Attractions - Stables

Harness with Collar and Hames

A draft horse, draught horse or dray horse (from the Anglo-Saxon dragan meaning to draw or haul) is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing, farm labor and drayage. 

Draught horses are versatile breeds used today for a multitude of purposes, including draft horse showing, farming, and for pleasure, but all share the traits of strength, stamina, health, longevity, patience and a docile temperament which made them indispensable to generations of preindustrial farmers.

~ From www.Wikpedia.com

Hermann Farm Stables is home to two Shire Draft horses.

We enjoy talking about and teaching people the history and capabilities of these gentle giants, the largest draft horses, stabled next to the miniature horses, which are the smallest.

We chose Shires because of their history and reputation for being good all-round farm horses. We have stuck with them because their reputation is well placed and well deserved and because we are all bound by the love of these magnificent animals, the history of old-fashioned horsepower, and its impact on farming in 19th century America. It was draft horses who helped plow fields, grow vegetables, and pull sleighs or wagons on holiday rides.

A number of horse breeds are used as draft horses with the variation being largely geographic.  Examples include:

Ardennes     Clydesdale     Irish Draft

Belgian         Friesian         Percheron