When Horses Pulled the Plow: Life of a Wisconsin Farm Boy, 1910–1929

4. Livestock

55 Livestock My father never owned a tractor. All of the plowing and other such work was done by horses. Until I was sixteen, my family made every trip to town by horse-drawn buggy or wagon, cutter, or bobsled. Prairie Farmer’s Reliable Directory of Farmers and Breeders, Rock County, Wisconsin, published in 1919, showed only a short list of tractor owners in Rock County. Only one neighbor was on the list. His was a 10–20 Bull. The day he started using this tractor, our teacher dismissed the school so all the pupils could walk down the road to see this strange new farm machine at work in the field. Horses Each of the horses had a name. Pat was the only one raised from a colt. The others were purchased. In his later years, Pat, a big draft horse, became wheezy. Breathing was so difficult for him when he was put to work that eventually he was put to death. Prince, a bay Percheron, was our pride, admired by all horse lovers. He was well built, well mannered, and hard working. Prince was teamed up with Flora, a Clydesdale. Flora was “collar-proud,” unwilling to pull her 4 56 share of the workload, always lagging behind Prince. She was the only one of our horses that ever exasperated my father. Dan and Nancy were a well-matched pair of Belgians. The first driving horse I knew was Barney. When he was sold, he was replaced by highspirited Dot. She was the one most often hitched to the buggy to go to town. A second driving horse was Princess, a quiet, compact horse who seemed to get less attention than any of the others. At plowing time, it was customary to put the two driving horses, Dot and Princess, on the walking plow that my father sometimes used. Dot was always ahead of Princess. The horses that were not only used on the farm but driven on the highway were always kept shod. If a shoe was lost or if the shoes no longer fit because their hoofs had grown, the horse was taken to the blacksmith in Edgerton. He cut back the hoof (as one would a long fingernail) and fitted the horse with a new pair of shoes. Shoes were attached with horseshoe nails driven into the hoof. In summer, a fly-net was attached to the harness. In winter, if a horse had to stand in the cold at a hitching post for long, it was covered with a horse blanket. I do not remember just when I learned how to drive a horse, to put on a horse collar properly, to put on the harness after the required currying and brushing, and to bridle a horse after slipping off the halter, which confined the horse in the stall. But I vividly recall the day, in the summer I was twelve years old and the school term was over, when my father told me I was to start helping with the regular farm work. My task that day was to hitch a team of horses to a riding cultivator, go to a nearby field, and cultivate the corn now a few inches high. I had always gone barefoot in the summertime, but Livestock 57 one could not be barefoot and control the corn cultivator so the shovels would not uproot the hills of corn. From that day on, I had to wear shoes throughout the year. Horses were valuable. Prince, for example, cost two hundred dollars. Care was taken to work and care for them properly. After the winter layoff from hard work, the horses were out of condition for the spring work of plowing and other hard field work. They were not worked hard at first. They might get painful muscle strain, making it difficult for them. In hot weather, care was taken to not let the horses get overheated. When cultivating corn, it was customary, in hot weather, to rest briefly after a few rows had been cultivated. One Livestock My father driving four workhorses 58 summer, when it was unusually hot, we used five horses instead of the usual three to pull the grain binder. Cattle When my father moved to the Walraths’ farm, the cattle were grade Durhams. About the time of World War I, three purebred registered Milking Shorthorn cows were purchased. Milking Shorthorns...