Snowed In? Get Your Horse to Help Plow
Just one or two horsepower will do.
Back when horse-drawn transportation was the norm, snow was actually not as much of an impediment to travel as it is today. (At least if you live in a place where an inch of snow causes school closures, car accidents, and general mayhem like I do.) As long as the snow was packed down tight, it was actually better for sleigh travel, so instead of clearing away snow, your town’s local “snow warden” would hook up his horses or oxen to a snow roller to Zamboni the streets.
Today, some draft owners continue the tradition of horse-drawn snow removal. For this well-trained Percheron and his owner, a couple inches of fluffy snow are nothing to worry about. (Thinking of trying this on your own? Helpful tips on making a “V” snow plow with a cultipacker can be found on the ruralheritage.com forums.)
You can also use a ready-made Pioneer side plow, as shown by Natural Horsemanship trainer Doc Hammill:
Do your horses help out with winter chores around the farm? We’d love to hear about it!
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