What breed of horse did they use...

[gabrielle1976]

Quote:
Where did you learn about the horses with knights or what not , I was wondering about breeds used by fighters in the old days and never found much on it , specificlly not only the ones that carried but war horses that could also fight while there riders were in battle dont mean to steal a thread you can pm me

 

[Promiselandfarm]

In this area mules are huge and have been for a very very long time. They have a mule day celebration in Columbia Tennessee devoted to those beast of burden. They would haul you to town to pick up supplies and do field work. People also used Morgans the all around horse... like the mule but a horse would plow the field and pull a buggy or give a rider a ride. Farmers who had small holdings could not afford many different types and breeds unless that was what they raised. Horses were like cars and the prices were not cheap for a good horse. Read any newspaper of the past or other items(court document, ect...) and you'll get the idea of how much they valued their horses and also the pricing of them.

 

[Autumn T]

Where did you learn about the horses with knights or what not , I was wondering about breeds used by fighters in the old days and never found much on it , specifically not only the ones that carried but war horses that could also fight while there riders were in battle don't mean to steal a thread you can pm me



the Lipizzaner stallions were bred to be war horses. the kicks and such they do was for battle to instill fear and to fight

 

[BlackBart]

They used allot of Canadian Horses for farm work. They are not a big breed but they are incredibly strong and hardy.
Huge numbers were sent to the Civil War as mounts and to pull artillery. Some were sent to WW1. Almost wiped the breed out. I think there is under 10,000 in the world today.

 

[KotaDVM]

I used to work in a warmblood breeding program and I would not recommend one for heavy plowing. Now that the breed has become so popular for jumping and dressage, the body conformation has changed to be lighter and refined. They do not have the same level of stockiness that they did 30 years ago. A draft horse however has still been bred for pulling and would be a better choice. If you want a powerful puller and not the enormous size, I have seen some pretty amazing Irish Draught and an American Suffolk Punch horses.

 

[Bec]

The Amish around me , they use Percherons and Belgians. I see them often hooked up to the plows. They use mostly Standardbreds around here and there are a few paint ponies for buggy horses... (wanted to add that)

 

[Calebs Acre]

I have a grade percheron. He is smaller than the average for his breed (only 15.2hh) and he is very versatile. He has great strength, yet he is flexible and can jump. He was a PMU foal and at 6 years old, I am constantly amazed at his personality and intelligence.

But, most of the "old days" here in the US, they used Belgians and Percherons and grade mixes

 

[michickenwrangler]

Belgians and Percherons were the most popular breeds in the US. CLydesdales in this country are very inbred and tend to suffer from hock problems. My family had Percherons when they were still farming in the 1950s.

Some farms did use Morgans, Standardbreds and Quarter Horses to plow if the soil was light. Heavy clay soil needs oxen.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Mutts. The big draft breeds were a novelty for many years over here in the states- tractors came on the scene at the turn of the century, and gained popularity over the next 30-50 years.

A few very current farmers in the 1860+ may have kept percheron or a belgian horses, but few could afford the feed and cost of such a large animal. They kept stocky horses for field work.

I spend a lot of time sifting through historic photo's and writings about rural life before the turn of the century. I think I have yet to see more than a handful of pictures with obvious draft breeds.

Morgans were a popular all around breed- they were american and a sturdy all purpose horse.

These pictures are much younger than the 1800s, i think theyre turn of the century up to the mid to late 20's.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23738015@N07/3300274041/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/osucommons/3387281763/

http://sjr.state.fl.us/history/images/1800s_farm1.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/osucommons/3388088624/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/osucommons/3424509371/

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nebuffal/image/scheihing01.jpg

http://www.tranquilmorningfarm.com/hauling wheat.jpg

this is an example of the "draft" breed I come across a lot, its obviously a lighter draft, my thought it a cross, or just a heavy horse bred out over the years to be bigger.

http://www.deltafarmland.ca/images/hay.jpg

 

[farmerlor]

My great grandpa Joseph had a team of big dapple gray Percherons (which is where my love for the breed came from) who plowed his fields, drove the family to church and town and packed when he went hunting. They used them to pull rocks and stumps out of the ground and they were probably the single most important workers on the farm but G-Grandpa was a relatively rich farmer. He rented his horses out occasionally but most of the farmers around him had regular riding breeds or oxen that they used.