Meet the Horses
Bear
Bear was Tim’s first horse. Tim found him in early 2010 at a farm in Northern VT. He was around 3 years old when Tim bought him. Three years old, for a draft horse, roughly corresponds to the early teenage years for a person in terms of their temperament and desire to test boundaries. They worked through those 'teen years,' and he's truly an amazing horse. Bear is a calm, hard-worker. He's willing, patient and steady. He's also sweet as pie and he loves a good face scratching!
Bear was also a totally different color when Tim bought him. Bear used to be a dark slate grey color, dappled with flecks and patches of white. As he's matured, he's slowly been turning all white. A neighbor of ours, on Featherbed Lane, told me that he calls Bear "The Ghost Horse."
Duke
Duke was a rescue horse. Whatever his past was, he came to Tim with a lot of anxiety. It used to take 2 or 3 farmers to steady him long enough to hitch him to an implement. He couldn't stand still for more than a few seconds at a time. It took months of patient work, discipline and affection to get Duke to where he could relax, stand calmly to get hitched or to take a break from work. He's come a long way!
Duke is a very sensitive horse and he's very affectionate. He teaches Tim to be calm, to think carefully about his goals and actions when they're working together. He's been a great horse for Tim and for the farm. And he's best buddies with Bear - you'll rarely see them apart.
Ricky
Ricky, and his (possibly) half brother Snugs, are from Central or Western NY. They came to Featherbed Lane Farm by way of a farmer in Fort Plains who purchased them at an auction for Tim. Ricky is 3 years old, as of 2026. He is very sweet and wants to do what's being asked of him. He's also anxious and easily unnerved. For his first season at Featherbed, he's been learning new equipment, new types of field work, new driving commands and requests for his behavior, and much more.
Ricky is getting calmer and more able to do steady work every time he's hitched. Oh, and he loves to play games. Whenever he can get a hold of something in his mouth - like the reins, or his lead lines, or just about anything else - he likes to mess around with it.
Snugs
Snugs is also 3 years old as of 2026. Though whereas his (possibly) half brother Ricky is bouncy and excitable, Snugs is quite steady. He might even be something of a quiet tough guy. As an example, he was the one who would try to hold his ground during the initial dust ups that took place when he and Ricky were introduced to Bear and Duke. Now they're mostly all friends, but Bear and Duke still give them the business sometimes. Snugs' coat is a light shade of brown with white in his mane and his tail; Ricky has a darker coat and a more reddish blonde thing going for him. Snugs is still coming around to having someone mess with his ears but he likes a good neck scratch. And he's learning every day about how to behave and drive on this farm, improving his response time and getting more nimble with his turns. Also like Ricky, Snugs is a big fan of laying in the sun - or really anywhere.
