A course in Co Clare is helping to revive the dying skills of working with horses on farms, writes Éibhir Mulqueen
Within living memory, thousands of workhorses on farms played an essential role in agriculture, but they have long since been replaced by the tractor. However, the nostalgia for working horses remains and a revival in their use is taking place.
The Organic Centre in Co Leitrim recently began teaching the ancient skill in its Working With Horses course, which is run on an organic farm in east Co Clare.
Jim Cronin and Harrie Bartelinke both use working horses to earn their livelihoods. To run the one-day course for beginners, they brought together their horse teams, harness and equipment.
The use of horses on farms has undergone a revival around the world, particularly in the US, where Bartelinke points out that there are 300,000 working horses. Four years ago, Cronin decided to follow suit and reduce the use of his tractor to revive the tradition he remembers when growing up in Ennistymon.
Together with his 11-year-old son, Éanna, he uses two horses, Amber and Hugo, to plough and harrow soil, to draw loads and do "any kind of groundwork".
"When we get the horses we become animated; it is a totally different feeling," Cronin says.
Bartelinke, from the Netherlands, bought a farm in the Burren, complete with a working horse, in 1978.
"That was a traditional farm, more or less medieval," he says. "The farmer did everything with the one horse he had. I learnt a lot from him, I learnt a lot from that horse. That horse was totally trained.
"I worked him for about 12 years before he became too old. That horse died when he was 28 years old."
Bartelinke has since moved to Feakle, in east Co Clare, where he works with a neighbour who is a market gardener. His horses, Hector and Clare, provide the second team for the novices on the course to work with.
Well-trained horses will respond to voice command, turning left or right, moving on, stopping, or moving back a step to relieve the tension of a load when they have stopped.
"They would get the sense that you are caring for them. It is really nice to think of any animal in that way," says Cronin.
One person can then plough a field, working the mechanism while holding the reins.
On a site overlooking Lough Derg, the only sounds are birdsong, the jingle of the harness and the scraping of metal off soil. Ploughing a furrow every nine inches, one acre works out to be the equivalent of an 11-mile walk, a healthy day's work.
For the beginner, reins are used to guide a horse or horses. Bartelinke explains that the connection has to be subtle and loose, just short of being tense. It's a little like driving a car, Cronin adds, when you learn to hold the steering wheel in a relaxed way.
During the day-long course we learn to take command of horses, guiding them where we want them to go. Later we draw sleighs around a field. For the driver, it's like doing a slow-motion version of the chariot race in Ben Hur.
Horses are easier on the land than tractors, and can carry out delicate footwork, walking a furrow and drawing a scuffler behind between drills of potatoes. The implement digs up the weeds, obviating backbreaking work or the use of weedkillers.
Every farm once had this type of equipment, much of it made by Pierce's of Wexford. Now the few remaining pieces are collected by museums or by farmers interested in reviving the craft.
"The challenge for me is to make a living from it and do what I enjoy," says Cronin. "It is combining a lifestyle and making a living. It is not that now that I am finished I am going to the gym. It is all blended into one.
"You have to like working with them. If you are trying to convince yourself it is an economic necessity, there is no point. A lot of horse farms would have a tendency towards organics. They go together."
Cronin and Bartelinke talk about the nature of horses, how they will know if you are afraid when you walk into a field but will still accept you, and about the importance of minimising the possibility of sudden sharp noises which could make them bolt.
Cronin recalls an incident involving a man in an articulated truck who pulled up to admire the horses. When he resumed his journey, he released the truck's air-brakes, causing the horses to bolt.
"No matter how many years you are with horses, always respect them. It might be nothing to do with you what makes the horses bolt. It might be an outside factor," Cronin says.
The horses are a little skittish before they are harnessed. Amber runs around the field, refusing to be caught, a legacy of the ill-treatment she suffered at the hands of a former owner.
"To this day when I catch her, she shivers," Cronin says.
"She used to sweat when we would bring her in," son Éanna adds.
When caught, Amber quickly settles, revealing her character when harnessed. Although smaller in stature to Hugo, she will not let herself be left behind.
The work calms all the horses and a perfectly balanced team will co-operate together with military precision, lifting their right and left legs in unison.
As part of the course, we are first taught to harness the horse, putting on the collar, the hames and the draught chains.
"The collar has to fit the horse properly, because they can get a sore shoulder," Cronin explains. "Or if it is too small it will touch their windpipe."
The harness parts include a myriad of names - winkers, bridles, breeching - some of which would vary regionally and from country to country. The harnessed horse looks a complex affair - all straps, buckles and chains - but while each part plays a vital role in distributing loads comfortably, in preventing loads from running on to horses on downward slopes or in guiding horses, harnesses are in fact designed to be assembled in minutes.
"Farmers want to harness one, two, three, four, five horses quickly and get out to the fields quickly," Cronin says.
HARNESSES HAVE BECOME increasingly difficult to buy because there are so few harness-makers left. Even perished harness is valuable for its metal fittings and can be found on sale at horse fairs.
A few retired harness-makers will restore worn-out equipment but good leather is hard to come by because all cattle are now slaughtered at a young age.
"When I was growing up there were about three harness-makers in the area. There has not been a harness-maker in Ennistymon in 30 years," says Cronin.
He sourced a competitively priced harness in the US, where Amish communities on small farms (who make them during the winter months) use traditional materials such as leather combined with new materials such as bio-plastic and nylon for a growing, if small, worldwide market.
"They are probably seen as the leaders in harness-making," says Cronin.
Bartelinke has made a trip to the US to buy a harness, and remembers returning home 10 days after 9/11 with a heavy load. Because the plane was half-empty, he didn't have to pay for the extra weight.
On the course are a variety of people with different interests: some are there simply to learn more about horses, others are intending to use workhorses themselves.
"Today is about making a connection with horses. I always found them intimidating," says Orla Bloomer, who recently moved to the Burren from Galway and hopes to have a pony and a donkey some day.
Kay Mole has an organic farm in Co Roscommon, where she breed pigs. She is attending the course with her 14-year-old son, Jacob, who is interested in getting a horse for drawing a car and for tilling.
Ned O'Farrell, from Ballysimon, Co Limerick, used horses as a boy growing up on a farm 35 years ago, doing meadow work during the summer. A part-time truck driver and farmer, he wants to use horses again as a hobby.
"I like to see horses working and pulling," he says.
The Working With Horses course, with Jim Cronin and Harrie Bartelinke, is run in Bridgetown, Co Clare, through the Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim. Tel: 098-54338. See www.theorganiccentre.ie for further details
The National Ploughing Championships take place on Sep 27, 28 and 29 at Mogeely, Midleton, Co Cork. For further information, telephone 059-8625125 or go to www.npa.ie