Driving (horse)

As a working horse is called in the true sense horses that are used for performing work and specialize in towing capacity. Other names are channel horse brewery horse pit pony or draft horse.

History

The origin of the classic work horse of the cold-blooded, is unclear, but one must probably assume that the basics of cold-blooded were not set by breeding success, but before the domestication of the horse through natural adaptation.

Modern cold blood breed is now found mainly in North America It is consistently refined to European draft horse breeds. However, trying to modernize in recent times in Europe through acquisitions of North American stallions, the heavy, clumsy European lines again. In Switzerland, the Freiberger is grown traditionally.

Through mechanization in the 20th century, many European cold -blooded breeds are threatened with extinction; agriculture has no longer a need for them and the interests of individual lovers enough to preserve it from barely.

However, the cold-blooded breed seems to go new ways. Currently is a trend to the classic pleasure horse, rather than a horse-drawn carriage and riding horse. To this end, the aim in breeding a lighter, gängigeres horse bred, which comes as close as more and more heavy warmblood. This to the dismay of those who actually still working with horses or start it again, such as young farmers, who worry about it, use the workhorse as an environmentally friendly and natural variant of the tractor.

However, these varieties have the advantage that the horse can be used both in agriculture as well as in leisure.

Field of work

One of the tasks of working horses include the use in agriculture for pulling equipment for working the soil, transporting agricultural products and operation of stationary agricultural equipment. A derogatory term for working horses plow horse.

They were used a long time in the mining pit as horses. Here especially ponies were used.

Workhorses are also used in commercial transportation. The latter are now a few exceptions, horses that are clamped for advertising purposes, we think here of brewery carts.

Furthermore, they are used as forwarders horses use in wood back or snow removal.

Wagon rides are offered more often and make currently a growing area of ​​work for draft horses is, however, not only the original heavy cold-blooded be used for this, but also traditionally bred as carriage horse breeds, particularly severe warm-blooded animal, such as Alt - Oldenburger, Anglo- Norman, Cleveland Bay, Beading or Saxon- Thuringian heavy warmblood.

In the early days of rail transport horses were often used in public transport as draft animals for horse tracks as iron or tram until they were ousted even before the 20th century by the steam engine or the electric tram railcars in the 19th century. In many cities, existing horse bus lines were displaced by motorized buses.

In the 19th century promoted channel horse barges carrying passengers or cargo, thanks to so-called towpaths.

The term workhorse is now used figuratively for simple, robust machinery and equipment without unnecessary luxury.