Post by blaundee on Nov 4, 2012 12:57:32 GMT -5
Before the wagon were pack trains, horses tethered tail to halter usually and led off down the trail. These could be mules or horses. Also, most people had kitchen gardens and so the needs were not as many. Read some of the old lil house books for lifestyles, i have a fil who lived this life until he died two years ago.
We use a 4 wheeler trailer attached to the pony cart to pull hay, and he can pull about 4-500lbs (one pony). He is of the "cob" type. Remember they can pull more weight than they can pack (200-300lbs for an average horse). Museums are the best source for this information.
In 3 world countries it is not unusally to see small wheelbarrows being hauled by people and burros or dogs. I have even seen an old VW pulled by a light horse. If you strip everything out of an old truck, windows, doors, etc, this can be used by even a fairly light horse. the balance of your shafts is the most impotant thing, if it dowesn't balance well your horse will be pushing/pulling against the shafts the whole time. Good shafts/wagon will stay balanced without being hitched to a horse. In other words, when you sit in a two wheel cart, the shafts should balance by themselves otu straight. Our pony only weighs about 300lbs, but he can pull more than his weight because the load is balanced and he pulls on the flat smooth surface. Most of the time he is only actually in contact with the shafts for seconds at a time once the wagon is moving. It is important to fit the harness very well and you need an expert to do this if you have a pulling harness (as opposed to a drving harness)
That is exactly why I want to learn about this stuff- a horse can pull WAY more than they can carry, especially if the thing they are pulling has wheels and good balance But again my hang up is water... dang water lol