Horse Logging - Merve Wilkinson's Wildwood Forest 

thanks never get to see a master horseman practicing his craft anymore, great pictures!

I don't think most people see that animals are like small children: they don't understand the concept of "job" or "work" but they do love to to accomplish things that make them feel strong or agile. That's how they improve their skills to live in the wild: by taking joy in practicing phisical activities that improve their strenght, speed and agility. That's why some horses love to jump, or do gymkhana or airs above the ground. They feel proud to accomplish difficult things just like children do.

This was an awesome video! Such an inspiration that this is not a dying art form. Absolutely loved watching this!

How could anyone not love this old time logging methods.

@Jefferdaughter absolutely! My Percheron does all my yard work for me- she can pull a wagon- drag smaller trees out of the back acreage and she carries my big butt around beautifully! I am an animal advocate- but geez people- it is not abuse when the horses are doing what they love to do- and that is their job!

@gwynvyd - And people should realize that each horse has MANY times more than '1 horsepower'!!! No fossil fuel required. They 'automatically' harvest most of their feed, and fertilize the pasture, too. Plus, they are 'self replicating'. No tractor or skid steer can do that. Oxen are pretty useful in the woods, too.

Horse are well trained an responded well to his voice, the collars are well padded, grt to see...

That is what we call a willing team. Bart willing to work n Max willing to let him. I also believe that gentlemen uses them in pulling contests.

I would have probably used a 4-team on that log. However, really nice team work with those two!

love it just love it beautiful horses great communication between animal and master

@mrcountryboy1234567 heh, I was just holding the camera...They were struggling for sure. When we got out to the truck he pulled out a set of wheels and showed us how they worked with that same log..I thought, why didn't you use those wheels in the bush???? Thanks for watching... : )

wowww amazing, very big and good horse

this horse are huge nice animals

Third horse will be very helpful

I've did a lot of logging with horses always used a pair of tongs rather than chain on a log that size. Faster easier to hook up and don't have that extra drag of the chain on the ground.

Eu uma tremenda covardia , isso acontece até nos dias de hoje , aqui no Brasil, mas as coisas estão mudando os municípios estão aprovando leis que proíbe tração animal.

This was a demonstration at an open house at Wildwood Forest. Merve didn't use horses because his logs were too big. He used a skidder.

@damijan72 That wasnt a long distance at all- and the horses are just fine! A draft horse can pull a dead weight along the ground (draft) equal to 1/10 their body weight for 8 hours a day. For short distances, they can pull ten to fifteen times as much. That log was not that big of a deal folks.

muito bom🐎🐎

Nice horses! Brabants?

Certain horses are basically made or built to help in certain ways this is the way you use a chain the chain up to a horse Monopoly or buggy to basically move wood from one place to another and you got human power and you got horsepower it's a good team

@EcofilmsbyEHomer - Maybe because the wheels would have tended to sink into that relatively soft soil/ forest duff. Also, they are more likely to catch on shallow roots roots or rocks just below the surface. Didn't you see how eager the horses were? Never used anything more than his voice to urge them on, either. They handled the job well within their capability. Thanks for sharing.

great video! I want to quit my job and do this!

very true.

@Doggitter Yeah the horses are saying they are balky and don't really want to work.

That is an original 70-80's Champion brand bush jacket. Where'd you get it, it looks brand new...

Merve used a skidder because he was hauling such big timber. This was just a demo for an open house at Wildwood.

NICE HORSES..we in czech haven t got hou as back,but we have got HUJ or CUROK as back :D

I don't know. That was in Yellow Point in 98. Go on the internet, go to a chainsaw shop, check with a riding association in your area....

I have watched a few shows on merves wood lot. he has great ideas on foresty.more people should follow his teachings.the horses need alittle more experence pulling in the woods.but don`t we all.all the best.

If he knew anything about skidding logs, he would hooked the chain onto to the smallest end of the log!!! By skidding the log with large (But) end first, the but digs into the ground!!! Much easy to skid by top end as it does not dig into ground!!!

Here on the Sunshine Coast, the Ministry of Forests won't allow selective logging on public land. The MoF is doing a very bad job of manageing the public forests in BC.

the ypramids were build like this

Check out my playlist of Ecoforestry vids featuring Merve Wilkinson.

@mrcountryboy1234567 No, actually it's not. They could use a bit better teamster and by hitching a bit different things would have gone smoother. You want to see a good teamster and horses look for Farmer Browns videos here.

GO BART GO!

ok people who dont own a horse- little alone a Draft horse have no idea what they are capable of pulling. How do you think all of those log cabins were made in America? How do you think Wood was moved out of forests before we had tractors and dozers? Horses- Hell, Horses helped build the trail way and carried the train engines weighing tons on skids across the landscape to get them to the new lines of track. There is a reason why it is called horse power.

скільки метрів мала та колода

Poor trees

someone who never work with horse will never understand.. they are just as smart as a dog if not better..better to my taste anyway. just like any animal or human their is some real good and some bad, some lazy and some who want more as the day goes. Working with horses as nothing to do with bad treatment. my dad show me and teach me over time what they can do, you can come to a point to teach them to love what they do that's why you come to a point that you can let the rope go and do you thing, it is trust between you and the animal, just like some of them will never be able to work that way. some have a temper some don't, learn to deal with it and teach them the boundaries. If you want to fuck up a horse do horsepull competition and show him what its like to be hurt by heavy weight for no reward.. when they understand they don't do it anymore that's why you will never see a team or horse doing it for a long time. To the guy who was saying that if he knew dog stuff he would attach at the little end.. please tell me with your experience with HORSES how you came to this conclusion? horse are not dog dog are not horse.. physically and intelligence are not the same so do not compared them. they do have similarity but a horse will give you much more back then a dog. a horse is not selfish.

For those of you here who ACTUALLY work with drafts like this: Do you think the horses could do a better job if the blinkers were taken off (so they could use their cognitive brain) and if the bits were removed (so no threat of hurting the mouth). I've seen belgians/brabants in Europe who knew their job so well that no "control" was necessary. I'd like to know your thoughts based on EXPERIENCE (no armchair commentators needed - thanks) working with them like this... especially if you had your team for a few years or more.

What about horses that wake up everyday and have to allow some stupid person jump on their back and tell them what to do???? We take care of them and they like to help us out...I'm sure that handler treats his animals well.

No Paddy they are loyal and wanting to please

The log as such is ok, but at this distance maybe a bit too big ... why don't you just use a logging cart? would be much easier and it wouldn't harm the horses motivation and self-confidence-

тодорвден тодоров.ден.сопот

Threw down the lines.... You left your horses unattended. Your horses are either very well behaved for you to do that, or you are too trusting of them to not get tangled up or try to take off on you.

get a tractor,

wowww amazing, very big and good horse

NICE HORSES..we in czech haven t got hou as back,but we have got HUJ or CUROK as back :D