Equines as domestic herbivores and pack and riding animals face a serious challenge due to the expansion of rural road and motorized transport. What has to be done to keep their legacy in the smallholder farming systems?
Hello Takele; What an interesting idea! I have the good fortune of living in an affluent society (Southern California). There are horses in many neighborhoods. The horses are pets, not workers. In nearby, rural areas, that pet status is also true...and includes a nostalgia for the "good old days".
I think that it is true that the livestock is nostalgic if farm work can be mechanized economically. Horses, mules and donkeys eat a lot and require more attention and expense than a tractor does. So the farmer compares the ongoing costs and benefits and decides.
Subsistence farmers use equines out of simple necessity. Making a serious effort to talk to such farmers about their economic judgements might reveal some way to approach your question. Would a person with a battered old tractor return to using horses? Why?
Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
Yes sir, we can use them in farm works like running natural oil extraction units, uplifting water like traditional agriculture methods.
This Spanish publication from the region of Andalusia may be useful to you:
https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/export/drupaljda/1337161240Patrimonio_Ganadero_Tomo_III.pdf
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