Learn how one Irishman keeps the tradition of horse-drawn farm equipment alive with antique equipment and his stable full of farm hands.
There are few places with more romance attached to them than Ireland. The Emerald Isle, as it is known, is a land of lush green rolling fields, wild rugged coastlines and friendly and fascinating characters. It’s also a place rich in musical and literary culture, for the Irish have a poetic way about them, which may or may not have been born out of the country’s often poignant history of hardship.
Tradition is important in Ireland, even to the younger people, and the country is home to many collectors of antique farm machinery as well as some excellent horsemen (and women) who are all doing their part to keep the old skills alive, and helping pass this knowledge on to the next generation.
If one is looking for a person who encompasses all of Ireland’s romance, then County Kerry’s William O’Sullivan ticks all of the boxes. William sings traditional Irish songs, he plays musical instruments, he has a love of old machinery and he is also a distinguished horseman.
By day, William works his horses on the land, just as generations before him have done, and by night he is a singer and multi-instrumentalist in the traditional Irish band The Killarney’s. On paper it’s an idyllic life, but the reality is that working with horses is hard, relentless and not hugely lucrative. Even with an enormous amount of knowledge behind you, things don’t always go to plan where horses are concerned, for as someone clever once said, “Horses are dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle!”
Putting experience to work
Despite the unpredictability of equines, William has only ever known a life with horses in it. He was born into the world of horses, and he laughs as he tells me about his first encounter with horses. “Apparently, we were on the way back from the hospital where I was born and my father decided to take a little detour, and we went via a horse fair that happened to be on that day, and we bought a horse there on the way home.”
When William was 7 years old, he was given his own donkey, which he used to pull a cart. In old photographs of Ireland, it is plain to see how popular donkeys were for light haulage there, so William’s parents were following a long-held tradition when they bought their son a donkey. William has learned that these animals are extremely clever, and also surprisingly strong for their size.
Happy memories of his donkey led to William’s fascination with working mules. A few years back, William had the opportunity to work with Poitevin mules in France. He had a marvelous time working at various vineyards with these remarkable animals. Although large draft mules are seen in the U.S., they are not commonplace in Ireland, so the experience was a real eye-opener for William.
Today William’s family runs the Killarney Riding Stables, known locally as O’Sullivans’, which was established by William’s parents, Donie and Noreen O’Sullivan in 1968. The busy riding centre is just outside the picturesque town of Killarney, and William is kept busy looking after the 80-plus horses that are kept on the site and which are mostly used to take visitors on trail rides where they can enjoy County Kerry’s beautiful scenery from the vantage point of a saddle.
Horses can make a big difference
When William isn’t looking after the family business, he finds time to train some of his own horses to work on the land, ploughing, cultivating, mowing and generally carrying on the long-held skills that have been passed down through generations.
One of William’s favourite horses is his Percheron stallion, Kilbrack Martel, who is now retired at the age of 23 years. This stallion has not only had a successful working career himself but has also sired some great working horses, including Paul and Daisy, who William still owns and who have followed in their sire’s footsteps to become good draught horses. William is fond of the Percheron breed, known to be sensible, not ridiculously tall, and not very heavily feathered around the lower limbs, making them easier to care for than some other breeds.
There’s a lot of work caring for the land at the riding stables, and some of that involves driving tractors, which William doesn’t mind, but the truth is he is never happier than when he is working with his draught horses. “I really want to keep the traditions of working horses alive,” he says, “and show people that there’s still a place for these animals, and these skills, in the modern world.”
Without doubt, horses have a part to play in tourism and the marketing of nostalgia, because nothing melts the heart like the sight of these magnificent beasts working calmly and contentedly in unity with their handlers, but William thinks that working horses have a bigger role than that to play.
In a world where conservation is increasingly important, horses can make a big difference, because horses – even heavy horses – tread more lightly on the planet than heavy machinery. When working in environmentally sensitive areas, horses cause far less damage to the land and the wildlife than today’s large machinery. In certain places, horses really are the best choice for the job.
Tradition rooted in reality
But William isn’t a dreamer. He knows horses can’t compete with big, modern tractors in terms of output and productivity. “But I don’t feel that they need to compete as such,” he says, “because I think horses offer something different to the machines, and the two methods, old and new, can often complement each other.”
William has found that some people, for various reasons, prefer to have horses working on their land, and they are often happy to pay more to have horses working instead of tractors. Sometimes it’s a simple fact that the access to a piece of land isn’t suitable for tractors. Steep hillsides, boggy ground, land dotted with trees and land accessed by narrow lanes might be inaccessible to large tractors.
