Horses getting replaced by machines

[OhSusanna]

As agriculture became mechanized, the tractor quickly replaced draft horses. I know very few farmers who still use them. Now it seems that ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, trucks, and other vehicles are replacing horses even more. Do horses still have a place on the farm?

 

[RichZ]

I have a friend who still farms with several teams of Belgians (draft horses). Of course the Amish still farm with horses. I had horses on my dairy goat farm, but they were pets (they were all rescues). I had several tractors for farm work. Not many people still farm with horses, but a few do.

 

[Sam Carter]

That's the thing about change. It seldom, if ever, is all encompassing. Yes, machinery replaced horses. But the machinery then left the horses less valuable, people who couldn't buy the tractors could buy horses now.

The Amish though, don't really fit into this. Some have horses worth about as much as the ones at Churchill Downs.

 

[Rosebud]

I don't personally know anyone who still uses horses on the farm for working purposes. I do have a couple of friends who have a couple of horses for riding. Technology has certainly changed the way we farm over the past few decades and it will continue to change how we farm going forward.

 

[jjp8182]

That depends on the farm, since horses are still good for working with cattle, and getting into & out of places that a ATV/UTV can't go.

Otherwise, what I've seen is for horses is to be used in competitions, whether shows, racing (to include barrel racing),roping, and other cowboy-related activities.