Current Use

In addition to scouting planted pines and commercial logging, horses are also used in silviculture – the art and science of cultivating trees. In this process, unhealthy or undesirable trees are cut and then removed by a horse, leaving more nutrients and more sunlight for the healthy trees. Foresters survey stands of woods and check for insect infestation, lightning strikes, wind damage, and disease. The affected trees are then marked for removal and are cut. A horse and its handler can get in and haul the targeted trees out without disturbing the rest of the forest. When only a few trees are removed on an individual basis, practically any breed of horse, or even a stout pony, can be used.

Horses are presently being used for forestry in Minnesota and throughout the Appalachians, especially in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Horse logging is also done in the United Kingdom, especially in the forests of Wales and in the mountains of Scotland. With the current emphasis on “green” industries, the number of logging and other forestry jobs done by horses is likely to expand and become more popular. The animals don’t require gasoline, oil, or diesel fuel. They don’t leave deep ruts in the earth that can lead to erosion, and they don’t cause soil compaction the way heavy machinery can. A draft horse weighs about 1,500-2,000 pounds; a rubber- tired skidder weighs 10,000 pounds.

Work roads cut through forests for horse logging do not have to be as wide as those used by tractors and large trucks, so fewer trees are damaged. Horses don’t cause root damage to viable trees like heavy machinery does, either. The money that goes into purchasing, raising, and maintaining a horse usually stays in the local community. Horses are also a renewable source of power and energy and produce fertilizer – not harmful emissions containing carbon monoxide.