Horses in The Middle Ages - Agriculture

Agriculture

The Romans had used a two-field crop rotation agricultural system, but from the 8th century on, a three-field system became more common. One field would be sown with a winter crop, the second with a spring crop, and the third left fallow. This allowed a greater amount of spring crop of oats to be grown, which provided fodder for horses. Another advance during the Middle Ages was the development of the heavy mouldboard plough, which allowed dense and heavy soils to be tilled easily; this technology required the use of larger teams of draught animals including oxen and horses, as well as the adoption of larger fields. Particularly after the 12th century, the increased use of both the horse collar and use of iron horse shoes allowed horsepower to be directed more efficiently. Horse teams usually were four horses, or perhaps six, as compared to eight oxen, and the lesser numbers compensated for the fact that the horses needed to be fed grain on top of pasture, unlike oxen. The increased speed of horses also allowed more land to be ploughed in a day, with an eight ox plough team averaging a half an acre a day, but a horse team averaged an acre a day.

For farm work, such as ploughing and harrowing, the draught horse used was called an affrus (or stott), which was usually smaller and cheaper than the cart horse. While oxen were traditionally used as work animals on farms, horses began to be used in greater numbers after the development of the horse collar. Oxen and horses were sometimes harnessed together. The transition from oxen to horses for farm work was documented in pictorial sources (for example, the 11th-century Bayeux tapestry depicts working horses), and also clear from the change from the Roman two-field crop-rotation system to a new three-field system, which increased the cultivation of fodder crops (predominantly oats, barley and beans). Horses were also used to process crops; they were used to turn the wheels in mills (such as corn mills), and transport crops to market. The change to horse-drawn teams also meant a change in ploughs, as horses were more suited to a wheeled plough, unlike oxen.