As the name implies, "draft horses" are renowned for their size, strength and proficiency as beasts of burden - pulling wagons, plowing fields, hauling cargo. But the ancestors of today's Clydesdales, Percherons, Belgians were the expensive possessions of medieval royalty. They were more likely to be found in festivals and battles ridden by knights in armor than working on a farm.It wasn't until the 1800s that the draught horse or dray horse found its calling in the fields, and the career was short-lived. The advent of trucks and tractors driven by internal compustion engines brought an end to the age of horsepower.
As freelance writer Donna Campbell Smith illustrates in this book, the advent of the engine didn't mean an end to the heavy horse. They are still being used in many parts of the country for hauling and plowing, as well as for pleasure driving and county fair pulling contests.
The Gentle Giants That Built the World
by Donna Campbell Smith
Lyons Press, 2007
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