Horses and Carriages/ July 28th, 2021

Today we are going to be taking a look at the horses that would have been used on the farm, what they were used for and the type of upkeep that was required for the horses.

When settlers first arrived, oxen would have been the main animal used on farms for hard farming work, but horses still would often be used when oxen were unavailable and played a very large and important role in the day to day life on the Homestead.

Horses were essential for travel back in the days the O’Hara family lived on the Homestead. Being located outside of town meant that in order to travel anywhere you would have to ride on your horse or take a carriage that was pulled by a horse. This might seem very slow by today’s standards of travel, but it was a lot faster than walking!

Upkeep

The farthest left stall would be the horses stall

Like any animal, horses require lots of care, especially when they had such an important job to fulfill. Horses were kept in stalls much smaller than one would expect for such a large animal. This was to help them from getting spooked and was comfortable enough that they felt right at home.

Fly nets would be draped over horses to keep flies from landing on them and bothering them. Blinders would be worn to keep the horses from being spooked by things beside them and would keep their gaze focused on the road ahead. It would also minimize sun glare.

Horse shoes were a vital part of keeping a horse in good health. The job of a horseshoe was to keep the hoof from wearing down during hard work or splitting. Hooves would also need to be filed to keep them in good health. There were many types of horseshoes, rubber shoes to silence sound, traditional metal ones and winter ones with metal spikes to provide more traction. The job of making and fitting horseshoes was held by the farrier, who was a specialized form of blacksmith. The Farrier would either have horses brought to him or would go to them with a portable forge and would fit their horseshoes. This was vital and the services of the Farrier were always in demand .

Diet

Horses on the homestead would burn lots of calories. They would primarily be fed hay and chaff, which was a mixture of hay and chopped straw. They would sometimes be fed oats, peas, and beans, which were higher energy food sources. These also had more vitamins. They also needed lots of water, especially when they were out in the sun travelling or helping work the land.

Types of Horses

Draft horses and draft crossbreds are versatile animals and were a common breed of horse around the time that the O’Hara’s settled in Madoc. They were used for farming, draft horse showings, logging and recreation amongst other tasks.

An interesting fact about the O’Hara’s and horses is that Squire James O’Hara, also known as James O’Hara Sr., had a love hate relationship with horses. On numerous occasions he was injured by his trusty horse! Once in 1909 a horse fell on him causing great bruising and keeping him in bed for a long period of time and in the 1880s was injured by a runaway horse!

𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 & 𝓜𝓲𝓪