In many cultures, the horse has always been an important partner in forest work and fields, in Finland, too. The importance of the horse in forest work was emphasized when the forest industry with sawmills and paper mills needed large amounts of wood raw material from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Back in the early 1960s, the timber cut from the forests was almost entirely hauled away by horses. Although tractors started to become more common on farms, agricultural tractors were initially too inefficient for forest work. In the procurement period 1960-1961, there were still around 55,000 horses in forest work in Finland, but in 1970 only 17,300.
Source: Kajaani.fi, Kajaanin museo
Following photos by Tessa Lepistö and Tanja Lundsten
Today they are hardly used at all, but now their use has started to be appreciated again and many manage their own forest with a horse and offer services to others as well.
Finnhorse Tuohivirsu enjoys forest work. He loves it being in the forest and work, and of course he enjoys the company of the team. Tuohivirsu´s owner is Tanja Lundsten.
A horse and winter are a good combination in terms of the well-being of the forest. In Finland the ground freezes to a depth of 20–60 cm on average during the winter months, in the north the depth of frost can be up to 120 cm. The icy ground protects the roots of the trees, and the passage of a horse in the forest does not damage the soil. A horse can also travel through a denser forest than a machine, so when working with a horse there is no need for clearcutting.
Hay for Tuohivirsu...
...and coffee for the rest of the team. "Sootpot coffee" tastes extremely delicious outside by the fire.
"You gave me the very first horsehair jewellery you made from Nitte´s (Nanna´s first horse) and Ogi's tailhair. One was a graduation present and the other as a thank you for Nitte's care. It especially felt and still feels particularly meaningful. Nitte is one of those horses that has been special to me in my life, Tuohivirsu, too."
Teija Ranin, Finland
Thank you, Teija, for your kind words and letting us to see these lovely pictures. We wish you, Tanja and extremely handsome Tuohivirsu many happy working years yet to come!
Thank you, Teija, for your kind words and letting us to see these lovely pictures. We wish you, Tanja and extremely handsome Tuohivirsu many happy working years yet to come!
"Horse forest work is a suitable alternative for small and sensitive harvesting sites. For example, cultural and historical sites, it is possible to manage ancient remains and urban forests with the help of a horse logger. The harvest mark is really little and horse harvesting does not cause emission or noise problems. The demand for horse forest work will continue to grow in the future."
Thesis, Kirsi Nuutinen: Suomenhevonen metsätyössä (Finnhorse in a forest work) 2011
Forest work in 1950´s, photo from Kainuun museo collection.
And if you wonder what "Tuohivirsu" means: it´s a name for a traditional
Finnish shoe made of birchbark.
