Purton farming family shares passion for horse power

TASMANIA’S Purton family is following in the well-worn tracks of their forebears.

Horse power: Warren Purton binds oats with Clydesdale horses Beauty, left, Rose and Jenna at Mt Hicks. Pictures: Chris Kidd

TASMANIAÂ’S Purton family is following in the well-worn tracks of their forebears by harvesting oats using old-fashioned horse power.

Most days Warren Purton harnesses some of his six Clydesdales and goes to work on his property at Mt Hicks.

This week his 16-year-old granddaughter Hannah has been helping out with the harvesting of oats.

Mr Purton counts on his team to work about an acre of land each day.

At this time of year, the oats are made into traditional sheaves and bundled together into tent-like shapes called shocks.

The oats are then cut for chaff to feed the horses throughout the year.

News_Image_File: Hannah Purton, 16, binding oats at the family’s Mt Hicks property near Wynyard.

He has also planted nearly a hectare of potatoes, once again prepared with a traditional horse-drawn plough.

As a lad, Mr Purton helped his father use a horse team to pull logs from the forests.

“I taught myself everything from then,” he said.

Mr Purton’s horses have been bred by the family for generations.

“I know the horses from day one,” he said.

In November, the Purtons welcomed filly Lilly May — the fifth generation of Clydesdales bred by the family.

When Lilly May is old enough, she too will be put to work on the farm.

Mr Purton will be taking his team of Clydesdales to Steamfest at Sheffield, in the state’s North-West, on the March long weekend.