Workhorses

Today’s pictures show 80-year-old “Grandpa Dunning” (Horace, 1833-1915) and his horses in action. Both mammals fit the Mirriam-Webster definition of workhorse

1 : a horse used chiefly for labor as distinguished from driving, riding, or racing

2 a (1): a person who performs most of the work of a group task
(2): a hardworking person

b : something that is markedly useful, durable, or dependable

As a bit of a (2a) workhorse myself, I have a healthy respect for this type of person. Up until her final days, my grandmother gardened, put in hours at the Middletown Historical Society, and drove around to check in / deliver things to her children. I’m sure that growing up on a farm helped to instill that drive in her.

The first picture shows Grandpa Dunning with his horse and wagon pulling a few five-gallon aluminum milk cans. Maybe he delivered it to be made into cheese or butter. Maybe he sold it – as milk – somewhere in Orange County. Like most of these pictures, it’s anyone’s guess now.

That wasn’t all his horses manged, though. Come summer, my great-great grandfather likely used a kind of horse-drawn sickle mower to cut the grass into hay. From what I read, that was just a 5-7 foot bar with cutters along the edge that the horses would pull.

Not a fun job but an improvement over scythe and hand-raking!

Once cut and left to dry (a process called tedding) the hay would have been raked up for baling. Below, you can see those workhorses carting off a mountain of 1913 hay. Do you see the person perched on top? Doesn’t seem safe, does it?

I think the reason that they piled the hay onto the wagon is that the baling equipment in that period was stationary. The machine that now turns all that hay into bales couldn’t be pulled along then. Instead, the farmer had to deliver the hay to the baler.

Then again, Grandpa Dunning might just have been delivering that hay to the barn, where loose hay was generally stored. (To the hay loft, perhaps?) The Dunning horses, sheep and cattle could then eat it in the winter when they couldn’t go out in the pasture.

Keeps ’em toasty warm too.

These days the term “workhorse” has a bit of a negative connotation to it. In business-speak, they insist that you don’t neglect your “show horse” side. In design-speak “the workhorse of the kitchen” might refer to a clunky appliance like a refrigerator or a stand-mixer.

But workhorses have staying power. They may not be glamorous but they wake up, gobble some oats and get the job done. Especially in the last five months (five months!) it’s hard not to admire anyone who just keeps getting on up and getting through the day.

Here’s to you, my workhorse friends! Happy weekend!