Pennsylvania Game News - June 2023 - 23

them down. We had to inch it. But once
we got up on the level, where they could
really dig, they walked off with it. They're
powerful. "
It can take time and training to make a
logging horse into an elk horse, though.
Many dislike the smell of blood and
entrails, Perrine said.
Not Friday; he's a natural.
" We got him when he was 3, " Perrine
said. " I don't know if he was raised on a
farm where they did butchering or something
like that, but the smell has never
bothered him. He's just real calm, real
laid back, a real good boy. "
Archie, Perrine's backup elk horse, was
initially more skittish.
" He was antsy, " Perrine said. " Once
he got hooked, he was fine. He's a good
worker. He didn't want to bolt or anything.
He just didn't like the smell at all. "
Perrine overcame that by putting
a small amount of Vicks VapoRub in
Archie's nose. That's a trick he learned
from outfitters out West, who use mules
to transport hunter-harvested animals.
Jase is likely Perrine's next elk horse.
He believes he'll do " phenomenal " when
fully grown and ready to work at age 4
or 5.
He'll likely take Friday's place at logging,
too. Draft horses can live into their
mid-20s, and often work until nearly 20,
Perrine said. When the day comes for
Friday to retire, he'll live out his time on
the family's 43 acres, alongside CheyDRAFT
HORSES, PAST & PRESENT
John Froelich's brainchild almost put working
draft horses out to pasture, permanently.
Froelich, working in Iowa in 1892, invented
the first tractor. No one called it that; the name
came later. But his vertical, one-cylinder gasoline
engine mounted to the running gear of a steam
engine was the first that could successfully
maneuver forward and backward.
It threshed 72,000 bushels of grain in South
Dakota on its first trial run. The result was predictable.
" For
years, draft horses and mules were
instrumental in the transportation of goods and
the farming of crops, " said the Pennsylvania
Draft Horse and Mule Association. " With the
innovation of gasoline-powered equipment, the
number of draft horses dropped rapidly, almost
to extinction. "
Now they're back. According to the Draft
Horse Association, " the draft horse and mule
industry has experienced dramatic growth in
popularity. " Horses are used in logging, farming
and competition pulling and as pleasure and
show horses.
There are many breeds, from Percherons,
Belgians and Clydesdales to American Creams,
Fjords and Jutlands.
Percherons like Steve Perrine's, according to
the Percheron Horse Association of America, are
JUNE 2023
notable for being " alert, intelligent and willing "
workers. They're also distinguishable for their
power, heavy muscling and ruggedness.
" The Percheron is very versatile, " the Percheron
Association said. " They are readily adapted
to varying climates and conditions. They have
the strength to pull heavy loads and the graceful
style to pull a fine carriage. Percherons can
be ridden and some have been known to make
fine jumpers. "
They're especially good at logging, the group
added, since they don't need much space to
maneuver. That makes them perfect for smaller
woodlot operations.
Belgians, meanwhile, outnumber all other
draft breeds combined in the United States, said
the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America.
Today's Belgians are different from those of centuries
ago, though.
According to the Belgian Corporation, starting
in the 1800s, American breeders tweaked the
breed. They remain powerful, retaining their
" depth of middle, heavy muscling, close coupling
and easy keeping qualities. " Yet they now also
move " elegantly at both the walk and trot. "
Likewise considered versatile, Belgians are
used in farming, logging, horse pulls, plowing
competitions and in the tourism industry, primarily
in carriage services.
23
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2023

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