Logging and Horse Breeds

For the logging aspect of forestry, draft breeds are generally used. Horses can get into close places that would be too narrow for a big truck or large machinery. They can work in deep snow and mud, and the animals can also climb up steep inclines where there are no roads, where a machine just couldn’t go. Horses don’t leave the mess behind that machinery does, and horse logging allows greater selectivity – a few trees can be harvested without disturbing the rest. Furthermore, the price of a horse is a fraction of the cost of modern logging vehicles. For example, in the Appalachians, one area of the country that often depends on horse logging, the average price of a trained draft horse is $1,200. Young, untrained animals are usually significantly less, and weanlings usually sell for about $500. An average horse-logging operation has a startup cost of under $10,000, while the startup cost of a conventional logging business is usually more than $100,000.

While a single horse is often used on steep terrain to bunch logs at the main skid trail, two-horse teams are used with a steel logging arch to pull the loaded skid. An average load is comprised of around 250 board feet of wood, weighing about 3,000 pounds. Loads on steep inclines or rugged terrain might weigh much less. Four horses are used on most logging jobs and are rotated to give each animal a rest period.

The distance the loaded skid must be pulled is also important. Skid distance is the number of feet between the stump and the forwarding site, where the logs are collected. From that point, they are forwarded by machinery or by several hitched horses and an arch. Horse loggers try to keep the skid distance less than 1,500 feet.

Mountain logging has serious limitations. If, for example, the logs must be moved steeply uphill, the draft animal’s pulling capacity is significantly lessened. Moving the logs downhill is another story. The powerful draft horses can move huge loads down a mountain because gravity works with them.  Logs being moved downhill are often fastened together to produce a “log train” and are usually pulled by a single horse. Special “grabs” provide a braking system for the procession.

On steep slopes and inclines, the loggers fell the trees vertically with the slope so the logs will not roll downhill. Well trained, experience work horses, along with experienced handlers, are needed to safely extract logs from hills and mountains. Any debris that could enable the logs to slide or roll uncontrollably must be removed from the skid trail, including rocks and limbs.

According to Jason Rutledge, president of the Healing Harvest Forest Foundation and an experience horse logger, the maintenance of a draft horse used for logging is minimal compared to the work they accomplish. Rutledge states that his horses work for about $1.03 per hour, including the price for their upkeep and for the human labor involved in caring for them. His horses average 1,600 pounds each. A working draft horse needs about 40 pounds of hay a day, at a cost of $3.00. Each one is fed eight pounds of grain in the morning, and another eight pounds at night, for a cost of $1.92. In addition, the horses need all the water they want and unlimited access to a salt block, with a cost of $3.00 per month per horse. The most expensive aspect of a logging horse is shoeing. Special shoes with toe plates and heel caulks are needed for extra traction, with a cost of about $100 per month. In addition, equipment like nylon harnesses, collars, singletrees, doubletrees, chains, and breast yokes are required.

Any powerful breed with proper strength, intelligence, temperament, and training can be used successfully in the logging business. Some of the most popular breeds include the Suffolk Punch, the Shire, the Belgian, the Clydesdale, the Norwegian Fjord, the Canadian Horse, and the Percheron.

The Suffolk Punch is often employed for logging. A breed of English draft horse, Punches are known for their willing nature. They seem to actually enjoy working. A Suffolk Punch stands between 16 and 17.2 hands and weighs 1,980-2,200 pounds. They mature early, have a long life expectancy, and require less feed per pound of body weight than most other breeds. The Suffolk Punch also typically has excellent feet, an important characteristic for logging.

Another popular logging breed is the Shire, the world’s largest breed of horse. Some specimens reach over 18 hands tall and weigh 2,000 pounds or more. They have extremely powerful hindquarters and excel at pulling heavy loads. In temperament, the Shire is a gentle giant. They are generally docile and not easily excited. They are also willing workers.

The most popular draft horse breed in the United States is the Belgian. In fact, there are more Belgians in America than there are all the other breeds of draft horses combined. Belgians are often used for logging because of their immense power, their strong feet and legs, and their gentle temperaments. All across the globe, these big sorrel equines are often the winners of pulling contests.

It’s not only the Budweiser companies that like Clydesdales – loggers like them, too. A Scottish breed, Clydesdales were used specifically for pulling heavy loads for more than 300 years. The average Clydesdale is about 17 hands tall, with a weight of 2,000 pounds. They have great intelligence and are very alert and responsive to their handler’s signals. The breed is often used in the US and in Scotland for extracting logs from forests.

The Norwegian Fjord is not a draft breed; in fact, some members of the breed would classify as ponies since their height at the withers is under 14.2 hands. Nevertheless, they are a popular breed used for forestry jobs. They are powerful little equines with thick muscling and compact bodies. Some weigh over 1,200 pounds. They share many similarities with the large draft horses, just in a shorter package. They have an unusually calm temperament and are often virtually imperturbable. Their surefootedness on rugged terrain is legendary. One of their most widespread uses is pulling timber, both in Norway and in the US.

A breed used for logging in Canada as well as in the US is the Canadian Horse. This horse was developed from horses sent to Quebec in the seventeenth century by King Louis XIV. The French equines were descendants of the Arabian, the Norman, the Andalusian, the Breton, and the Spanish barb. After several years of breeding and cross breeding, the Canadian Horse emerged as a distinct breed – one of power and hardiness that could supposedly generate “more power per hundred pounds of body weight than horses of any other breed.” These “little iron horses” are also able to survive and work in harsh conditions, a definite plus for logging in the North. Other attributes that have made them a popular choice for loggers is their intelligence, their hard hooves, their strong bones, their calm disposition, and their desire to please.

Yet another popular breed for logging in the US is the Percheron. A draft breed, the Percheron averages about 17 hands in height and 1,900 pounds in weight. They’re powerful animals, with especially strong hindquarters, making them excellent pullers of heavy loads. They’re also intelligent and have gentle temperaments. A healthy Percheron should be an easy keeper and be able to perform at least light work into its twenties. They’re willing workers and readily adapt to different weather conditions – more reasons they make good forestry horses.