Prior to industrialisation, oxen then horses provide the driving force required to pull farm equipment, from the plough to the harvester and the harrow to the threshing machine.
The pioneer farmers first use oxen to break up the prairie soil initially and then, as the cultivated land is extended and machinery that is both more cumbersome and delicate to handle is developed, horses are preferred as the main beast of burden.
The horse is just as powerful as the ox but is more rapid and mobile. As the mechanization of heavy field work increases, horses are used on an ever greater scale, making stables a important investment for agricultural enterprises. Horses are still being used as field animals in the 1940s but they soon become rarer, succumbing to the general spread of the gas-powered tractor. For many years as well, the horse serves as a means of transportation, pulling the buggy or sleigh.

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