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Pulling Loads

3 min read

Current
📦
Pulling Loads
From dragging logs to pulling carts
Sub-Topics
🪵
Starting with Drag Loads
Logs and simple drags for conditioning
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Cart Introduction
First hitching, empty cart, gradual loading
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Working in a Team
Pairing animals, matching pace and strength

Train a draft animal to pull in stages: start with a small log of 20-30 kg dragged on the ground, increase the weight over weeks, add turns and stops on slopes, then introduce an empty cart and add 50, 100 and then 200 kg over several sessions. Every stage must have a quick way to release the animal from the load.

Part of Draft Animal Training

The progression from dragging a log to pulling a loaded cart, and why each stage comes before the next.

Each Stage Adds One New Problem

A drag load has only weight and friction. A cart adds wheels, noise, a following vehicle and shafts that touch the animal. Training them separately means the animal never meets two new problems at once.

StageNew thing the animal meetsArticle
Drag loadResistance at the shouldersStarting with Drag Loads
Cart, emptyWheels, rattle, a vehicle that followsCart Introduction
Cart, loadedWeight rising by stagessame
Two animalsA partner to matchWorking in a Team

What You Need

  • A harness that fits — see Harness & Yoke Making.
  • A drag load of 20-30 kg — a small log.
  • A cart — a two-wheel cart is the usual first vehicle; see Cart & Wagon Construction.
  • A quick-release hitch — pins or quick-release knots.

Method: Order Of Loads

Step 1: Small drag. A log of 20-30 kg on the ground. Increase the weight gradually over weeks.

Step 2: Turns and slopes. Turn while dragging. Practise stopping on slopes: “whoa” must mean hold position even when the load pushes.

Step 3: Empty cart. Hitch to the empty cart in a calm, enclosed area with an experienced handler at the animal’s head.

Step 4: Load the cart in steps. Add 50 kg, then 100 kg, then 200 kg over several sessions.

Step 5: Vary the ground. Flat, uphill, downhill and through water.

Worked Example

The cart steps are 50, 100 and 200 kg. The increments are:

  • 50 kg → 100 kg: +50 kg, a doubling.
  • 100 kg → 200 kg: +100 kg, a doubling.
  • From the 20-30 kg log to the first 50 kg cart load: 50 / 30 = 1.7 to 50 / 20 = 2.5 times the log weight, though a cart rolls where a log slides, so the pulls are not equal.

Cart weight itself is extra: the cart is part of the load. Weigh or estimate it and add it.

Common Mistakes

  • Going straight to a cart — it rattles and follows, which is the most dangerous stage.
  • Doubling the load every day — add weight over several sessions, not one.
  • Training only on the flat — the animal must learn to hold on slopes and brake with breeching; see Harness Design.

Safety

The vehicle follows the animal

A panicking animal attached to a cart can destroy equipment, injure people, and hurt itself. Always have a way to release the animal from the cart quickly, such as quick-release knots or pins. Never stand between animal and vehicle or between animal and a wall.

What’s Next