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.