Farms: Horses and Donkeys

Long ago, horses and donkeys did a lot of work on farms.

They pulled carts and ploughs.

They carried heavy things.

Now tractors to do that work.

Farmers can use horses to help move cows and sheep.

Horses
A baby horse is called a foal. Its father is called a stallion, and its mother is called a mare.

Long ago horses used to be very important farm animals. Farmers needed them to pull the plough, pull carts with heavy loads, for transport and many other heavy jobs around the farm. Today these jobs are done by machines.

There are some farmers who still use horses to plough fields. Some do this so that we don't lose this very old way of doing things and so we can see how it used to be done. But a few farmers believe that ploughing is done better by horse, just like it used to be done for hundreds of years.

The horses that worked on farms were large heavy animals. The largest of these was the Shire horse, like these two on the right. The horses had a heavy harness put around their neck. The plough or cart were attached to the harness. Other kinds of large horses used to pull heavy loads were the Clydesdale and the Percheron.

On large farms today, horses are used when the cattle or the sheep that have been grazing in huge paddocks have to be moved to another place. Sometimes they are moved into yards for shearing, to be branded or given medicines, or to be sold. Riders are helped by dogs as they gather the animals all together and make them move to where the farmer wants them to go.

Horses used for rounding up animals are fast and light, able to start, stop and turn quickly. They can gallop up steep hills or mountains and across fast streams.

 Donkeys

Donkeys are part of the same family as horses.
A young donkey is called a foal. Its father is called a jack and its mother is called a jenny.

Donkeys are not seen working on farms very much any more. They used to work on farms by pulling small carts or by carrying heavy loads on their backs. People used to ride them when they travelled from one place to another. Now donkeys are mainly kept as pets.

Donkeys can be black, white, every shade of brown and grey, even a pinkish colour. Some can be two or even three colours. Donkeys live for a long time: usually about 40 years or more.

Go to other kidcyber farm pages:

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If you use any of this information in your own work, write it in your notes like this:
Sydenham, S. & Thomas, R. Horses and Donkeys [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2001)

Updated March 2010 ©kidcyber