Video: The Last Horse Logger of Oregon

In a few corners of the country, the old-fashioned way is still the best way. Learn more about horse-drawn logging, courtesy of Roger Daugherty and his team Willy and Charlie, tucked away in the Oregon woods.

The heyday of the heavy workhorse is long gone, as the pace of the world continues to accelerate and require more mechanization and more speed. Few industries have time or use for slow horsepower.

But there are a handful of jobs for which horses are still critical — such as a horse-drawn logging, using the power of draft horses to haul felled trees out of the woods in specific applications.

With the horse’s ability to maneuver between trees with relatively low environmental impact, draft horses are recognized as a way to manage the woods and keep the space as ecologically healthy as possible. Roger Daugherty and Dave Harmon show us how.

Horse power is a great match for selective thinning: using the horses to skid logs means that there’s no need for heavy machinery, and therefore heavy roads through the forest.

Clear-cutting and using the wide range of mechanized tools available to us today may be the most efficient means to an end — but it’s certainly not the only way. We’re happy to see a bit of living history still active in the woods of Oregon today.

Learn more about the Harmons’ forestry practice and Daugherty’s life as a horse logger in this article.