. Their size can be problematic all-around. The horse world
is geared for quarter horses. Harness and tack for full-size draft
horses often has to be special ordered. They may not fit into horse
trailers for transport. They require double-doses of dewormers.
Draft shoeing is widely considered a specialty, and farriers
competent to do it properly may be expensive and hard to find .
In the Deep South, the
square-cube law, which dictates
that bigger horses have less skin surface per pound of body weight,
hits draft horses hard.
(Darn you, Galileo!) They have
considerable trouble coping with the heat and humidity of the Dixie
Summer. In my own experience, top-quality bred drafters have had a
distinct inability to bounce-back from infections the gigantic Petri
dish that is the southern environment can throw at them. Perhaps
due to inbreeding. They don't seem to get sick more often than
other horses, but they tend to die (despite massive veterinary
intervention) when a quarter horse would have recovered.
Haflinger.
Once upon a time, some
Belgian draft horses got so dirty
that their people washed them with REALLY hot water, and they shrank
somethin' fierce!
Okay. The
Haflinger is an old and storied
European breed. But they do look rather like one-third scale
Belgians. Usually large
pony to small
quarter horse height,
around fourteen hands.
With their modest size, strong build, and tractable nature,
Haflingers could fill a farmstead role similar to the classic
Morgan.
They are about the least intimidating mounts for inexperienced
riders due to their modest stature, sunny look, and friendly
disposition.
While they are strong enough to carry men, their size does make
them more suitable for kids and ladies when it comes to working
under saddle.
Standardbred.
The
Standardbred was developed for harness track
racing at the trot or pace. Those that retire from or don't make it
to racing careers are often picked-up by the Amish and other folks
looking for good light driving horses. They are similar in height
to
quarter horses, but a bit lankier. Bred for function,
they do tend to be a bit plain in form and coloring. But that may
be considered a plus from a doomsteading point of view. They are
generally less high-strung than their
Thoroughbred cousins.
When it comes to driving the buggy or buckboard into town, the
Standardbred will get you there faster and easier than any other.
They are bred to trot or pace long distances, and most get basic
driving training at an early age. They are the size of an ordinary
riding horse, and many serve well under saddle as well.
Standardbreds are a bit light for heavy pulling and farm work.
(Cultivators, hay rakes, and the like should not be a problem for
them.) Under saddle, it may take some work to perfect a smooth
transition to the canter, as Standardbreds are trained never to
canter on the track. Some Standardbreds are bred and trained to
pace rather than trot. This is fine for driving, but the pace is
not a desirable gait under saddle. Most can be trained out of it.
Draft Cross.
"Draft cross" covers an awful lot of territory
these days. The ups and downs of the
Premarin market have
flooded America with assorted draft and part-draft mares and their
offspring. Essentially, big mares whose previous greatest value was
the ability to make copious amounts of urine, and the results of
them being bred to whatever stud was handy. Not exactly a recipe
for consistent quality.
On the other hand, some breeders have crossed carefully selected
light and
draft horses to achieve an intermediate type,
physically similar to European
Warmbloods. Our own program
bred full-sized, fancy hitch type, pedigreed
Belgian and
Percheron
mares to extremely sound and athletic
American Quarter Horse
stallions.
The better draft cross horses are bigger and stronger than
quarter horses, but have better speed, grace, endurance, and
hot climate resiliency than full drafters. The have the mass for
fairly heavy pulling and farm work, but don't need to stop and blow
too often when pulling the buggy down the road, even at a near
Standardbred
rate. They fit well under a big man's saddle, yet you don't
quite need a ladder to get onto them.
While some 'rescue' part-draft horses are surprisingly good
specimens, many more are about what you'd expect from such programs,
or from breeding Premarin cast-off mares to Billy-Bob's backyard
spotted rackin' hoss stud. Big, intimidating horses originating
from situations where training isn't a priority, 'rescued' by
well-meaning but not horse-wise people, can be a menace.
Most draft cross horses can use large or warmblood sized tack and
trailers, and can be serviced by general practice farriers. But
some of the larger ones may require draft specialty equipment and
services.
Mules.
Mules come in all sizes, from
miniature to
draft. Their application is generally the same as the
corresponding type of horse. But they tend to be stronger for their
size, surer of foot, more durable, and able to stay in good
condition on less feed and hay.
Since mules don't reproduce themselves, quality specimens of
working size can be hard to find and sometimes expensive. Mules
also tend to be noticeably more intelligent than the average horse,
which may not always be a good thing. Pretty much all equines can
physically overpower their human masters. We don't need them
outsmarting us as well!
Pony.
Most
ponies today are the outgrown and forgotten
playthings of children, who are lucky to find a place as pasture
mascot or back yard pseudo-dog somewhere. But that doesn't mean
they can't be useful on a doomstead.
Ponies tend to be proportionately stronger than horses, as well
as tougher and more fuel-efficient. Their small size makes them
suitable mounts for children, less overwhelming for inexperienced
handlers, and more maneuverable when working in tight spaces, like
short crop rows. Harness and carts are widely available in pony
size, and the little guys can pull a considerable load. Ponies seem
to have an extended life expectancy, though this is hard to pin-down
since many have been hanging-around in the background so long that
nobody remembers exactly how old they are. Reasonably healthy,
young ponies are often very inexpensive, though training is usually
required.
Ponies have a reputation for bad attitude, though this may be due
to being handled by ornery children, then abandoned and neglected.
Short legs don't make for speed or grace. Size does matter, so they
are limited when it comes to how much they can carry or pull. They
can be 'easy keepers' to a fault, becoming obese on just grass in
some cases. Founder is a very common problem with ponies.
------------------------------------ End Part One
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Looks like this will be a long chapter. So I'll put up the rough draft in parts.
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