Draft Horse Question?

grnspot110 · Feb 27, 2014

Just a curiosity, we have a large Amish settlement west of us (Jamesport, MO) with more moving in to the north. One family has a property several miles east of the main settlement . A couple years ago I saw one of his young sons on the highway with a team of draft horses (2-horse team) heading towards home with a seat cart & pickup bed trailer load of dry firewood. Dad was a ways behind with the buggy w/saws & tools.

Question is, how fast (mph) would a team pull a load like this? Hard surface road, including down a hill of 1 mile downhill then 1-1/2 miles back up the other side (varying grades, but continuous upgrade), the rest would be fairly level ground.

Like I said, just curious! I grew up farming in the 50's/60's, but not around horses. ~~ grnspot

CalG · Feb 27, 2014

How fast do you walk?

2mph would be fair for a team of two with a moderate load

grsthegreat · Feb 27, 2014

our team of Fjords can pull at 5-8MPH on level ground with the manure cart (heavy load) ...checked with GPS.

When trotting with carriage we average 12-15 mph at a slow trot. They can keep this pace up for a 10 mile loop very easily.

On asphalt you have to go slower cause the horses can slip if their shod...i have no idea if the amish shoe their horses

JimRB · Feb 27, 2014

My wife says "Oh yeah" to the question, do the Amish shoe their horses? We have a broke down Amish horse that was only 5 when she was at the meat auction. Not totally broke down but not good enough to ride or work. Many Amish are hard on their horses.