Kip Porter Mike, Jack and Rock are three Belgian horses who spend their days working in the forests of western Massachusetts. The man behind the reins is Kip Porter, a Worthington native. Kip has worked with draft horses on and off for over 20 years. If you are a summer Fair goer you may have seen him at a horse pull. Now it's his wife, Mary Beth, who does the pulls while Kip spends his time in the forest, logging with his horses.

After 23 years in a machine shop, Kip decided he'd like to do more with his horses. He had taken forestry and agriculture in high school at Smith Vocational School and liked working outside. His first job was for a neighbor, Antonia Lake, who shares a love of horses. The job gave him a sense that he could make a living in the woods and he received encouragement from then Service Forester, Paul Catanzaro, who felt there was a niche market for horse logging.

Advantages and Disadvantages to Horses Kip feels the biggest advantage to having a harvest using horses is the "feel of it," he explains. "They don't leave a lot of evidence such as tire tracks," he says, "in addition the trails they create are perfect for recreation." Kip says he spends a lot of time cutting up the brush and debris from the felled trees. "It's more work for me" he says, "but it helps the horses get around easier and makes for a nicer looking job in the end." Another advantage Kip points out is that he "cuts to length" meaning, that he only brings out of the woods the portion of the tree that is merchantable. Again, this is easier on the horses and makes for a neater landing.

Horses do have their disadvantages however, Kip points out. There is a lot of terrain that they just can't manage. For example it's too difficult for them to pull logs up hill to a landing and they can't handle real rocky terrain. They also can't work too far from a landing. Kip says a pull of about 20 minutes round trip is as much as they can do. "This makes a 20 acre lot (or harvest) just about right," he says. The horses also can't work when the snow is deep. The horses can go forward but they need to be able to back up to get the hitch or maneuver around objects. "Imagine trying to back up in snowshoes and you get a good image of the problem," Kip says.

Where Kip Works So far Kip has been able to find work close to home. He says he'd like to work within ½ hour of Worthington although he has gone as far as Buckland.

Kip says he has three ways of charging for his services. He has done a number of logging jobs for the Mass Woodlands Cooperative where he works out a price for the logs and a rate for logging costs with them. When working directly for a landowner he has either paid a percentage of the sale to the landowner or worked on an hourly basis.

This article was first published on MassACORN in July 2007.