There are also tracts of land here that are protected and these delicate environments cannot be farmed with heavy machinery. In conservation areas like these, it is sometimes the case that horses have to be used instead of tractors, and work can be had if you are a skilled horseman with a good team of horses, for while there are a great many contractors using machines, there are not so many available who can use horses.
Just occasionally, William has a customer who wants to see the timeless sight of horses quietly working the land with no engines, just the sounds of birdsong, bees buzzing, the chink of harness chains and the soft breaths of the horses. Not everyone is willing to pay for the whole nostalgia package, but sometimes it works out, like the time William was asked to harvest barley for a distillery.
“The Wayward Irish Spirits Co. asked me to cut their barley crop,” explains William, “so I used a two-horse International Harvester mower for the job, and once the barley was harvested, the company used it for making their Irish whisky.” The photographs of William and his horses harvesting the crop in the time-honoured way made great marketing images for the company, so it was a win/win situation, and a perfect example of how horses still have their part to play in the modern world.
Preserving Irish agricultural heritage
William also likes to try to preserve Ireland’s industrial heritage. While he is fond of all old machinery, his particular favourites are the machines and implements that were built in Ireland.
William uses his Junior mower, built by Pierce of Wexford, Ireland, to top paddocks, cut weeds and mow hay and grain crops. Used with a single horse, this little mower is perfect for smaller fields and tighter spaces. Pierce of Wexford was once the largest producer of agricultural machinery in Ireland, and they were prolific makers of implements, which means that many examples still exist today.
Wexford was a popular grain and crop growing region, so there was a large local demand for agricultural machinery in that area, and the ports in the county offered excellent access for the import of coal for foundries and export of machinery to England and beyond. Established in 1839, Pierce made hearth and fire fans and bellows before it began constructing bridges and steel-framed buildings. Later, Pierce moved into the agricultural market. Pierce of Wexford was well-known in Ireland, but also exported horse-drawn farm equipment to Europe, Africa and North and South America up until the 1920s, and the company had offices in Paris and Buenos Aires.
William also owns a Pierce of Wexford two-swath hay turner dating to the 1930s. This implement can be used to both turn and row hay, and William used it recently when harvesting a wildflower hay meadow for a conservation group known as the National Parks & Wildlife Service.
The more William has been out working his horses, the more the public has taken an interest in what he does. That has inspired him to set up his own small business, Arbutus Equine Services, which he describes as a “one-man horse-powered operation.” To learn more about what William does with his horses, visit his Arbutus Equine Services page on Facebook.
Finding magic in the ways of the past
As well as the Pierce hay turner, William also has a lovely old Pierce hay rake. These horse-drawn rakes are sometimes known as dump rakes, because of the way in which they deposit the crop into piles ready for collection. Hay rakes are things of beauty in their own right, and are they popular pieces of garden and yard art. We see them rusting away in the corner of fields from time to time, but it’s a rare thing indeed to see one still doing the job that it was intended for. Sadly, many of our old horse-drawn implements were left out to rust and rot when tractors came along. Others that were kept and converted for use behind a tractor have long since been melted down as scrap.
William’s Wexford Star corn drill is another Irish-built implement of yesteryear. The drill was built by Wexford Engineering Co., Ltd., which was based at what was known locally as the Star Ironworks in Wexford town. Implements like this were once commonplace in Ireland, and while there are still a few around, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find examples in good working condition. William doesn’t particularly want broken-down relics. He wants working machines he can use and preserve for the future, because, as he says, “We aren’t making any more of this stuff.”
While William loves the old machinery, the real pleasure comes from being out in beautiful surroundings working with his horses, ploughing, sowing seed, making hay or hauling timber. There’s something truly magical about following in the footsteps of one’s ancestors and keeping the same traditions as your forefathers once did.
William feels that there’s nothing quite like the bond that develops between horse and owner as they work together. “Working out on the land can be a lonely old job sometimes,” he says, “but the horse, he keeps you company. I like tractors well enough, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t keep you company like a horse does.”
To see pictures and clips of William’s horses and historic machinery at work, visit Arbutus Equine Services on Facebook. William’s band, The Killarneys, also has a Facebook page, and some of their music can also be heard on Facebook.
Josephine Roberts lives on an old-fashioned smallholding in Snowdonia, North Wales, and has a passion for all things vintage. Email her at josiewales2021@aol.com.
