Horse vs. Truck!

Sure I like my truck/trucks, but GRAMPS REALLY LOVED HIS "OLDE HORSE"!

All of the stories he told me, they were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

Gramps told me how he would actually play different games with the "Olde Horse", including "hide and seek", then there was a game "catch me if you can"!

Now tell me, how can you play those types of games with a truck?

When I was a kid (born in 1971) my grandfather would look at horses in magazines like younger guys would look at trucks in magazines. Its like he was dreaming of the old days when he used horses on the farm. I never caught him droolong but its like he wasn't far from it. chris

Have you ever tried tailgating on horseback? You can still horse around in a truck, but try trucking around town on a horse!

Gramps told me how he would take his truck and horse trailer, pick up some friends and go "Trail Riding"!

Riding "Bare Back" in the lake, now you try that with a truck!

Then there is "Riding Double", especially with the Girl Friend!

Horse back riding down on the beach, then stopping after dark and enjoying a "Roaring Camp-fire"!

Taking your horse on back trails, then camping out under the stars, sure you can do that in the back of a truck, BUT WHICH IS MORE ROMANTIC?

Mountain Climbing where trucks will NOT GO!

Ploughing through two feet of snow across the fields!

I believe it can be said that horses leave a smaller environmental foot-print then those trucks with "MUDDERS"!

I have seen ATV's literally tear up perfectly good trails, where they "thought they could manage", but could NOT!

matthies,

My dad was the same way. He had a team of horses and a team of mules and four stalls in the barn for them and the harnesses hung on the wall. He really enjoyed them. He used them to mow hay and haul out manure in the winter way later than most other farmers did after they bought tractors. We had a wagon that I think dad converted from steel wheels to wooden spoke wheels and rubber tires. I can still hear the clunking of the end play in those wheels and axles as he pulled it with the horses. When the rubber tires got bad after awhile, times must have been a little tougher as I can remember him putting the old steel wheels back on the axles again.

My grandfather was truly a great horseman having served as stablemaster for one of the early Wisconsin paper mill owners. They made a trip to France to pick up a beautiful stallion one time. I think that was about 1885. My grandfather purchased the farm I now operate in 1901 and used horses exclusively for the first 20 years and then bought a Fordson tractor. This supplementeed the horsepower and in 1936 they purchased a new WC Allis Chalmers which took over the major farming operations but they still continued using horses for cutting and raking hay, hauling manure, pulling haywagons, etc. My grandfather also purchased a Model T Ford in 1914. That was because he sold my grandmothers morgan horse and used the money to buy some farm machinery. Was she ever ------! He bought the Model T and taught her to drive it as a consolation of sorts. That followed with a Model T truck and several more Ts until the A came along and then the V8s. Those were his favorites! We continued using horses through the end of WWII (THE BIG ONE) because of rationing but were by that time down to two. "Sam and Daisy". After the war ended we retired the horses and they became pets. A new WD in 1948 added to our tractor fleet and we, including my grandfather, never looked back. The horses were a lot of work and their eventual demise made room for 6 more head of youngstock. I personally look back with nostalgia but wouldn't want to go back there.
My younger brother gets a big kick out of thinking back to those days and marvels at how someone could grow up there, driving horses , not for fun but to do honest farm work, attend a one room country school and end up graduating from West Point with three masters degrees to boot. God Bless the USA!

A Horse can usually find it's own way home, just as long as you can hang on long enough to get there with the horse!

Much earlier this fall I pesonally had an opportunity to drive a team of horses ploughing at an exhibition, trust me it was work! Steel seat, manual lifting, tugging, pulling, it was ALL VERY HARD WORK!

At the end of the day, both the horses and driver would be very tired after ploughing about one acre! Then there would be chores!

So why doesn't that Murray guy have a horse? Dave

Have you ever heard of renting instead of owning?

My grandpa's "used horse dealer" got horses from the Milwaukee Wi fire department. They were retired by the FD at a young age. He liked them because they were well trained. When greatgrandpa would pass out (dropsy) the team would stand when the reins went slack. The only time they scared him was when a nieghbor had a barn fire. The team was hooked to a flat rack so they took that. When the team saw the fire they took off at a gallop. Grandpa said he didn't think the flat rack would make the turn into the driveway. When they got to the fire they stopped and stood. Grandpa switched to trucks because they were faster and tractors because he was alone and they needed less care.

Did gramps rent his horse? Dave