Pics: horses

[kayre]

A few pics from draft horse driving.



Look at those horse feathers fly! (The hair low on the legs, around the hooves, is called feathers.)





Horses waiting for their turn at pulling. Teams can take two tries at each weight, and the handlers have the option of taking them consecutively, or waiting until all teams have gone. It was amusing to see that even if the handlers opted for consecutive "goes", the horses insisted on returning to their resting place before they'd go back to be hitched to the weight again.



Having a nice scratch between pulls.



Since the light makes good shots of pulling almost impossible, I amused myself by attempting an art shot.

I was surprised to find that horse pulling was much more exciting, even frightening, than ox pulling. The oxen are eager to pull, but reasonably controlled until the handler tells them to go. The horses were much less controlled throughout the process. Twice we dashed away from the fence when a team charged towards us after refusing to stand long enough to be hitched to the weights. I noticed that the horses were tied, facing out of the enclosure; the oxen were so calm that they were left untied, faced in, 'watching' the action.